The resurgent Fruitport girls bowling team is displaying an important ability to gut out victories in close matches.

It happened last week, when the Trojans fell way behind early and rallied to beat Godwin Heights.

It happened again on Thursday, but in the opposite way, when Fruitport grabbed a big early lead then captured just enough points in the regular games to gain an exciting 18-12 victory over rival Spring Lake in non-conference action.

The Trojans are now 4-0 on the season, and already have one more victory than they had all of last season.

Fruitport burst out of the gates hot, winning both baker games and the baker bonus points to take a 10-0 lead.

The regular games were a struggle. The Trojans lost the first one 588-498, and Spring Lake claimed four points. Fruitport only won one of the five head-to-head bowler matchups in Game 1 (Harper Simila), while Spring Lake won the others and gained four points.

The Trojans led 11-8 headed into Game 2, where they earned just enough points to get the win.

They won the game 547-529 and earned four points, and Simila, Ava Bradshaw and Kyleigh O’Connell each won their matchups, adding three more points and sealing up the match.

“We struggled a little bit in the first regular game,” said Fruitport Coach Tim McKeeby. “After a quick reset, we were off to a great start in the second game. Captains Harper Simila and Genevieve Franklin  guided the team to victory by their impressive leadership! The second game was an exciting one and went down to the tenth frame.”