While strikes count the most in bowling, picking up spares pays off in the end.

Two-time defending state girls champion Dara Ajimine can attest to that. The Kalani High School senior won last year's state championship by one pin.

"Not all the time you'll strike, so spares are really important," Ajimine said. "Someone can be striking, but at least you can be sparing. You're still up there with them and have a chance."

When the state championships begin this morning at Lihu'e Bowling Center on Kaua'i, Ajimine will return to where she won her first state title. She won that year with a pinfall total of 1,686, 21 better than Pearl City's Seiko Santos.

"I was really surprised," Ajimine said. "I was going up against a lot of good bowlers. I'm friends with them, I know what they're capable of doing. I was surprised with the outcome."

Ajimine is one of two bowlers to win back-to-back state titles. Several have won two state titles, but no one has won more than two.

This year's O'ahu Interscholastic Association champion, Ajimine has been working on her spares all season, knowing their importance.

"It killed me at OIA (championships)," Ajimine said. "I bowled a couple great games. A lot would've been better if I made the spares."

Nerves overtook her at last year's state championships in Hilo, and Ajimine thought she lost. She was in sixth place after the first day, but was able to rally on the second day to finish with a nine-game total of 1,747 pins. Ajimine had a strike and a spare in her final frame to edge Pearl City's Jordeen Koizumi.

"I was pressuring myself out," Ajimine recalled. "I wanted to win it twice. I was nervous. I didn't think I had it, I thought I lost. It was a surprise."

At the OIA championships on Oct. 16, Ajimine encouraged teammate Jonathan Nakagawa, who eventually won the boys title.

"She just told me to try my best and don't worry about it much," said Nakagawa, who has known Ajimine for six years. "She's like an older sister to me. It really helps."

Mililani coach Sue Stephens said Ajimine's experience shows from the coaching and training she has received over the years. Ajimine was introduced to the sport by her father when she was 9.

"She's focused a lot on her game and she's very consistent," said Stephens, whose team defeated Kalani for the OIA title.

Mililani is the defending girls state champion. Stephens said this year's team is more of a team — like sisters — and that closeness has showed all year.

"This year's girls are really close to each other," Stephens said. "That's what makes up the team right now. I don't expect one person to carry the whole team, I expect the whole team to carry each other. The whole season, that's what we've been doing and I'm proud of that."

Hawai'i Baptist boys coach Greg Hayashi is emphasizing the importance of spares to his squad. The team has won three of the last four state titles, including the last two, but has just one returnee.

"The team that can do the best with single-pin spares and corner pins will be probably be the team that should do well," Hayashi said.