ALTON – Alton bowling coach Dave Meyer had set a goal for the Redbirds going into their IHSA boys bowling regional at Bowl Haven Lanes Monday.
“When we came in this morning to talk before we got started, we wanted to shoot at least 1,000 a game,” Meyer said.
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The Redbirds went out and did just that, opening with a 1,048 game and ending up with a high 1,157 en route to a six-game total of 6,333, enough to defeat Civic Memorial by 333 pins to win the regional championship. The Eagles finished second with 6,000 pins even, with Abdington-Avon finishing third with 5,979 and Piasa Southwestern taking the final team qualifying spot with 5,859; all four advanced to Saturday's IHSA Sectional tournament at Camelot Bowl in Collinsville.
Taylorville finished fifth with 5,669, with Roxana sixth at 5,660, followed by Jersey (5,558), Biggsville West Central (5,114), Marquette Catholic (4,943) and East Alton-Wood River (4,489). Roxana's Christian Bertoletti advanced to the sectional as an individual, as did Jersey's Jeff Gump and Jordan Retherford, the only area individuals who moved into the sectional (the top four teams and top 10 individuals on non-qualifying teams advanced to the sectional). Hillsboro's Ryan Robinson, competing as an individual, won the individual championship with a six-game effort of 1,460.
Three Redbirds finished in the top five individuals on the day, with Tyler Stevenson taking second with 1,416, Derek Henderson fourth with 1,294 and Justin Milliman fifth at 1,288. “The boys did an excellent job staying together as a team,” Meyer said. “I put a (message) on their Facebook page that said, 'teamwork wins the big competitions.' That's what we wanted from them today.
“Now we move on to the next step; I'm very proud of them. It's been a couple of years since we've won a regional championship.”
Redbird assistant coaches Brian Stawar and Chuck Teague helped guide Alton during the tournament; Meyer had to step away during the tournament to attend a funeral. “They did a great job in my absence,” Meyer said. “They came out strong and I'm glad to see that; it was what the boys needed.”
“We were on fire in the morning, I thought,” said Eagle coach Trent Morgan. “We had a slow game against Taylorville; they came out and played well. We ended up getting them, but we didn't have a high number. When it comes to regionals and sectionals, it's all about total pins.
“We had one bad game all day, I thought; we shot a 960, a 1,045, a 1,077, a 977; the boys were focused all day. It was fun watching them compete.”
The tournament had been delayed from Saturday due to the forecasts for ice storms throughout the weekend, but the delay didn't affect the Eagles, Morgan thought. “The (lanes) were awesome,” Morgan said. “I think everyone was anticipating the date being pushed to today and our guys came ready to go.
“We had a good week last week preparing for this; if we can make it this week (to the state tournament), that'd be awesome.”
“It's the first time we've ever had anyone go to the sectional as a team,” said Piasa Bird coach Ervin Mayhew following Southwestern's fourth-place finish. “We've done good this year; they did exceptionally well today. We came together as a team this year instead of individuals; that was very good.
“We'll bowl our best (in Collinsville) and see what happens.”
Connor Schobernd led Southwestern with a six-game total of 1,238 while Devin Davis led the Eagles with 1,225. The Redbirds' 1,157 third game of the day was the team high game of the day, while the individual high game of the day went to North Mac's Tyler Miller with a 277.
