BETHALTO – Alton's boys bowing team trailed Bellevlle East by 152 pins going into the final game of the day at Thursday's Alton Invitational bowling tournament.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
It was going to take a huge effort for the Redbirds to finish first on the day and Alton pulled through, rolling a team 1,012 to give the Redbirds a three-game team series of 2,908 in the afternoon session of the tournament, AHS rolling a six-game total of 5,852 to Highland's 5,848 to win the boys team championship by four pins.
It also helped the Redbirds to a combined boys-girls total of 11,224, enough to give them the overall team championship 54 pins over the Kahoks on the day. Belleville East finished third overall at 10.927, Cahokia fourth (10,308) and Highland fifth (10,248). Civic Memorial finished 10th overall (9,701), Jersey 11th (9,516) and Marquette Catholic 13th (7,583).
In the boys team competition, Belleville East finished third at 5,811, with CM taking fourth with 5,597 and Collinsville rounded out the top five at 5,488; the Panthers took eighth at 5,083 and Marquette was 13th with 4,013. In the girls team competition, Collinsville took first with 5,682, with the Redbirds second at 5,372, Cahokia third with 5,158, Belleville East fourth with 5,116 and Harrisburg fifth at 5,053. Jersey was ninth at 4,433, CM 12th at 4,104 and Marquette 13th in the 13-school field at 3,570.
“It was a good time,” said Redbird coach Dave Meyer of the Alton tourney title. “They worked hard, they worked together as a team and that's what it took. I stressed that at the beginning before the day started, and they fought really hard and came back good.
“It's good for them; maybe this is a turning point for them for them both. Four pins is not many pins for a champion; it was a good day. It's a great way to start the Christmas holiday. They really worked hard as a team and I'm really proud of them together.”
Two Redbirds medaled on the day individually, Ashley Heistand finished fifth in the girls individual competition with a six-game total of 1,183 and a high game of 279, which turned out to be the girls' overall high game of the day. The Redbirds' Jared Cochran took second in the boys individual tournament with a six-game total of 1,272, five pins behind Kurtis Murphy of Belleville East, who had 1,277; Jersey's Jeffrey Gump medaled with a fifth-place finish of 1,239.
Jersey coach Chris Skinner said: “I think, for the most part, out seniors stepped up; Jeffrey Gump had a good day, he was pretty consistent all day and our two senior girls, Emily Stemmler and Lindsey Vanost, had good days (Vanost rolled a 1,028 for 18th place and Stemmler had a 986 for 25th place). Our young kids got better, but they still have to learn how to compete.
“I thought we'd end up in the middle of the pack; we may wind up a little worse than that, but maybe the kids will learn from that also.and build toward (IHSA) regional time, that's when the real season starts. We'll keep working at it; we'll have practice next week and have the kids work on converting their spares and we'll try to get better come regional time.”
“I think my kids did very well,” said Marquette coach Mark Jones. “This is a very good learning experience for them (the Explorers are a first-year team); this is the first (tournament) they've done. They understand what it means to go a long set of games and it was a good experience for them.
“This is a very good tournament; Alton puts on a very good tournament here. It was a lot of fun for them. The main thing that stood out for me is that they learned how to grow as a team; they learned how to pull each other together and be part of a good team and keep each other up for the long haul. It'll be good for them when the regionals and sectionals come up.”
“They competed hard,” said Eagle boys coach Trent Morgan. “We were 5-1 on the day; Alton beat us (in a game as teams rotated lanes as the day went on), but it comes down to total pins, but I thought the kids competed hard; the win against Highland was a huge one and we beat Belleville East – that's a huge school – so I was proud of them. It came down to the last throw (against the Lancers) on both of those games to win. I was pretty excited to see that; the boys were pretty pumped about it.
“Devin Davis was hot early; he was in the top two at one point; I'm anxious to see where he ended up (Davis finished eighth with a total pinfall of 1,212); our guys stepped up. I thought (sophomore) Cort Jackson did a great job; he was consistent all day. He had a 196-198 average and that's impressive. He did really, really well.” Jackson finished the day with a total of 1,191, good for 10th place.
“The girls did all right,” said CM girls coach Shelly Moore. “They fared better than they did last year. We're seeing some improvement; we've got a young, young team and they put their heart into it. We need to keep improving on the season, that's all I ask for.
“It was a very good experience; there are some difficult teams ahead of us, some experienced teams. There are some really tough teams that we play. We have a sophomore, Ashley Westbrook, who sets up for us, and a junior, Cari Beckham who is a strong player and very supportive on the team. For the most part, all the girls who bowled did well.”
Westbrook finished 21st on the day with a six-game total of 996, while Beckham was 34th at 905.
On the girls side, Shelby Jones led Marquette with a six-game total of 897, good for 36th on the day, while on the boys side, the Explorers' Cameron Ratney rolled a six-game total of 945, good for a 34th-place finish on the day. The boys individual high game of the day came from Collinsville's Ryan Warner with a 269 in the final game of the morning session.
