EDWARDSVILLE – One of the most pleasant success stories of the 2018-19 girls bowling season has been the success of the team at Metro-East Lutheran High.
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The Knights have put together a 7-1 season thus far in their division of the Southern Illinois High School Bowling Conference, and will be going for a perfect regular season on Jan. 31, when they face Roxana at Airport Bowl in Bethalto. The only loss on the season for the Metro East Lutheran girls was to Highland.
It’s been one of the best season ever put together by a Knights’ bowling team, and head coach Bill Gass couldn’t be any prouder.
“The girls have bowled extremely well,” Gass said in a recent interview. “We’ve beaten teams like East Alton-Wood River, Roxana, Piasa Southwestern and Marquette Catholic in our division.”
The Knights have also won matches over Civic Memorial, Jersey and Highland this season. And they’ve done it with the same five-bowler lineup they’ve used throughout the season.
Metro-East is led by seniors Alyceya Harris, Iman Walker and Olivia Halusan, along with sophomores Cindy Polack and Marissa Lowe. Each have bowled exceptionally well all season, but what makes Gass proud is how they’ve all improved from the previous season.
“I guess you could say that they’ve advanced themselves,” Gass said. “We’ve all increased our averages at by at least 20-30 pins this year.”
The most pleasing aspect of the Knight is that they’ve bowled as a team all year.
“They’ve all done extremely well as far as their bowling,” Gass said, “but I would say, if anything, is that they bowl as a team. When one girl doesn’t do well, the others are there to pick her up.”
And it’s something that Gass is very proud of his team for. He hasn’t been coaching very long, but he points to the Knights as a very special team.
“This is probably the best five-girl team that I’ve had,” Gass said. “I’ve only been doing this for five years, and they’re by far the best.”
The Knights have their regular season finale coming up on Jan. 31, then go into the IHSA girls regional on Feb. 2 at Camelot Bowl in Collinsville, with the sectional Feb. 9 at Carterville and the IHSA state meet Feb. 15-16 in Rockford. Gass is looking ahead for what the postseason has in store for his team.
“I really like the whole team’s chances to advance to the sectional,” Gass said, “and we do have potential for at least three of our girls to advance to state as individuals, but I’d love to see the whole team go to state as well. Since they’ve been bowling so well as a team together, I’d love to see them advance together.”
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