Kahok Bowlers Win Four of Six Matches

By Mark Jurgena

The girls bowling squad at Collinsville continued its fine season last week by winning all four matches.

“It’s a big week, we had four matches and we didn’t get a chance to practice,” began coach Sean Hay. “Because of COVID, we have to alternate days with other teams, “We didn’t get to practice this week at all. It was practice/match all week. That’s always precarious. If everything’s going great then that’s fantastic. If you’re struggling, then you’re like, ‘well how are we going to do this?’”

On February 22nd, the girls had a 38-2 win over Alton at Bowl Haven Lanes. Sophie Tottleben had the high game for CHS with a 243 in her 3rd game of the day. She also had the next highest game with a 216 in her 2nd game.

Brandy Stewart and Cassidy Stewart each registered games of 212 while Ashleigh Thilman rolled a 210.

The next day they returned to their home lanes at Camelot and picked up a 37-3 win over Edwardsville.

Courtney Baer rolled the high game with a 267 followed by a 249 game from Thilman.

“Overall it was not our best performance, but it definitely was decent,” Hay said. “You’re seeing contributions from everybody which is a hallmark of this girls team. Every week it’s a different person stepping up to be the person. That’s something we did last year. If you remember every tournament you never knew who was going to medal, in a match you never knew who was going to be the lead. That’s the mark of a really good team.”

Because of conflicts, they had to schedule matches at O’Fallon against the Panthers at St. Clair Bowl in Fairview Heights on consecutive days.

On February 25th, CHS came away with a 35-5 win.

As a team, they rolled a 3015 series.

Baer fired a 669 series while seniors Brandy Stewart (606) and Thilman (604) each topped the 600 plateau. Senior Caitlyn Ennis rolled a 597.

The next day they won again, this time firing a team series of 3041 including a 1095 series in the 2nd game. They won the match 38-2.

Baer again led the way with a 653 series while Ennis had a 629. B. Stewart rolled a 599. Thilman contributed a 206 game.

“For the most part you’re seeing the seniors pretty much step up and bowl like seniors,” said Hay. “Senior year, especially this year, you never know how people will respond. They’re doing a fantastic job.”

The CHS boys team did not fare as well as their female counterparts over the past week but they finished the week with much stronger play.

In their match at Alton, they ended up with a 20-20 tie.

Ethan Gardner fired a 287 game on his way to a 734 series. Logan O’Donnell rolled a 617 series. Brandon Campbell also fired a 266 game.

The following day they took advantage of their home lanes by beating Edwardsville 36-4. Gardner with a 620 and Nathan Hay with a 608 led the way.

Campbell had a 234 game and Bryson Hartman had a high game of 221.

“The first half of this last week, obviously Ethan bowled really well, but we just weren’t hitting on all cylinders,” coach Hay said.

They traveled to St. Clair Bowl last Thursday for the first of two contests with O’Fallon and returned on the wrong side of the team score in a 37-7 loss.

Individually, three Kahoks had series over 600. Campbell fired a 714 series, while Hay rolled a 669. Gardner came in with a 638 series.

The following day they returned to the same lanes and bowled better but not quite good enough as a team and they fell 28-12 to O’Fallon.

Campbell fired a 697 to lead the way. Hay at 663, Gardner at 659, and O’Donnell at 649 also shot well on the day.

For the afternoon, the Kahoks rolled a 3238 including back-to-back-to-back 1100 series.