Kahok girls turn the calendar to 2025

by Mark Jurgena

It was a good day for the Collinsville girls bowling team on Jan. 4 at S.I. Bowl in Carterville.

The Kahoks fell in the semifinals of the Baker style dual match tournament to eventual champion Belleville East by a count of 439-406 after beating Mt. Vernon 404-297 in the quarterfinals.

East went on to beat O’Fallon 348-310 in the championship.

“Our top three girls all had good mornings,” said Hay. “That’s what we haven’t seen in a tournament yet. We’ve always got two going and maybe another doing okay, well (on Saturday) all three of them were over 200.

“Laila (Jaoko) finished second,” said Hay. “She missed a spare that she wouldn’t normally miss in the last game. It cost her first place but she’s fine with it. She’s not fine with it but she knows it isn’t the end of the world. She finished the morning with a 688 series.”

Kellen Stephens finished with a 665 finishing third in the morning with Caici Buckman finishing just out of the medals in sixth place with a 640 series.

“They were all throwing pretty well,” Hay said. “Laila threw one of the best looking tournaments in the Baker sets. You don’t know how they do individually in that portion of the tourney. Kellen looked dominant as well and Caici looked like she did really well also.”

Alayna Lange shot a 498 for the morning.

“Alayna had a tough morning but she was able to pull through in the afternoon,” said Hay.

  Kahok freshman Emmalynn Williams fired a 386 for the morning.

“With our low numbers we’ve had to play some girls that wouldn’t be in varsity otherwise and it’s not fair to those girls because of varsity expectations,” said Hay. “Specifically Emmalynn. Her game now is a lot better than it was at the beginning of the year. She’s starting to repeat shots and become more consistent. That sounds simple but it’s a big step.

“She has been doing better and better. In this past tournament once we got to the Baker part, she was much more consistent.”

Lilia Herman of Mascoutah shot a 699 to take the title in the morning rounds.

Stephens had the second highest game of the day with a 258 with Jaoko rolling a 246 to place fifth in that category. Herman’s 279 was the high game.

Upcoming Schedule

The Kahoks were back in action against Edwardsville at Edison’s Entertainment Complex on Wednesday before hosting O’Fallon at Camelot Bowl.

Saturday they are at St. Clair Bowl for the Panther Team Challenge.

On Monday, they travel to Bowl Haven Lanes in Alton to take on the Redbirds.

Next Saturday they will be in the IHSA Regional at West Park Lanes in Columbia.

The Kahoks enter the week at 4-2 in dual matches.