Lady Bucs, Blue Thunder head for regional bowling tourney

By Bob Balgemann

REPORTER

The postseason is about to begin for the girls bowling teams at Belvidere and Belvidere North.

Meanwhile, Belvidere North sophomore Justin Bragg came close but didn’t make it to Saturday’s final round of the boys’ state bowling tournament in downstate O’Fallon.

He shot a six-game 1,210 series on Friday, Jan. 27 in the preliminary competition at state, averaging 201.7 per game. He finished 78th on opening day, with this year’s cut among individuals being at 67.

There were 127 bowlers at state this year, either having qualified unattached or with an advancing team. Neither Belvidere nor Belvidere North reached state as a team.

Saturday’s girls regional is at Boylan Catholic High School. The field consists of the two Belvidere teams along with NIC-10 champion Harlem, Auburn, Marengo, Christian Life, Rockford East, Rockford Guilford, Rockford Lutheran, Rockford Christian, Hononegah, and South Beloit.

Qualifying teams and individuals will advance to the sectional tournament, being held this year at Forest Hills Lanes in Loves Park, home of the Belvidere Lady Bucs. Also moving on to that location will be qualifiers from regionals in Grayslake Central and Dundee-Crown.

The state tournament will be held again at The Cherry Bowl in nearby Cherry Valley, Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18.

North finished the league season with a 7-2 record, good for third place behind Guilford (8-1) and undefeated Harlem (9-0). Belvidere was 5-4, good for fifth place.

The Lady Blue Thunder have qualified for state the last two years, finishing seventh in 2015 and eighth in 2016.

This year’s varsity utilized the talents of nine girls, led by junior Brynn Lambrecht. She averaged 206 with a high game of 257 and a high series of 726. Another junior, Kylie Johnson, carried a 200 average with a 268 high game and 702 high series.

Also contributing for North were Rachel Nelson, Alexis Bendorf, Sydney Baird, Camile Spencer, Giovannini Castaldo, Emily Nakashima, and Cailyn Kottman.

Bendorf had a team-best 739 series, which was No. 3 among individuals in the NIC-10. Lambrecht’s 726 was fifth best in the conference.

Team-wise, North’s 1,299 single game and 3,726 series each ranked third in the conference. Both the single game and series came in the last match of the season, a 3,726-2,544 rout of Boylan Catholic.

Belvidere had just six in its varsity lineup, led by Hailey Carter with a 196 average, personal best single game of 267 and a 634 series. Holley Steelberg carried a 191 average and had a team-high 256 single game and a 669 series. Alexis Sherman also had a 256 game.

The rest of the varsity for the Lady Bucs consisted of Elyce Turnipseed, Hannah Whidby, and Hannah Lowery.