HH_113017

46 | November 30, 2017 | The Homer Horizon SPORTS
homerhorizon.com
Porters boys bowling defeats Andrew by 260 pins
LTHS has four
bowlers shoot over
400 for two-game
scores in victory
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
There will be a story to
tell at the 2020-2021 Lockport
Township winter sports
banquet.
That will be of the first
ball thrown by freshman Jim
Kontos last week in his first
boys bowling varsity start.
A gutter ball.
“If I’m still coach here in
three years, I will tell that
story at the winter awards
banquet,” Lockport coach
Ron Davis said. “His first
ball was a gutter ball, and
he picked his game up from
there. He has the ability to
strike. He had four open
frames on the day and still
did very well.”
Kontos sure did, registering
a two-game total of 435
(213, 222) and being one of
four Porters with a 400 or
better score as they toppled
Andrew 2,064-1,804 in a
SouthWest Suburban Conference
dual meet on Nov.
21 at Strike and Spare II in
Lockport.
Senior Alec Buchhaas
bowled an entirely clean two
games and led the way with
a 453 series (238, 215), as
Lockport (4-2, 3-1) remained
among the conference leaders
in the regular season.
“He did very well for his
first varsity match,” Buchhaas
said of Kontos. “We
have a lot of young guys,
and we’re doing well so far.
We’ve become a team, and
we try for that balance.”
A three-year starter who
was brought up to varsity
as a freshman, Buchhaas is
glad to be the seasoned veteran
on this season’s squad.
He polished off the opening
game with six-straight
strikes and opened the second
game with three more.
Of his spares, which he
picked all of them up, Buchhaas
had to convert one pin
on seven occasions, and a
pair of pins on two others.
“I’m glad to take the
leadership spot; I’ve been
waiting for that,” Buchhaas
said. “Everyone just hopes
to keep [the good season]
up. We’ve been successful,
and going to state is the goal
every year. We have another
really good group.”
Junior Ian Ditter with a
415 series (194, 221), senior
Mitch Gajda with a 400 series
(225, 175) that included
a turkey two days before
Thanksgiving to polish off
the opening game and junior
Evan Pleshar with a 361 series
(173, 188) rounded out
the Porters’ scores.
“It is good to have Alec
as a seasoned anchor man,”
Davis said of Buchhaas. “We
placed sixth out of 44 teams
at the Plainfield North Invite
[on Nov. 18], and that’s not
bad at all. We’re figuring out
where the chips are going to
fall. But I’ve been impressed
with what we’ve got so far.”
The state tournament is
just over a month away.
Lockport has made it to the
state finals the past five seasons,
including winning the
state title in 2013, and the
team hopes to qualify again.
The Thunderbolts (3-4,
0-3) saw a seven-season
state qualifying streak end
last season. That stretch included
a state championship
(2012) and a second-place
finish (2014). Against the
Porters, Andrew was led
by junior Trent Smith with
a 379 total (184, 195), who
had a trio of strikes to open
the second game and fired a
final strike to end it.
Lockport’s Evan Pleshar throws a practice ball prior to a match against Andrew Nov. 21 at Strike and Spare II in Lockport.
Photos by Adam Jomant/22nd Century Media
Junior Rich Payton followed
with a 374 (195, 179),
Louis Kerfman had a 364
(202, 162), fellow senior
Ethan Kosche shot a 345
(167, 178) and junior Jeff
Serafini with a 342 (172,
170) rounded out the T-Bolt
scores.
“We just don’t have the
depth,” Andrew coach Mark
Lobes said of this season’s
squad. “We only have two
seniors in this group. Two
years from now, we should
have some freshmen that are
phenomenal.
“But we still have time to
prepare this group for January.
Our goal is to get the
team out of the regional, get
to the sectional and see what
happens.”
The Porters closed last
week by participating at
the Plainfield South Invite
on Friday, Nov. 24 at Town
and Country Lanes in Joliet.
The Porters come together as a team before the match against Andrew.
There they placed seventh
overall. Buchhaas (1,269)
placed sixth individually,
and senior Keith Pintoy
(1,204) was 21st overall.
This week was slated to
bring a SWSC Blue matchup
against Bolingbrook on
Tuesday, Nov. 28, at Brunswick
Zone in Woodridge.
This Thursday, Nov. 30 at
4:30 p.m. is a home nonconference
dual meet against
Plainfield South at Strike and
Spare II. This Saturday, Dec.
2 at 8:30 a.m., Lockport travels
to the Oak Forest Bengal
Invite at Oak Forest Bowl.