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mokenamessenger.com sports
the Mokena Messenger | January 25, 2018 | 45
LW Central to state for first time since ‘08
RANDY WHALEN
Freelance Reporter
In sports people often refer
to the home field advantage.
For the Lincoln-Way Central
and Lincoln-Way West
boys bowling teams, it was
the home lanes advantage.
Led by individual champion
Alex Nolan and thirdplace
finisher Jack Davern,
Central cruised to the title of
its own sectional last weekend.
The Knights, who will
be making their first trip to
state since finishing third in
2008, led from the start and
put up a score of 6,343 on
Saturday, Jan. 20, at Laraway
Lanes in New Lenox.
That was 445 pins better
than runner-up Lincoln-Way
West (5,898), which also
calls Laraway Lanes home.
The Warriors, who were
equally led by their two
returning seniors, George
Dennison and Caleb Kirby
(1,232 each), jumped to second
in the final game and
advanced downstate for the
second straight season.
The other four qualifying
teams were Joliet West
(5,828), Minooka (5,789),
Plainfield Central (5,688)
and Oswego East (5,662).
The state finals are this
weekend, Friday, Jan. 26,
and Saturday, Jan. 27, at St.
Clair Bowl in O’Fallon.
A master motivator, Lincoln-Way
Central coach
Coley O’Connell made all
the right moves to get his
team ready.
“We have practiced for
this moment all season
long,” said O’Connell, who
wore special black, red and
white checkered pants for
the occasion. “We set up different
situations throughout
the season on the lanes. We
wanted to really frustrate the
kids. Get them used to any
situation we could possibly
think of to have no unknowns
when this time came. These
kids were mentally ready for
[the sectional]. We won four
tournaments this season and
have pointed to this for a
long time.
‘It’s a huge advantage to
bowl the sectional in your
own house, but we were the
only school to submit to the
IHSA to host the sectional.”
Nolan, a sophomore, finished
with a pinfall count
of 1,364. That was 12 pins
better than senior Matthew
McCarthy, a senior from
Chicago Christian. Nolan
had every game be a 200 or
better. He had a high of 244
in Game No. 2, during which
the Knights finished with a
1,254 total.
“I’m just happy to be able
to do that,” Nolan said of
winning the individual title.
“I never thought I’d be able
to with all these excellent
bowlers. But I was able to
maintain a [nearly] 230 average
for the day.
“Our goal was to make it
to state, since we were bowling
in our own house. Coach
[O’Connell] has thrown different
things at us all season.
He’d give us all these weird
things and situations, but it
helped at the end.”
The extremely large
crowd that was in attendance
for the sectional also got to
see something weird during
the intermission. That was
Davern working behind the
counter. His parents, Jerry
and Kim, have owned the
bowling alley for 10 years,
so he was pressed into duty
before heading back to bowl
the afternoon session.
“This means a lot,” Davern
said. “All the hard work paid
off. Give coach [O’Connell]
all the credit in the world for
making us better. It’s the first
Lincoln-Way Central’s Alex Nolan sends one down the lane during sectional play Saturday, Jan. 20 at Laraway Lanes in
New Lenox. Nolan finished with the top score of 1,364, and the Knights cruised to an overall first-place finish with a total
of 6,343. 22nd Century Media file photo
time for all of us at state. I’m
looking forward to bowling
our best and placing.”
Davern, a junior, finished
with a 1,341 total to grab
one of the Top 4 medalist
spots. He had a high of 266
in Game No. 2.
Steven Plane (1,226, high
of 246 in Game No. 2), who
won the individual title at
the Joliet West Regional the
week before, was 20th overall.
Fellow seniors Trevor
Amir (1,220, high of 234
in Game No. 2) and Ricky
Wesel (1,192, high of 264 in
Game No. 2) were right behind
for the Knights.
RIGHT: The Knights’ Steven
Plane, who finished 20th
overall, lets one fly during
sectional play. Geoff
Stellfox/22nd Century Media