LP_011719

36 | January 17, 2019 | The Lockport Legend sports
lockportlegend.com
Boys Bowling
Porters make cut as team for Andrew Sectional
LTHS has four
bowlers average
over 200 to place
third at regional
Randy Whalen
Freelance Reporter
The math was simple for
the Lockport Township boys
bowling team.
Finish in the Top 4 as a
team, and move on. If not,
the team portion of the season
was over.
The Porters are moving
on.
With four bowlers averaging
better than 200, Lockport
placed third in the Bolingbrook
Regional, which was
held on Saturday, Jan. 12,
at Brunswick Zone in Woodridge.
Plainfield South (6,290),
which won the state championship
in the 2009-2010
season, captured the regional
title. That was the first one
for the Cougars in school
history. Plainfield North
(6,119), Lockport (6,066)
and Plainfield Central
(5,978) rounded out the Top
4 teams, which advance to
the Andrew Sectional, which
will be held this Saturday,
Jan. 19, at Orland Bowl in
Orland Park.
Oswego (5,865) finished
in fifth, 113 pins out of the
final spot. Oswego East
( 5,650) was sixth, followed
by Yorkville (5,525),
Bolingbrook (5,409), Plainfield
East (5,338), Mendota
(5,236), Romeoville (5,161)
and Lemont (4,923), which
rounded out the Top 12
teams.
“We live to bowl another
day,” Lockport coach Ron
Davis said. “It was a grind
all day, but we were able to
stay ahead of Oswego and
Oswego East. Our low game
Lockport’s Jim Kontos lines up a shot during a meet earlier this season. 22nd Century Media File Photo
was a 938 [in Game 5], so
we stayed away from the bad
game.”
The Porters high game
was a 1,085 in the sixth and
final one. That moved them
back into third place. But
either third or fourth, the
name of the game was to
advance.
“That’s how the [Brunswick
Zone in Woodridge]
is,” Davis said. “It was
good. Our Top 4 guys were
all within [57 pins] of each
other. Sometimes, we got a
little too tied up in the highs
and lows, but Jimmy Rozhon
got some strikes when
we needed them.”
Rozhon, one of four seniors
in the regional lineup,
finished with the secondhighest
score on the team
with a total of 1,250. His
high was 245 in the fourth
game.
“We came in and knew
what we had to do,” Rozhon
said. “If we did that, we’d
be fine. But in the sectional
bowling, we have to be better
because there’s better
competition. But we want to
get back to state.”
The Porters won a regional
title last season but missed
the cutoff for state for the
first time since 2012.
Senior Evan Pleshar
(1,269, high of 225 in Game
6) led Lockport in last week’s
regional. Then came Rozhon,
and junior Ray Bufka
(1,238, high of 235 in Game
6) followed. Sophomore
Jimmy Kontos (1,212, high
of 255 in Game 2) rounded
out the four Porter bowlers
that rolled every game. Caleb
Derrig (570, high of 193
in Game 4) bowled the final
three games, while fellow
senior Jake Grau (527, high
of 203 in Game 2) was in
the lineup for the first three
games.
“We came in and knew what we
had to do.”
Jimmy Rozhon — Lockport senior bowler, on the
regional meet
Obviously, the Porters are
happy to advance to the sectional.
But they know with
16 good teams there, they
will have to bowl better this
weekend.
“We had four guys leave
an open in one frame,”
Davis said of the regional.
“That shouldn’t happen in
the regional and can’t happen
in the sectional if we
hope to advance. I figure
there are 11 teams that can
pop out of the sectional and
six make it to state. It’s going
to be tough, but I tell the
guys that our goal is to beat
10 teams. If we do, we advance
to state.”