Boys Bowling: Sandburg’s Kopera rallies for title; Andrew wins team crown

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Updated: February 23, 2012 8:18AM

In a day full of surprises at the Andrew Sectional in boys bowling Saturday, another was developing as Sandburg’s Joey Kopera trailed Southland College Prep’s Perry Sibby for the individual lead entering the final game.

Kopera rose to the occasion with his second consecutive 258 to take the crown at Orland Bowl with a six-game pinfall of 1,402.

Andrew rolled to the team title with a pinfall of 6,190 to punch its ticket to the state tournament next week in O’Fallon.

“This is awesome,” Kopera said. “It’s just unreal. Winning [the SouthWest Suburban Blue] last week was nothing compared to what I’m feeling right now.”

Sibby, a sophomore who competed at the junior-varsity level with his team through the season, held on for second place with 1,344 pins. He will be the first athlete to represent the newly opened school at a state event.

“This means a lot,” he said. “I’m happy and thankful. Getting to state for my school was something I’ve always wanted to do.”

Josh Dory (8th, 1,271) and Justin Finnen (10th, 1,250) led Andrew, which topped Lincoln-Way East (6,000) by 190 pins.

“It was a total team effort,” Andrew coach Mark Lobes said. “[East] got strong, and I told my team, ‘Do you want to finish first or second? They decided to blow [East] out of the water.”

The Griffins, whose previous best finish in a six-game tournament this year was sixth, stunned the field by gaining the second ­advancing spot to state.

Brandon Nathan (12th, 1,249) led East, which thrived on balance.

“You could lose every single thing up until [Saturday], and if you step up at sectionals, it doesn’t matter,” East coach Mike Teare said. “We had by far our best day of the season.”

Ag Science’s Marcus Bradfield (1,315) finished third and had an outside shot of gaining a wild card to state.

Shepard (5,874), Sandburg (5,847) and Lincoln-Way North (5,629) rounded out the team top five.