Boys Bowling: Andrew in second at state meet

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Updated: March 1, 2012 8:11AM

Andrew coach Mark Lobes went into Day 1 of the Boys State Bowling Meet with a goal of being in the top three at the end of the day.

With his team in ninth place after Friday’s morning session, though, the focus shifted to simply making the cut for the second day by finishing in the top 12.

“The message going into the afternoon was, ‘We don’t want to drive home tonight,’ ” Lobes said. “We moved to the left side of the house in the afternoon and the kids liked that. They became super-confident and we kept moving up.”

The Thunderbolts moved up enough to eclipse their coach’s original goal. They finished with a six-game pinfall of 6,275, good enough for second place behind host O’Fallon (6,341) entering the final day of competition at St. Clair Bowl in O’Fallon.

Andrew’s Josh Powell is second individually after a 1,388 series, just one pin behind Romeoville’s Corey McReady.

Josh Dory (1,250), Justin Finnen (1,225), Kyle Damon (1,216) and Kyle Krol (1,196) also contributed for Andrew.

“In the afternoon we woke up more and bonded well as a team,” Powell said. “I was more consistent with my shot. The biggest key (Saturday) is to stay focused.”

After putting up scores of 1,058 and 1,023 in Games 4 and 5, respectively, Andrew moved up to fifth. The Thunderbolts made the leap to second when, with most teams struggling to close out the day, they put up a team-best 1,120 in the final game.

Also advancing to the second day was Richards (6,089). The Bulldogs scored a meet-best 1,172 in Game 3 and were in third place after the morning session before fading to end the day in eighth.

Richards coach Kari Vanderjack nonetheless was thrilled.

“Our goal was to make it to the second day,” she said. “I think there were some nerves in the afternoon, but the kids fought through it. I’m very happy.”

David Walker (7th, 1,351) led the Bulldogs.

Lincoln-Way East’s Brandon Nathan (1,346) ended the day in 10th. After beginning with two sub-200 games, he averaged 244 over his final four.

“At the beginning of the day the lanes weren’t where I wanted them,” he said. “You’ve got to keep battling. It’s fantastic to be in top 10 and a great opportunity.”

Also advancing individually were Sandburg’s Joey Kopera (20th, 1,315), Argo’s Gerald Regep (22nd, 1,312) and Southland College Prep’s Perry Sibby (37th, 1,265).

Lincoln-Way East finished 14th, Oak Lawn 22nd and St. Rita 24th.