Bowlers Start Strong, Advance To Sectional

A fast start led to just the right finish Saturday for the Evanston boys bowling squad.

The Wildkits rode that fast start at the New Trier Regional tournament to a berth in next Saturday’s Warren Sectional, earning automatic advancement as a team with a 3rd place finish in the 12-team field.

Evanston’s total pinfall of 5,920 was easily enough to join Glenbrook North (6,196), Lake Zurich (6,022) and Barrington (5,705) as full team qualifiers for the sectional. The top 10 individual scorers who weren’t members of those qualifying teams also advanced to the sectional, which will be held at Bertrand Bowl in Waukegan starting Saturday at 9 a.m.

The top 6 scoring teams at each sectional will advance to the Illinois High School Association state finals.

At the regional, ETHS placed three individuals in the top 12. Junior Kaelexx Oats (259-236-224-1264) finished 8th, freshman Anthony Swanson (227-223-218-208—1260) was right behind him in 9th, and senior Caleb DeSavieu (202-236-247-210-1236) finished 12th for the Kits.

Also contributing for Evanston were senior Graham McKee with a six-game total of 1101, including a high game of 222. Ryan Schreiber (885 in three games), Julian Walker (385 in two games) and Augie Ommen (140 in his only game) also helped Evanston advance to the next level.

“It was a really good start for us, for the first time ever at a regional,” said veteran head coach Harold Bailey. “We had (team scores of) 1,000s in our first three games and that was our goal, so we could get off on the right foot. I’d rather be the chasee and not be chasing other teams is situations where you’re trying to get into the next round, like we have in the past.

“It’s definitely a question of focus when you get to this point. You have to block out so many things, because there are so many moving parts, and try to fill as many frames as you can. Our focus today was good, even though we seemed to get a little tired at the end.”

The Wildkits built on their best regular season performance yet --- an overall won-loss record of 13-4 --- and benefited from a decision by Bailey to move freshman Swanson out of the anchor slot. Oats slipped into that spot instead and both bowlers thrived on Saturday, turning in their best efforts in Games 1 and 2 in the morning session to provide the Kits with a cushion the rest of the day.

“Anthony’s had a tremendous year for us,” Bailey praised, “but I wanted to take the pressure off him, so he didn’t feel like he had to carry the whole team. We changed the lineup, and I think it was good that we switched things up like that.

“Today was a good day for us. But it wasn’t our best day. This is a well-balanced team and we have a lot more left in the tank. Our goal is to advance to State as a team, and I think we can be scary when we get to playing our best.”