Cactus Bowl

champs Riley Dempsey & Alyssa Williams (the pickle approves!)

        Riley Demspey added another title to his quickly growing collection, while Alyssa Williams tasted victory for the first time, in exciting JBT Arizona Conference action at Tucson's Pickle Bowl.

        The Scorpion pattern laid out proved to be one of the lowest scoring tournaments of the year, in direct contrast to the strike-fest on the previous day's house pattern.  Marks were at a premium, and that was reflected in the opening round of the scratch division stepladder finals, when both bowlers opened in the tenth frame, resulting in a 181-176 win for Washington's Tyler Boe.  Joe Lewandowski then rolled the 5th highest game of the entire tournament- 228!- to eliminate Boe.  Dempsey then turned the tables on Lewandowski, 183-160, to reach the title match.

        Top qualifier Tim Crosswhite used a big final game to leap into the lead for the first time in his JBT career, but could not get it going in the title match.  Riley made a big move right and threw enough good shots for it to pay off in a 193-175 win, good for the 9th title of his JBT career, and regaining the points lead over Kyle King with the big double points title.

       Kristen Lee opened the handicap division stepladder finals with a 195-186 win over Jacob DiGiacomo, one of the youngest bowlers to make a top-5 (but the second of the season for him).  Joshua Smith then snuck by Lee 213-208, and followed with a 226-215 win over Alex Pellegrino, who led much of the day, to reach the title match.

        Top seed Alyssa Williams made the trip to Arizona from Las Cruces worth it by leading a JBT event for the first time.  She stayed in control the entire title match, and finished off the day with a 209-184 win over Smith, capturing the first title of her JBT career, and joining big brother Ahkeen as JBT champs.

         Thanks as always to Dale Schnell and the crew at Cactus, a longtime supporter of JBT, for hosting the event, which awarded over $1,300 in scholarships to all ages and averages.  Want in on the fun?  Come on out to the next JBT, it's that simple!