Canoga Park Bowl

champs Cameron Smith & Isaiah Cleveland

    Cameron Smith and Isaiah Cleveland wrapped up a big weekend at Canoga Park with singles victories in exciting JBT Southern California Conference action.

    Both divisions used the 'pba' format, with the top 16 bowlers playing best 2-of-3 matches after a 5 game qualifier.  This is a format that can sometimes lead to big upsets, but the scratch division held to form in round one, with the top 4 seeds all advancing.  In the round of 8 that changed though, as only #3 James Hawkins avoided the upset, beating #6 Aaron Foshie 2-1 to move on.  Meanwhile, top seed and 47-time JBT champ Kyle King fell 2-1 to #8 Zach Martinez; #4 Labriel Leach was iced by #7 Riley Dempsey 2-1, and Smith ousted #2 Ryan Peden 2-1.

    In single game semifinal matches, Martinez edged Dempsey 231-228, while Smith turned the tables on the high-scoring Hawkins (who fired a 299, the event's high game, earlier in the day) with a 279-225 win to set up the title match.  In the finale, Smith took control early and never looked back en route to a 248-207 win over Zach.  The victory was the 17th of his outstanding JBT career, good for sole possession of 7th place on our all-time title list.

    Top handicap division seed Jacob Camacho dominated the qualifying round, leading all 5 games, and continued that domination in a 2-0 sweep of #16 KJ Martinez in round one of matchplay.  #2 seed Kyle Andrews was upset by #15 Elias Torres though, but #3 Andrew Svoren had no problems with #14 Jenny Phandanouvong in a 2-0 sweep.  Cleveland came in as the #13 seed, and was one shot away from elimination in this round, but #4 Carol Chui's pocket 7-10 in the tenth let Isaiah squeak by 2-1 and survive.

    Camacho had an even tougher second round match against #9 Shauna Schultz, and it wasn't until the last ball in a 241-234 game 3 victory that he was able to advance.  Cleveland meanwhile had a battle with #7 Kyli Selley before emerging 2-1 (230-221 in game 3).  Torres advanced with a 2-1 battle over #12 Mark Hugelmaier, and Svoren caught fire with back to back 267 games to oust #6 Jamie Spector.

    In single game semifinal matches, Svoren defeated Torres 225-193, while Cleveland stopped Camacho's excellent run 245-197 to set up the title game.  It was a well-bowled finale from both players, but Isaiah's tenth frame strike sealed a 234-219 win and the championship, the second of his JBT career.

    Thanks as always to the crew at Canoga for hosting this terrific JBT weekend.  Over $1,700 in scholarships were awarded at this event, bringing the total to nearly $5,000 for this weekend alone.  Want in all this fun?  Come on down to the next JBT event, it really is as simple as that!