SOUTH PLAINS LANES

champs Aaron Johnston & Josh Demick

        Two new bowlers became JBT champions in an exciting and high-scoring New Mexico-Texas Conference event hosted by South Plains Lanes in Lubbock.

        Michael Hopkins, who excited the crowd with one of two 300 games on the day, opened up the scratch division stepladder finals with a 254-237 win over Aaron Foshie.  The next match was indicative of the day's stratospheric scoring pace, as Hopkins edged Nick Lee 259-255.  In the semifinals, former NM-TX Invitational champ Stephen Planer stopped Hopkins' run 223-209 to set up a title match between West Texas A&M bowlers. 

        Top seed Aaron Johnston enjoyed one of the better single-day performances of the season, opening with 267-299-794 to make a legitimate run at some of our all-time scoring records.  He cooled off some afterwards but still led after all eight rounds.  The demonstrative Planer never gives up without a fight though, but in the end it was way too much Johnston, as he pulled away for a 269-247 win and a very impressive first title of his JBT career.

        Zachary Wojciechowski, who has generously agreed to henceforth let us call him 'Wojo', opened the handicap division of the stepladder finals with a 201-192 win over Shawna Bellman.  Demick then took over, beating Wojo 205-197, and following with a 237-189 win over Kayla Endicott, making her first NM-TX top 5 after a mover from Arizona (where she has a win to her credit).

        Top seed Kayla Goad outpaced a field where the 5-game cut was a whopping +81, tied for 4-th highest all-time.  She had her hands full with Demick, though.  The second half of the title match was amazing, as both bowlers starting strings in the sixth frame that they never stopped.  Kayla, giving 29 pins, led by 24 after six frames, and as she struck all the way out for 257 scratch, Demick stayed right with her for the back six for 230 scratch, resulting in a dramatic 275-273 win- what a way to win your first title!  Goad's runner-up finish did get her much closer to all-conference points leader Cortez Schenck, who settled for 7th on the day.

       Labriel Leach fired the day's other 300 game, the 4th of his JBT career, one of very few to ever accomplish that.  For those of you confused by his reaction, he took a vow of silence on a bet from his traveling buddies, which he even maintained through the perfecto (but has since rescinded)!

        Thanks as always to Jim and the whole crew at South Plains for always making this a favorite stop on the JBT calendar.  Over $1,500 in scholarships were awarded- if you want on the most fun tournaments around, bar none, check out our schedule and come on out to the next JBT event, that's really all there is to it!