RED ROCK LANES

champs Jakob Butturff & Anthony Dang

        Two bowlers having incredible seasons continued on red-hot rolls in exciting JBT Mojave Conference action at Red Rock Lanes.

        Thomas Nute opened the scratch division stepladder finals with a 206-204 win over Oscar Chan.  Derek Acuff then came on to defeat Nute 244-214.  In the semifinals, Eric Hatchett stopped Acuff 238-169, setting up a 1-vs.2 match in Mojave scratch points for the title.

        #1 of course is top seed Jakob Butturff, who has been close to unstoppable this year, and he was here as well, taking over the lead in round four and not looking back.  Last time these two faced each other for a title, they made history as Butturff won the match 300-279, for only the third-ever title match perfect game.   This time, poor Eric "only" threw a 231 game, and watched Butturff string them again, tossing the front eleven and getting one shot away from being the only bowler to throw a title match 300 twice.  However, the fascinating subplot was that it was also 'endless tenth' format, so Eric (who struck on his fill ball) had a chance no matter what Jakob did- which meant if Jakob threw anything but a 300, he'd be 'frozen' at his final score, and it would be Hatchett who had a chance at a most improbable win.  That's exactly what happened, as Butturff left an 8-pin for a brilliant 299, but also giving Hatchett a chance to throw the next seven strikes for the win.  Everyone knows Eric can strike for days, and as he got to his second strike, the atmosphere was getting electric.  However, he couldn't strike on his third bonus ball, and a relieved Butturff claimed the 19th win of his JBT career with the breathtaking victory.

        Andrew Valdez opened the handicap division stepladder finals with a 209-198 win over Randi Speiler.  Valdez then rolled past David Galvan, who was making his third consecutive finals, 231-182.  The next match was a thriller, with Anthony Dang getting the last four strikes for a 237-227 win to advance to the title match.

        Top seed Jacob Potts , recently returned from a long break, had his best tournament since the hiatus to grab the tournament lead.  However, he ran into a buzzsaw in Dang, who is on a roll this winter, especially in Mojave events.  He cruised in the title match 244-180 for his third JBT of the season and his career.

        Speiler looked to avenge her finals loss against Megan Carlson in the JBT Women's Series title match, but a tenth frame opened turned the tables, and Carlson won the match 223-216 for the title, her 6th of the season.

        Thanks to the crew at Red Rock for another great job hosting us.  Want in on all this wild, amazing fun?  Check out our schedule and come on down to the next JBT event, it's that simple!