DEER VALLEY LANES

champs Russ Oviatt & Cristian Roque

        Russ Oviatt and Cristian Roque each earned exciting JBT victories in Arizona Conference action at Deer Valley Lanes.

        Dallas Leong began the scratch division stepladder finals with a 222-142 win over Nick Pollak, who bravely fought through the match after a nasty fall in the last semifinal game.  Ben Canfield then beat Leong 212-180, and followed with a 224-188 win over Cortez Schenck to reach the title game.

        Russ Oviatt was stuck in sixth place with one game to go, then fired 278 to vault all the way to the top seed.  He continued that roll by running the front eight strikes, looking to become the first bowler to ever shoot 300 twice in a JBT title match.  The string ended in the ninth, but he still cruised over his ASU teammate in a 266-224 win, good for the 8th title of his JBT career.

         Rachael Berg began an 80% female handicap finals with a 215-191 win over first-time finalist Sarah Halligan.  Berg then turned it up a lot, beating talented New Mexican Vanessa Romero 262-183.  Washington's Brooke Collins then defeated Berg 222-211 to advance to the title match.

        Cristian Roque defended the guys' honor by claiming the top seed, like Russ, with a big last semifinal game.   The title match turned into a struggle, with both bowlers below the torrid pace they each set earlier.  However, Brooke pulled it together with late marks, forcing Roque to do the same.  After converting a 10-pin in the ninth, he spared a 3-6-10 in the tenth to lock up a 176-167 win and his first career JBT title.

        Collins and Romero also found themselves in the Women's Series title game, and Brooke was dominant in that one, beating Vanessa 214-157 for the day's girl's crown.

        Thanks as always to the crew at Deer Valley for a great job hosting us, as well as Racks Pro Shop for their continued sponsorship of Arizona Conference events.  Want in on all this fun?  Just check out our schedule and come on down!