ISLETA FUN CONNECTION

champs Alex Watanabe & Donius Jeffries II

        Alex Watanabe and Donius Jeffries II each earned their first JBT singles titles in exciting NM-TX Conference action at Albuquerque's Isleta Fun Connection.

        Bowlers competed in the always exciting 'super survivor' format, where the lowest game and the lowest totals are eliminated round by round until only the winner survives.  The scratch division was eventually squeezed down to three bowlers, and in that penultimate round Josh Helmick rolled 234 and Watanabe fired 238 to eliminate Cortez Schenck (156) and advance to the final game.

        The title match was a grind-out, not uncommon on the day's difficult lane pattern, one of the toughest of the season.  Alex appeared to have the match locked up with a tenth frame spare, but a 6-count on the fill ball gave Helmick an unexpected second chance.  Now needing all three to win, Helmick carried through the nose on his first ball, went brooklyn on his second ball, but another high hit on the final ball (after a brave ball change) only got an 8-count, leaving him on the short end of a 180-179 thriller.  It's Watanabe's first career JBT singles title to go along with a doubles win earlier this season.

        Eighteen handicap survivors were also eventually carved down to three, and in that game Jeffries' 235 was plenty good, and Trevor Hicks' 209 was good enough for second, while Nathan Tran (171) was eliminated in third.  In the resulting title game, Donius stayed in control the entire time, and his 208-165 win was good for the first title of his JBT career.

        Alyssa Williams' debut in the JBT Women's Series title match was an auspicious one, as she blasted a 255 game for a win over Adel Wahner for the first girls' title of her career.

        Thanks as always to the great team at Isleta for hosting our Tour.  Want in on all the excitement?  Just check out our schedule and come on down, that's all you have to do!

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