WHITEWOOD LANES

champ Kellen Lavery

        Kellen Lavery joined the JBT champions club by beating a strong field in a brutal forma, in exciting Saturday night action at Whitewood Lanes in Lubbock.

        After 5 games of matchplay on the flat PBA Bear pattern, the top 8 competed in the popular but grueling Battle Bag format, where when you lose a game, your opponent takes a ball out of play, until you're out of equipment and thus eliminated.  The first round was best 3-of-5, and it was bad news for Vanessa Romero, who wowed n qualifying to take the lead, but was upset by Levi Fintel in 5 tough games.  In other matches, Lavery swept Carson Opela , William Yoder stopped Harley Sweigart 3-1, and in a terrific comeback, Donius Jeffries, the only handicap division regular to make the cut, came back from 2 games down (and thus with only one ball) to oust Chris Ortega.

        In best 2-of-3 semis, Lavery swept Fintel and Yoder stopped Jeffries' fine run to set up the single game final.  Both bowlers competed very well on the hyper-demanding Bear pattern, but a late-frame Greek Church from Yoder proved to be fatal.  Kellen won the match 193-191, for a well-deserved first title of his JBT career.

        Big thanks to Bill and Monica Wood and the team at Whitewood for allowing us the lanes and linage on a busy Saturday night to make this event happen.  Want in on the unique formats and fun that only JBT provides?  Just check out our schedule and come on down!

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