CANOGA PARK BOWL

champs Matt Jones and Brandon Turner

Matt Jones and Brandon Turner each tasted JBT victory for the second time this season in exciting So Cal Conference action at Canoga Park Bowl.

Turner squeaked into the #5 position for the finals by just one pin, then proceeded to climb the ladder for the title.  He began by doubling in the tenth for a 228-225 win over Drew Stern in round one.  Brandon did it again in round two, doubling to shut out Kaitlin Mayall (who fired a 290 game in qualifying), 262-246.  In another high scoring match he beat Kaitlin Silva in the semifinals 264-242 to reach the title match.

Top seed Nick Minot was enjoying great success in his first JBT event, which he only was able to be at because of a weather-cancelled baseball game.  A close battle with Turner made for a great title match, but in the end Brandon needed just a mark to win.  However, Turner came up with his first bad shot in the tenth frame all day, leaving a 3-6-9-10.  Despite looking like a chop, all four pins fell on the spare, and he sealed up his second win of the season. 

The scratch division used our PBA format, with a cut to the top 16 followed by best 2-of-3 matchplay.  The #1 jinx remained alive and well, as top seed Mark French looked unbeatable, but still fell in 3 games to #16 Matt Cormack because of a 10th frame open.  

In the round of 8, Cormack swept #8 Devin Bidwell, while every other match went three games.  In those battles, #6 JR Monteith got by #13 Preston Fukumizu, #3 Kyle King defeated #5 Greg Geering, and #2 Matt Jones got past #10 Cameron Smith.

In one game semifinal matches, Cormack defeated Monteith 216-159, and Jones edged King 199-194, to reach the title match.

The title game turned out to be one of the very best in JBT history.  On a challenging lane condition (Viper), Jones finished with 234, forcing Cormack to strike out just to tie.  Matt was up to the task, flushing all three for the tie, moving us to a one-shot rolloff.  Electing to go first, Jones struck.  Cormack was clutch again, striking to re-tie.  After a second strike from Jones, Cormack again struck to set up a third rolloff.  This time, Jones blinked, leaving a 4-6.  However, Cormack blinked too, coming up high also and leaving a 2-4-7, stunning everyone and giving Jones his second win of the season. 

Big thanks to everyone at Canoga Park for a great job hosting our Tour again.  Only 67 bowlers shared in over $1,700 in scholarships awarded- want in on the fun?  Come on out to the next JBT event, it's as simple as that!  

For more info, feel free to write us at jbtsouthwest@aol.com.