THE ORLEANS

champs Kris George & Donovan Koff; Women's Series champ April Urban

           Two JBT veterans - even though their age difference is almost ten years - captured JBT titles in exciting 'survivor' action at The Orleans.

           After our 5-game qualifying block, the survivors rolled one-game, low-bowler-out matches the rest of the way, creating do-or-die situations all over the center.  Eventually the scratch field was whittled down to eight  In those matches, George beat Jordan Ferrer 242-192, Nathan Shock beat Brandon Allred 196-182, DJ Sloan got past James Hawkins (who averaged just under 250 in qualifying for the second straight day) 235-215, and Nathan Panaligan edged Cameron Smith 233-225.

           The round of 4 was bad news if you were named Nathan, as DJ beat Shock 204-199, and George beat Panaligan in a brilliant match 248-245, setting up an all-Vegas title match.  In that game, Kris stopped Sloan's attempt at two wins in the weekend with a 232-204 victory, good for the 18th title of his wonderful JBT career.

           Handicap survivors were eventually carved down to six.  In that round, Justin Villa beat Dylan Lucas 210-193, James Gabour squeaked by Randi Speiler 228-223, and Donovan Koff beat Trevor Hochman 210-198. 

          This set up a 3-way semifinal match, and Villa was the unfortunate low bowler out in that game, advancing Gabour and Koff to their first title match each.   If a bowler can possibly be a veteran at 10 years old, Donovan would qualify, having bowled regularly with us for a few seasons.  Gabour has bowled plenty of JBT tourneys as well, and finally had a breakthrough event to reach the title match.  In the end, it was Koff who came through with the win, and his first career JBT title.

        This event was also a JBT Women's Series tournament, with simultaneous girls'-only action simultaneous with the main tournament.  In an all-Vegas showdown, April Urban defeated Alyssa Madrid to capture her first Women's Series title, making her the 11th different girl to win in our first 11 Women's Series events.

   Thanks to the whole crew at The Orleans for always doing a great job hosting JBT events.  Over $1500 in scholarships were awarded to the happy crowd- did you miss it?  Why?  You're missing the best action in junior bowling, no matter what your age or average.  COme on down to the next JBT event and experience what we have to offer!

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