SILVA LANES

champs Derek Acuff & KJ Martinez

            Arizona- and, evidently, mohawks- invaded Albuquerque on Sunday, as Derek Acuff and KJ Martinez captured titles in NM-TX Conference action at Silva Lanes.

            Josh Helmick, a handicap star last year, broke through for his first scratch finals, but fell to Zach Martinez 195-178 in round one of the stepladder.  Riley Dempsey, the previous day's champion, then beat Zach 206-193.  Brian Burkett then ended Dempsey's shot at a doubleheader sweep with a 259-226 win to advance to his second straight title match, avenging his loss to Riley in yesterday's finale.

            Top seed Derek Acuff led since game two.  After a great year in handicap last year, he's made a smooth transition to scratch this season, making plenty of finals but unable to breakthrough in finals matches.  This one went down to the wire, and in the end it was frustration for Brian and jubilation for Derek, as Acuff's 226-224 win earned him his first scratch and fourth overall JBT title.

            KJ swept right up the handicap stepladder en route to victory.  He began with a 189-166 win over Stephanie Barela.  Martinez then beat Lindsey Ailport 189-169, and followed with a 238-167 win over Nick Sanchez to reach the final game.

            Top seed Audrey Campbell bowled extremely well all day, leading four rounds to grab the top seeded position.  However, KJ is an experienced veteran even at his age, and he avenged a heartbreaking title match loss last week with a confident 247-187 win over Audrey, good for his 3rd career JBT title, and continuing the Martinez dominance of the weekend, with Zach and sister Brooke all making finals, and unrelated Linzi winning the day before!

            Thanks as always to Silva for being great hosts of our Tour.  A big turnout helped us award over $2,000 in scholarships- plenty of tournaments are left, so keep spreading the word to bowlers of all ages and averages that JBT is for them, too!