ANTELOPE LANES

champs Ben Canfield & Jake Hilton

        Two JBT veterans took big steps towards Bowler of the Year, winning titles in exciting Arizona Conference action at Prescott's Antelope Lanes.

        The scratch division stepladder finals had the added twist of the 'endless tenth frame' format, where if you struck on your final shot, you could continue to add to your score as long as you kept striking, and this may have been the most exciting iteration of 'endless tenth' ever, as it was involved in all four matches.  In the opener, Curtis Lindeman had the chance to swipe the first match away from Jakob Butturff, but a solid-7 ended Curtis' day with a 202-193 loss to Jakob.   The tables were turned in the next match when Jakob now had to chance to take round two away from Ben Canfield, but a brutal solid-9 let Ben escape with the 211-206 win.   Another thriller in the semifinals finally went the way of the trailing bowler, as Canfield got the strike he needed on his bonus ball to upset fellow ASU teammate Russ Oviatt 216-211.

        Joe Grondin, who broke through for his first career JBT title two weeks ago in California, found himself with a chance for a second one by leading the event here.  The match was an instant classic.  Grondin finished first at a very nice 236 with a strike on his fill, and watched as Canfield went strike-9-spare in his tenth to tie the game at 236!  This meant Joe now needed one 'endless tenth' strike to win it all, but didn't get that hit.  Now it changed to a standard one-shot rolloff, and there Ben beat Joe 10-9 in a heartbreaker for Grondin but a thriller for Canfield.  It's the 16th JBT title of Ben's excellent JBT career.

        Max Polhill began a run up the handicap division stepladder with a 222-205 win over Samantha Sellers.  He then outstruck Rashaad Jordan 243-207, before Chris Rouse turned the tables on him with a 249-218 win to move on to the title match.

        Top seed Jake Hilton continued his excellent season by leading the event here, but had his hands full against Rouse, who looked confident in his home bowling center.  However, Hilton had enough left for a 215-207 win, good for the 3rd title of his JBT career.  Hilton moved up to second in points with the win, while Canfield increased his narrow lead over Cortez Schenck in the scratch division.

        Heather Penatzer is making a fine run of her own up the Women's Series points list, and she notched another win in that category with a 197-170 victory over Samantha Sellers to capture the day's Women's Series event.

        Thanks as always to the crew at Antelope for a great job hosting us in our visit to the beautiful Prescott Valley area.  Want in on all this fun and excitement?  Just check out our schedule and come on down!