SURF BOWL

champs Solomon Salama & Justin Phillips Jr with Kevin Banaag, Braeden Phillips, & Michaela Buhain; Banaag and his sign at last

        Solomon Salama and Justin Phillips Jr picked up JBT titles in exciting So Cal Conference action at Surf Bowl in Oceanside.

        Kevin Banaag began a climb up the scratch division stepladder with a 212-180 win over Matt Chesnut.  Salama then took over, getting past Banaag and then stopping Ryan Lee's fine day to reach the title game.

        Top seed Kyle Andrews had his best ever day in the scratch division, leading seven of eight rounds, doubling second place's total after qualifying and consolidating that lead with a good semifinal set.  However, the title match was not as kind, as he could not get zeroed in on the pair.  Salama showed another sign of his quickly rising stardom as he wasn't sharp enough to lap the field, but dug deep in his toolkit of adjustments to get the look he needed in the finals, beating Andrews 208-169 for the sixth title of his JBT career.

        Michaela Buhain snuck into the handicap finals, and then caught fire, starting with a 209-141 decision over Kyle Perry.  She then stormed to a 260-201 win over Simon Ortega, and followed with another big game, this one good for a 253-206 win over Braeden Phillips, to reach the title match.

        Braden's big brother Justin was just as dominant in handicap as Kyle was in scratch, leading the event since game two.  Buhain had looked unstoppable but in the finale Justin was able to avenge his brother with a 242-216 win, good for his first career JBT title.

        Banaag got his revenge against Salama with a front-8, U-17 winning performance, only the second bowler to beat Solomon in a U17 final.  Buhain capped off her excellent day with a squeaker win over Renee Gentry for the Priority Girls Scratch crown.

        Huge thanks to Chris Andrews at MSC for a very generous contribution to the weekend's prize funds, which combined with our other great sponsors and terrific host Surf Bowl's accommodating rates, allowed over $4,000 to be awarded to all ages and averages!  Want in on all this fun for everyone?  Just check out our schedule and come on down!