Lockport didn’t win its regional or sectional, but senior bowler Mike Pruchnik knew the Porters had the potential to beat anyone at state.
On Friday, the Porters picked a heck of a day to have their best performance of the season.
Lockport piled up 6,777 pins over six games to take the lead after the first day of the state bowling finals at St. Clair Bowl in O’Fallon. The Porters finished 155 pins ahead of Stevenson.
“The time is now,” Pruchnik said. “There’s no looking back. This was the right time to bring our best game. We’re ecstatic. We’ve never bowled this good, ever.”
Pruchnik and junior teammate Andy Sims were tied for 14th individually with 1,377 pins (230 average). The pair were 86 pins behind leader Nate Stubler of LaSalle-Peru.
Noah Zwit (16th, 1,371), Alec Buchhaas (22nd, 1,357) and Phil Jackinoski (53rd, 1,296) also contributed to the balanced effort for the Porters.
“None of us had any really high games, but we all came out and shot 230s and 240s,” Zwit said. “All of us have the potential to catch fire and win the tournament, but we don’t have to depend on one bowler to put up 270s and 280s to carry us.”
Lockport is looking for its second state title. The Porters also won in 2013.
“I’d like to do a Bill Murray in ‘Groundhog Day’ and just do this day over again (Saturday),” Lockport coach Ron Davis said. “We were just consistent. The fourth game, the whole team was clean all game. That’s incredible.”
Morgan Park (9th, 6,437), Sandburg (10th, 6,386) and Andrew (12th, 6,358) also qualified for the second day of competition.
The Mustangs moved up from 15th and three spots shy of advancing position after the morning session.
“We started out slow, but we’re a second-half team,” Morgan Park coach Arlanza Townsend said. “We didn’t shoot bad scores in the morning, but the best of the best are down here and we needed more. The fourth game (1,165) was important for us. We’ll be ready to go (Saturday).”
Reginald Petty (39th, 1,313), Charles Berry (57th, 1,293) and Braijon Carter (60th, 1,290) led Morgan Park.
Sandburg, which entered as one of the favorites after winning regional and sectional titles, started fast with a 1,222 in Game 1, but struggled at the end with scores of 972 and 959 in the last two games.
Tommy Hayes (32nd, 1,337) and Danny Griskell (57th, 1,293) led the Eagles.
Ethan Gerald (28th, 1,348) and Scott Taller (48th, 1,303) paced Andrew.
Stagg’s Sean Murray (24th, 1,352) took a perfect game into the 10th frame in the opener, finishing with a 289.
“It was really exciting,” he said. “I was just trying to do everything like normal despite the atmosphere. I started off the day really good and struggled in the afternoon, but I’m excited for (Saturday).”
St. Laurence’s Juan Escamilla (25th, 1,350) and Evergreen Park’s Shaun Quinn (51st, 1,301) also advanced individually.
Boys Basketball
Thornton 56, Lincoln-Way North 53: Sam Taylor III poured in 14 points for Thornton (16-1, 7-0 SWSC Red).
Morgan Park 64, Vocational 46: Charlie Moore (19 points, 11 assists) guided Morgan Park (17-2, 9-1 Public Red-South).
Mount Carmel 51, St. Francis de Sales 36: Nick Chambers and Christian Peevy netted 14 points each for Mount Carmel (15-5, 7-0 Catholic South).
Crete-Monee 53, Rich East 50: Dwayne Rose (17 points) propelled Crete-Monee (14-5, 5-1 Southland).
Eisenhower 74, Reavis 62: Demariae Collins totaled 34 points for Eisenhower (8-11, 3-6 SSC Red).
Rich South 51, Kankakee 23: Dominic Martin (14 points, 7 rebounds) boosted Rich South (11-7, 4-2 Southland).
Chicago Christian 64, Ridgewood 38: Malik Parker posted 17 points for Chicago Christian (15-6, 7-1 MSC East).
Joliet Catholic 53, Notre Dame 43: Jalen Jackson (26 points) steered JCA (16-3, 3-2 ESCC).
Lincoln-Way Central 56, Lincoln-Way West 53: Jarret Gmazel had 18 points for Central (13-5, 4-3 SWSC Red).
Oak Lawn 71, Tinley Park 52: Othman Othman (28 points, 5 assists) starred for Oak Lawn (8-12, 3-5 SSC Red).
Bradley-Bourbonnais 89, Thornwood 87 (2 OT): Drew Evans provided 33 points for Thornwood (8-10, 4-3 SWSC Red).
Lockport 58, Lincoln-Way East 46: Mikolaj Nowobilski contributed 14 points for Lockport (10-8, 3-4 SWSC Blue).
De La Salle 59, DePaul Prep 50: Marcus Brown and Andre Raiford registered 13 points apiece for De La Salle (15-5, 5-2 Catholic North).
Evergreen Park 60, Shepard 50: Kyree Hannah’s 21 points lifted Evergreen Park (7-13, 2-7 SSC Red).
Thornridge 57, Andrew 53: Terrell Whitehead scored 18 points for Thornridge (7-11, 4-3 SWSC Red).
Bishop McNamara 76, Seton 72: Franklin Felix (20 points, 12 rebounds) led Seton (16-6, 5-2 Catholic South).
Bloom 74, Rich Central 65: Jamal Parks racked up 23 points for Bloom (11-9, 3-3 Southland).
T.F. South 62, Bremen 47: Bron Hill (13 points) aided T.F. South (9-12, 5-5 SSC Blue).
St. Rita 57, Providence 56: Demauris Dixon finished with 16 points for St. Rita (8-13, 4-3 Catholic South).
Illinois Lutheran 63, Tri-Point 50: Trevor Henschel (22 points) paced Illinois Lutheran (11-7, 4-4 RVC).
Argo 50, Richards 48: Marc Fry tossed in 19 points for Argo (11-9, 6-3 SSC Red).
St. Laurence 67, Leo 58: Brett Risley (27 points) ignited St. Laurence (11-10, 4-3 Catholic South).
Girls Basketball
Argo 59, Evergreen Park 40: Tadriana Heard (21 points, 11 rebounds) starred for Argo (16-7, 8-2 SSC Red).
Joliet Central 57, Stagg 48: Kelsey Kelley scored 21 points for Stagg (2-20, 1-9 SWSC Blue).
Men’s Volleyball
Lewis 25-25-25, Grand Canyon (Ariz.) 17-22-21: Julian Moses and Trevor Weiskircher (11 kills apiece) powered Lewis (6-3, 1-0 MIVA), which also received 41 assists from Scott Fifer.
Marian (Wis.) 25-25-25, St. Xavier 23-18-18: Sean Barry had 10 kills for St. Xavier (0-3).
Steve Millar is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown. Freelance writer Josh Krockey contributed to this story.
