Santaluces, Boca bowlers move on

It's a mixed bag for girls, boys in Baker format

By Dave Heeren | Special Correspondent

November 12, 2008

Santaluces Christel Wurster , bowls during the individual round on Tuesday, November 10, 2008, during the FHSAA Bowling Finals at Boardwalk Bowl in Orlando. (CHAD PILSTER, PILSTERPHOTOGRAPHY.NET / November 11, 2008)

ORLANDO - Palm Beach County's District 11 champions are going in opposite directions at the FHSAA Bowling Finals.

The Santaluces girls, who didn't lose a match all season, continued that run by outscoring 27 other teams in total pinfall Tuesday to qualify in first place for the match-play finals at Boardwalk Bowl.

However, the Chiefs didn't fare as well in the Baker format for match play, splitting their first two matches with scores averaging 15 pins lower than they had posted in the preliminary round.

The Boca Raton boys, on the other hand, qualified in sixth place, but moved into the top four teams by capturing their first two Baker finals matches.

In the preliminary format, each competitor bowled four games. In Baker play, each bowled two frames in each match-play game.

"We have a good core of players, but the Baker game is not our strength," Santaluces coach Kathryn Sanders said.

The Chiefs' top bowler, Christel Wurster, qualified ninth in the girls' individual singles and did even better in the Baker games, several times throwing two or three strikes in the 10th frame. Twice, in the first-round victory over Mandarin, Wurster enabled the Chiefs to overcome deficits in the final frame of games with her ability to strike under pressure.

The Boca Raton boys fared better in Baker play than in the preliminaries. The Bobcats defeated Palm Beach Central 3-2 and Coral Reef 3-0 to become one of four undefeated teams going into today's final matches.

Boca Raton got good efforts from junior Jason Booke, senior Jake Speedy and junior Connor Martin. Like Wurster, Booke showed an uncanny ability to string strikes as the Bobcats' anchor bowler.

Booke led the conference in scoring average during the regular season and qualified in 10th place for the individual finals with an 861 total for four games.

Boys

Team results

Round 1

Martin County d. Suncoast 3-0; Oviedo d. Gulliver Prep 3-1; South Fork d. Jupiter 3-2; Leesburg d. Cypress Creek 3-1; Coral Reef d. Deland 3-0; Boca Raton d. Palm Beach Central 3-2; Spanish River d. Seabreeze 3-2; Timber Creek d. Indian Rocks 3-2

Round 2

Oviedo d. Martin County 3-2; Leesburg d. South Fork 3-1; Boca Raton d. Coral Reef 3-0; Timber Creek d. Spanish River 3-1

Round 3 (Pairings)

Oviedo vs. Leesburg; Boca Raton vs. Timber Creek

Consolation bracket

Round 2

Gulliver Prep d. Suncoast 3-0; Jupiter vs. Cypress Creek 3-0; Deland d. Palm Beach Central 3-1; Seabreeze d. Indian Rocks 3-0;