Bowling: Boone Grove girls, Lowell boys claim Suburban Sectional

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Updated: March 1, 2012 8:33AM

LOWELL — After falling short in the Suburban Conference against Hebron, the Boone Grove girls knew that making marks was pivotal in having any chance of winning Saturday’s Suburban Sectional at Country Lanes.

The Wolves executed in the first Baker game of the championship when Hebron struggled, and held on to pull off a 343-332 victory.

“We missed our share of spares in qualifying and still made it in,” admitted Boone Grove’s Paige Kraushaar. “But we started bowling better in the championship.”

Boone won the first game by 16 pins and lost the second by five.

“The girls wanted this one,” Wolves coach Mike Kraushaar said. “They stepped up their game.”

Hebron, which qualified in the top spot with 2,503 pins, had its chance late in the second Baker game to pull out the victory. But a six count on the first shot of the 10th frame sealed its fate.

“We didn’t make our spares, and we didn’t put the ball in the pocket to get the good pin count,” Hawks coach Michael O’Leary said. “But they’re a very good team, and they know they’re better than this.”

O’Leary, who complimented Boone’s performance, was convinced, though, that his girls were also thinking of the plight of Hebron boys bowler Brain Novreske, a freshman who is battling brain cancer.

In the boys division, Lowell defeated North Newton 353-318 as the Red Devils struck six times in the first Baker game of the final to set the pace. They easily qualified for the finals with 2,707 pins.

“Correcting my boys is very easy, and a big factor is that they listen,” Lowell coach Martha Vasquez said. “Some of them can be stubborn sometimes, but I’ve proven that I know what I’m talking about.”

By reaching the finals, all four squads advanced to the regional on Feb. 4 at City Lanes in Michigan City.