Bowling regional preview capsule

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Updated: March 2, 2012 8:14AM

Michigan City Regional

When: Saturday — 9 a.m. singles, 1 p.m. team event

Where: City Lanes in Michigan City

Boys teams: Portage*, Chesterton, Highland*, Lake Station, Lake Central*, Crown Point, Lowell*, North Newton, Penn*, New Prairie, Mishawaka, South Bend Clay

Girls teams: Portage*, Griffith*, Highland, Lake Central*, Boone Grove*, Hebron, South Bend Clay*, Penn, Argos, Plymouth

Local boys singles qualifiers: Valparaiso: Jason Wright*, Jeremy Kostrzeba; LaPorte: Nate Nieto; Michigan City: Tyler Wilson; Chesterton: Jacob Hollingshead, Nate Sipe; Lake Station: Matt Laviolette*, Nick Laviolette; Highland: Nick Puchek; Wheeler: Zach Gilbert; Morton: Frankie Gutierrez, Adam Oberc; Hobart: Jerry James, Bobby Eberle; Andrean: Jake McCoy*; Crown Point: Jordan Locher, Craig Eggen; Merrillville: Alex Swierc, Joey Witkowski; Lake Central: Nate Maciejewski, Ryan Gorman; Clark: Jeremy Rusnack; Hanover: Kevin Beemster*, Austin Moran; Lowell: Dylan Myers; Hebron: Anthony Morales, Tim Victor; South Newton: Aric Deno; Boone Grove: John Yankauskas, Jeremy Shaffer; North Newton: Chad Klomp

Local girls singles qualifiers: LaPorte: Trinity King*, Brye Jones; Portage: Jackie Rhoda, Kodi Soloman; Highland: Jessica Dziezak*, Lauren Russell, Kristi VanderWoude, Catie Bales; Griffith: Elizabeth Kras, Maggie Cartwright; Hobart: Arcadia Shoulders; River Forest: Cecillia Adams; Lake Station: Rachel Waters; Lake Central: Kelly Belzeski*, Caroline Dienes, Laura LeVander; Merrillville: Carly Larson, Kasey Stewart; Lowell: Taylor Helgoth*, Rachel Elliott, Emily Klotz, Lerin Manis; Boone Grove: Mattie Smith; Hebron: Emily O’Leary, Angelique McKeny

* — Sectional champions

Boys outlook: With a new sport shot being used in the postseason from this point on, familiarity with a house isn’t quite as significant. But it does make some difference, and that means Portage and Chesterton have a good shot at advancing, especially since both teams had some of their highest games at City Lanes this season. The biggest surprises are Lake Station and North Newton, both of which were definite underdogs in their sectionals. Lake Central is a big favorite, but remember that Crown Point was only one game behind the Indians in the WestLake.

Girls outlook: Even if you don’t have a rooting interest in the girls division of this regional, it could be interesting theater to see who wins between Lake Central and Portage. They’ve been the top region girls teams all season. Heck, they’ve been the top region girls teams over the last three years with both making trips to the state finals the last two seasons. It would be a major upset if both don’t advance again this week — and next week at semistate for that matter. Saturday will be more about which one of them wins and what other three teams join them in Fort Wayne.

Next: Top 5 boys and girls teams, top 15 boys and top 16 girls in singles advance to the Fort Wayne Semistate on Feb. 11 at Pro Bowl West.

— By deputy sports editor Steve T. Gorches