CP confident at City Lanes
By Anthony Nasella Post-Tribune correspondent January 31, 2012 11:14PM
Crown Point's Craig Eggen (middle) celebrates with teamates after throwing a strike during the WestLake bowling sectional held at Stardust II in Hobart on Sunday January 29, 2012. | Charles Mitchell~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 2, 2012 8:16AM
HOBART — When Crown Point competes in Saturday’s Michigan City Regional, gunning to be one of five teams to advance to the Fort Wayne Semistate on Feb. 11, the Bulldogs will be back at the bowling center which was the site of a recent triumph.
It was City Lanes at which Crown Point won the boys division of the NWI Region Rumble a couple weeks ago. And despite having to dig themselves out of an early hole at this past weekend’s WestLake Sectional to keep their bowling season alive, the Bulldogs are excited about the new start and possibilities of advancing to Fort Wayne.
“The pattern we’ll be bowling on at Michigan City will be similar to the one we bowled on at sectionals,” Crown Point head coach Dwayne Locher said. “And the success at the Region Rumble is still fresh in their minds. These kids have proven that they not only can compete, but can also win, and they will have the chance to prove that again on Saturday.”
Compared to last season’s squad, which failed to advance to the regional, the current Crown Point team not only boasts three stalwarts in Freddy Benich and brothers Matt and Jordan Locher, but has also been receiving big contributions from Koree Kitchens, Justin Melvin and Craig Eggen. They all helped the team climb from a 117-pin deficit at the sectional to a second-place finish, 121 pins clear of third after the five Baker qualifying games.
“I know what each of these kids’ abilities are, and we try to push them,” Dwayne Locher said, “But, in the end, they have to believe in themselves. And the way they came back at sectionals, you can see they have confidence in their abilities. But all the coaching in the world isn’t going to throw the ball for them. They have to want it.”
Benich, who admitted spares were one of the problems early at sectionals before the team hit the strong spurt in Bakers, said that the team just needs to keep things in perspective when struggles hit.
“We just have go out and have fun, and we always bowl better because of it,” Benich said. “Sometimes we tend to over think things, and we just have to go back to the basics. But reaching regionals again was so important.”
Matt Locher said that the team’s ability to bounce back and just fall short of winning the sectional title against conference rival Lake Central is just another indication that it’s capable of advancing to semistate.
“Moving on was a big team goal for us and we were able to fulfill that goal,” he said. “But regional is a whole new season for us, and we’re looking forward to the next challenge and the chance to advance.”
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