Two years after winning a championship, the Collinsville girls bowling team is headed back to the state tournament.
The Kahoks had a team score of 6,018 to win the Taylorville Sectional on Saturday at Laketown Lanes in Springfield (Ill.). O'Fallon (5,891) placed and also qualified for the state tourney, slated for Friday and Saturday at Cherry Bowl Lanes in Rockford.
Collinsville junior Amber Burns had the top individual score at 1,326, while teammate Sarah Crafton was third at 1,264. Other bowlers for the Kahoks were Katie Crafton (1,121), Sammi Kassly (1,041), Lindsey Collins (927) and Courtney Bruncic (466).
"Going into the tournament, I felt like we were one of the favorites," Collinsville coach Sean Hay said. "O'Fallon had a great season and won the (Southwestern) conference, but in tournaments, we were right there with them and some of the other teams at the sectional.
"We knew we didn't have a lot of room for error, so we had to be on top of our game. We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but we had three 1,000 games in a row. One of them was right after lunch, so we picked up where we left off."
Burns averaged 220 for the tournament.
"She was rock-solid and didn't have one bad game," Hay said. "During the regular season, she and the Crafton sisters had pretty much been in a three-way for the top spot with averages in the low 190s, but she really stepped it up for the sectional. She was determined and showed more poise than I've seen from her in the last couple years."
In 2010, Collinsville, led by individual champion Frannie Steiner, defeated Rockford Jefferson by 134 pins for the state title. Burns is the only member of the current squad who bowled in that state tournament.
"Last year was the first time in several years that we didn't make it to state, so it will be a new experience for the rest of these girls, and they're in for a treat," Hay said. "They'll see why we work as hard as we do.
"At the sectional, we had the fourth-highest score in the state, so I feel like we have a shot at winning the tournament. We all bowl at different centers, but anytime you have a score of 6,000, you have a good chance."
O'Fallon's Erin Michelfelder was second behind Burns with a score of 1,285, and Jordan Kasza was fourth at 1,239. Others on the O'Fallon squad were Lindsay Kasza (1,181), Jordan Schlotmann (1,158), Abby Slolmon (659), Alexis Toohey (200) and Raven LeFlore (159).
Alton had a pair of individual qualifiers in Abbie Reilly (1,205) and Allison Steines (1,201).
In the team standings, Alton was third at 5,482 followed by Granite City (5,138) and Cahokia (5,134).
At the Herrin Sectional, Belleville West claimed the team title with a score of 5,682, while Salem placed second at 5,376.
The top bowlers for West were Emily Consevage and Paige Shackelford, who placed third and fifth overall with scores of 1,165 and 1,147, respectively. Other bowlers for the Maroons were Kaitlyn Loesche (1,142), Bri Ackerman (1,122) and Syleena White (1,106).
Belleville East's Jessica Kowalski had the top score of 1,236 and qualified as an individual.
East placed third in the team standings at 5,340, while Harrisburg (5,073) and Centralia (5.064) rounded out the top five.
