Perfect effort from Palatine's Modic

Conant junior Brittany Mari bowled a career-high 706 (238, 200, 268) to lead her team to a 7-2 victory over Prospect in the top meet of the day Monday -- yet her performance was eclipsed by another bowler, Palatine's Amy Modic.

Modic bowled a 300 in Game 1 and finished with a series of 727 (300, 220, 207) as the Pirates handed Wheeling a 9-0 defeat.

Schaumburg remained in first place with a 9-0 win over Elk Grove to give the Saxons a perfect 18-0 record.

Hersey moved into second place with 16 points after beating Buffalo Grove 7-2.

Modic's previous high game was 257 and her high series was 617. She became the second Pirate to bowl a 300 after Maggie Zakrzewski hit that number at the end of last year.

"I was adjusting," Modic said. "I kept moving left a board at a time. For some reason, I wasn't nervous. Last year at state I bowled eight strikes in a row, then I got nervous. I was like a robot today."

"At Stevenson she really struggled," said Palatine coach Jeff Manz, whose team finished third at the Stevenson Invitational last Saturday. I was just proud to see her shake that off. She's very quiet but mentally tough. Nothing shakes her. She learns from experience."

Mari's best series before Monday was 650.

"Brittany worked very hard last week," said Conant coach John Braglia. "Her nickname is Alley Cat because she's always bowling."

"My dad takes me bowling all the time," Mari said. "(Monday) was kind of nerve wracking, but everything felt really right today. I was watching how my ball was reacting. I knew I had to change right away or I wouldn't do too well."

The difference in the Conant-Prospect meet was in total pins, where Conant had a 2,907 (983, 904, 1020) to 2,734 (915, 926, 893) edge.

"It's not that we bowled poorly," said Knights coach Greg Troyer. "We were a little inconsistent and they got hot. We tried to come back and they started stringing strikes together. They beat us today."