Hoffman Estates keeps pace with Schaumburg
Drawing a bye in the first round of the girls bowling season didn't sit well at first with Hoffman Estates coach Dan Pfligler.
While the Hawks were practicing as the rest of the league bowled, they awoke the next morning to see that archrival Schaumburg had thrown the gauntlet down, bowling a 3,108 series.
But Hoffman Estates, the two-time defending Mid-Suburban League champion, proved it were up to the challenge.
The Hawks bowled a 2,924 Monday and a league-high 3,112 Thursday.
"I didn't like it at first, but it became better," Pfligler said of the first-round bye. "I don't know if I was a fan at first, but it's really starting to pay off right now."
Leading the way for the Hawks in their 9-0 victory over Conant was lead-off bowler Amanda Cortese.
On pace for a 300 in Game 1, Cortese finished with a 257. She followed that with a 266 and a 234 for a 757 series, the highest in the MSL this season.
"I felt comfortable today and I had good lines and kept moving from that," said Cortese, the defending MSL champion. "I adjusted a little bit. If I got shaky, I'd ask my sister (Natalie) if anything was wrong, if I should tweak anything.
"I don't know if the conditions were ideal. I was just confident today."
Confidence hasn't been a problem for Schaumburg. After the 3,108 series in the opener, the Saxons followed that with a 2,924 in Round 2.
On Thursday, they remained perfect with a 9-0 triumph over Hersey, but it wasn't easy.
In Game 3, Hersey anchor Shauna Pauly needed 2 strikes in the 10th frame.
She got the first one, but not the second. That meant Schaumburg's Samantha Kelly needed to knock down 9 pins for her team to win. Kelly did just that, and Schaumburg took the third game 911-910.
"They've got two young ladies who are very good," said Saxons coach Mark Kelly of Hersey's Nicole Logisz, who bowled a 653 (204, 267, 182) and Pauly, who finished with a 661 (235, 204, 222). "We struggled a little bit in the last game with splits. We didn't miss many spares in the third game. That's the name of the game at the end, picking up spares."
Prospect and Palatine both swept their meets over Elk Grove and Buffalo Grove, respectively, to move into a tie for second place with 20 points.
"I think they were relaxed today," said Prospect coach Greg Troyer. "I think we're starting to jell as a team. That newness is over. They didn't try to force it. We were not making a lot of mistakes."