Girls Bowling: Minooka, Emily Koulis roll to crowns

Updated: February 4, 2012 11:36PM

Minooka started the season rather slowly.

It spent the first month without regular Emily Koulis and struggled finding chemistry. Since Koulis returned to the lineup, the Indians have been on a roll.

Minooka coasted through the ­Joliet West Sectional for girls bowling on Saturday at Town and Country Lanes. The Indians posted four games of 1,000 pins or more en route to winning the program’s third sectional title, all coming in the last three years, with 6,182. Andrew took the other team spot for state with 5,819.

“We shot a big second game against Andrew, and that was big,” Minooka coach Frank Yudzentis said of his team’s 1,165. “It helped us relax a little bit and create a gap between us and them. The key was we weren’t bowling against the teams we were playing. We were bowling the lanes.”

“This is amazing,” Koulis said. “This was a team effort, and we all hit our targets today. It feels amazing to be sectional champions.”

Koulis won the individual sectional title, rolling a six-game ­series of 1,309. It included a 279 in Game 2.

“She’s rolling the ball real well, and her not being there in the beginning of the season took a lot of pins from us,” Yudzentis said. “She’s bowling with a lot of confidence.

Alison Warwick was right behind with 1,274, Danielle Musgrave was fourth with 1,241, Allyson Lakota ninth with 1,182 and Courtney Johnston 10th with 1,176.

“I told them to feel proud ­because I’m proud of the way we performed today,” Yudzentis said.

“It’s been a team effort all year, and everybody has to play their part,” Koulis said. “We have to hit our mark and find our target. Things get pretty tense out there. That’s when you have to talk to your teammate and keep your cool.”

Individually, Joliet West’s Julianne Kowalski earned her first trip to the state meet by rolling 1,208. She took sixth place but was the first sectional qualifier. The other was Lincoln-Way West’s Morgan Flaherty (1,192).

Lincoln-Way West took third with 5,623. Host Joliet West was fourth with a 5,528.

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