Boys Bowling: Plainfield East bowls pasts Lincoln-Way West

Updated: November 10, 2011 8:20PM

Plainfield East’s Rich McElmeel seems to have inherited a solid group of bowlers in his inaugural season as coach.

On Thursday, The Bengals rolled past Lincoln-Way West 2,793-2,680 at Laraway Lanes in New Lenox in the first match of the year for each squad.

“We can either beat ourselves up or we can visualize success. Today, we had a pretty steady effort,” McElmeel said. “We want teams to worry about playing us.”

Plainfield East freshman Gervon Miles might put that scare into upcoming opponents. Miles rolled a match-high 618, going for a night’s best 240 in Game 2.

“I’ve been bowling since I was 6 years old,” Miles said. “It’s a family thing. My sister, Ivory, was an all-league player last year at East. She’s probably better than me right now, but one day I’ll get her.”

After leaving four pins upright in the second frame of Game 2, Miles reeled off seven consecutive strikes. In Game 1, Miles threw five straight strikes en route to a 218.

“Physically, he’s gifted,” McElmeel said. “Mentally, he has a strong maturity. He shows no real highs or lows. He’s kind of like his sister in that regard. There must be something in the water over at their house.”

While the Bengals started off with their match-best 963 in the first set of games, Lincoln-Way West saved its best game for last. The Warriors scored a 943, led by Nick Dybas’ 237. Nick Devito chipped in two consecutive games over 200 for the Warriors, his best a third-game 205.

Andrew Jasien chipped in a 583 for Plainfield East, highlighted by his 211 in the second game.

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