Humphrey’s big day lifts Newton girls past Sigourney/Keota at Cardinal Lanes

The single best game of Gabbie Humphrey’s prep bowling career resulted in a career-best series on Tuesday.

And it led the Newton girls bowling team to a win over Sigourney/Keota and helped keep the Cardinals undefeated for the season.

Humphrey began her day with a career-best 247 and Kelly Holmes rolled a career-best 200 in her second game, and the Cardinals went on to claim a 2,482 to 1,689 victory at Cardinal Lanes.

On the boys side, Jeremiah Killmer rolled another 400-plus series and Braden Baskerville turned in a career-best single game, but Newton lost despite a season-best pin total.

Sigourney/Keota grabbed the top three spots in the boys’ standings and downed the Cardinals 2,715 to 2,593 in its season opener.

“The girls had a lot of fun and kept the momentum going,” Newton head bowling coach Christie Lester said. “They rolled a good Baker series, too, and (Humphrey) did very well tonight.”

The Newton girls led S/K by nearly 700 pins after the individual round and then extended the advantage with a 789 Baker round. The Cardinals (3-0) rolled a 202 in the third Baker game, too.

Humphrey followed her career-best 247 with a 190, and it resulted in a career-best 437 series.

Kelly Holmes opened with a 158 but finished with a career-best 200 and finished third with a 358 series. The Cardinals grabbed six of the top eight spots in the standings.

Mackenna Burns (313) was fourth, Aeris Archer (303) placed sixth, Braleigh Slings (282) ended up seventh and Lili Baxin took eighth with a career-best 241.

Burns had single games of 165 and 148, Archer turned in games of 134 and 169 and Slings finished with a 162 after a 120. Baxin also finished (133) better than she started (108).

Sophia Young of Sigourney/Keota was the runner-up with a 372 series.

MaKayla Carter turned in a 253 series to lead the Newton junior varsity team and Jalyssa Neer had a 247. Sigourney/Keota (1-1) only had four total bowlers on the girls’ side.

The S/K boys led Newton 1,893 to 1,703 after the individual round, but the Cardinals rallied a bit in the Baker round with an 890 to 822 surplus.

“The boys’ team did well but just didn’t have enough in the final Baker game to roll a win,” Lester said. “They were about 120 down going into the last Baker game. We really need to get better at closing the frames. (Killmer) bowled well once again.”

Killmer opened with a 197 and finished with a 214. His 411 series was a season best and placed him fourth overall.

Baskerville started with a career-best 191 and had a 168 in the second game. His 359 series was good enough for fifth.

The Cardinals lost the matchup but grabbed spots 4-5-6-8 in the individual standings.

Jarret Sweeney (339) had single games of 171 and 168 in sixth, Ascher Austin’s career-best 299 series included single games of 144 and 155 in eighth and Carter Maki (295) rolled single games of 158 and 137 in his season debut on varsity.

Maki placed ninth and Brandon Holmes was 11th with his 284 series. His career-best 179 in the second game followed a 105 opening game.

The Cardinals (0-2) fell further behind in the first two Baker games but rallied with a 178 and 185 down the stretch.

Liam Van Voltenburg was overall winner on the boys’ side. He opened with a 232 and finished with a 211 for a 443 series.

Sigourney/Keota’s Wells Clark (430) and Owen Clark (418) were second and third, respectively. Wells posted a 248 in his first single game and Owen opened with a 240.

Bentley Hack led the Newton JV bowlers with a 370 series. He opened the day with a 225. Will Buren posted a 325 series and Thaddeus Lewis had a 314.