Gators roll through Palo Verde

Green Valley captures its third state bowling championship title

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They should have known.

Entering a building with brass alligators for door handles and playing on lanes with images of an alligator playing a trumpet -- The Orleans' logo -- all over the place, the Green Valley High School boys bowling team should have known it was going to be their day at the state bowling championships on Feb. 2.

But the fortunately nicknamed Gators didn't really need any reptilian coincidences to capture the Class 4A, defeating Sunset Region champion Palo Verde, 7-0, for their third state title in the last six years.

Green Valley's senior-laden starting rotation rolled to a 909-767 win in game No. 1 as Andy Decker (264), Ryan Howard (232), Rand Kelly (202) and Louis Brown (193) helped the Gators gain the momentum in the match rolling 15 strikes in their last 16 balls of the game.

Coach Corey Gehlkin's Fab Four all followed with 200-plus games in the second and clinching game, with Brown leading the way with a 237 game.

Brown, a senior, was ecstatic after the big victory.

"It's unbelievable. We had a great game today," a jubilant Brown said immediately after the clinching second game. "I'm so proud of my teammates. We stuck together."

Howard (209), Kelly (208) and Decker (204) delivered for Green Valley in game No. 2, which defeated the Panthers 858-818 to clinch the championship.

Anchor bowler Brown, who got off to a slow start in the opening game, spoke on how his Gator teammates came through at the right time when the pins weren't falling for him early.

"We're all teammates so if one's down we all pick each other up," he said. "And it's all mutual. We kid each other but we also cover for each other. If one of us is doing bad, it doesn't matter."

Palo Verde (76-22 overall, 62-22 Northwest Division) was led by Kyle Miller's 235 and Jason Lucero's 202 in the first game and Steven Clemence's 222 in the second.

Green Valley registered the team-high game (999) and team-high series scores (2,679) for the tournament with Brown rolling the tournament-best game (299) and the second-highest score in boys Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association history.

Gators coach Gehlken talked about winning the big match and doing it as the No. 3 seed from the Southeast Division which includes Coronado (86-12) and Silverado (64-34).

"It always feels good to win," Gehlken said. "Our league is so competitive, anyone can win it on our side (Sunrise Region). And it was evident because the three and four seeds ended up in the regional championship. Everyone kept beating everybody, and everyone kept beating everyone else."

And the Green Valley coach was happy to see his seniors pick up the slack for Brown.

"They've been there all season," Gehlken said of Decker, Howard and Kelly. "Now Louie was our anchor last year, and he had some struggles early, but it was nice to see him finally coming around and getting ready to go. My guys have just done an awesome job this year."

Green Valley got to the state title match as the No. 3 seed from the Sunrise Region's Southeast Division after finishing the regular season with an 71-27 record. Both Coronado (86-12) and Silverado (73-25) finished ahead of the Gators in the division.

Brown talked about his team's rough road to get to the championship match.

"We came in the tournament as the three-seed and we pulled through," Brown said. "And on the way we had some tough competition. We beat the two-time defending state champions Coronado to get here."

Green Valley eliminated Eldorado, 4-3, on Jan. 30 in their regional quarterfinal opener in what would prove to be its closest match of the postseason. The Gators then exploded against Southeast top-seed and rival Coronado in the semifinals (2,679-2,373) on Jan. 31 to set up a showdown with Del Sol -- a team that bowled its way into the title match as the No. 4 seed from the Southeast -- in the Sunset Region championship.

But like the Sundevils and the Cougars before them, the Dragons (42-56 regular season) became Gator bait, losing to Green Valley, 7-0 (2,679-2,373), on Feb. 1 in the regional championship match.

Green Valley won state titles in 2000 and 2002 and now has won more boys bowling championships than any other boys team in the Silver State.

Gehlken tied Coronado coach Bob McKee as the state's all-time leader in boys state championships with his second crown.

The Green Valley coach was thrilled to have his seniors all go out with a bang.

"It's always nice to go out on top," Gehlken commented. "Winning your last high school game of anything is awesome. Only a few teams get to do that."

Green Valley's Kelly recorded the highest and only 800-plus series (811) of all prep bowlers this season on Dec. 12 against Vo-Tech (30-68) at Renata's Sunset Lanes, while teammate Howard had the highest series (733) of the postseason. Brown, who rolled the second-highest postseason series (716), recorded his best series this season with a 733 on Jan. 12 against Vo-Tech at Sunset Station while Decker rolled his best series (670) on Nov. 29 against Coronado and Howard had his best (655) series Nov. 29 in that same match against the Cougars held at Sunset Station.

The Sunrise Region champion has now won six of the seven boys state bowling titles and 11 of the 14 combined boys and girls championships.