DEKALB — With four games remaining in his high school bowling career, Hub senior Keith Holland refused to give up after throwing two consecutive tough scores to open the Interstate 8 Conference Championship meet at DeKalb’s Mardi Gras Lanes on Saturday afternoon.

Despite rolling 170 and 102 over his first two games, Holland successfully calmed his nerves and caught fire across the final four games of tournament play, averaging nearly 227 pins per game during that stretch. Holland closed out his first three-game series with 234 before shooting 225, 226 and 221 for a team-high 672 series over the final three games of the tournament. The strong finish was enough for Holland to finish fifth and earn All-Conference honors in the meet.

“I was very surprised because I knew I wasn’t bowling very well toward the beginning of the tournament,” Holland said. “I knew I had to calm down and listen to what coach [Jim] Lyles was telling me. I’m going to miss bowling in tournaments and having fun with my teammates.”

Holland’s fifth-place finish in the tournament also enabled him to score enough conference points to receive First-Team All-Conference honors for the season. The senior bowler led Rochelle with an 1,178 series, carrying the Hubs to third place in the tournament with 6,315.

Junior Devansh Patel finished 12^th with an 1,100 series, while sophomore Evin Odle, junior Sergio Guevara and senior Reese Kirk placed 13^th, 14^th and 15^th with respective scores of 1,072, 1,019 and 1,011. Junior Hayden Smith took 18^th with 935 pins to round out the Hub roster.