BELLEVILLE — Gone were the cosmic bowling lanes, the bumpers, the chain-smoking league players and other things everyone has come to expect from a local bowling alley, replaced by hundreds of teenagers in team-issued polo shirts and freshly-pressed khakis.

That can only mean one thing: high school bowling tournament.

It was standing-room-only at Lodge Lanes Tuesday afternoon, with parents packing every nook and cranny in the place, as the Tecumseh boys and girls varsity squads swept the Southeastern Conference championships with scores of 2,184 and 1,928, respectively.

The tournament — which, unlike the upcoming state tournament, excludes the individual competition — was comprised of four games per team. In the first two games, the top five bowlers on each team rotate frames, so each ends up bowling two frames. The last two games are just a regular 10-frame format.

Even though bowling is traditionally thought of as an individual game, some of the bowlers prefer the team game — and the atmosphere it provides.

“I like it a lot,” Skyline freshman Zach Hazel said. “I think it’s better for you, because it’s a little more challenging, and the whole team gets involved.”

Even though the Skyline boys finished in sixth place, Hazel sees big things in the team’s future. All but one of the five bowlers are freshmen.

The overall results weren’t a surprise. Tecumseh has built itself up as quite a bowling powerhouse. The girls’ team hasn’t lost a regular-season match in four years and took home back-to-back Division 2 state titles. (Rest of the Story | Boys Results | Girls Results)