The Xavier boys’ bowling team was looking for improvement and that’s what it got Friday (Dec. 3) in its Mississippi Valley Conference match against Dubuque Hempstead.

The Saints bettered their season-opening score by more than 400 pins, but ran into a buzzsaw from Hempstead. The Mustangs beat Xavier, 3225-2762.

“That’s a substantial improvement,” Xavier Coach Russ Camacho said. “I’m very happy with our overall performance.”

Alex Gibney led the Saints (0-2) with a high game of 245 and a two-game series of 426.

Hempstead (2-0) had four bowlers break 400 and all four also broke the 200-pin barrier for a game.  Andrew Gonner led the Mustangs with a 270-480.

Jason Beer had a 229 game for Xavier.

“We’re looking for improvement and we’re looking to find the six bowlers for our varsity squads,” Camacho said. “We’re fortunate we have a lot of young kids starting out instead of waiting until their junior or senior year, which is very beneficial for our program, not this year necessarily, but for the future.

The Saints’ next match is Friday against Linn-Mar at Cedar Rapids Bowling Center.

HEMPSTEAD (3225): Jake Jones 225-443, Austin Massey 255-459, Kyle Wiest 214-426, Andrew Lugrain 181-359, Andrew Gonner 270-480.

XAVIER (2762): Kyle Elliott 181-359, Ryan DeWit 192-364, Alex Gibney 245-426, Jason Beer 229-379, Mitchell Huss 188-361.

First round — Hempstead 2167, Xavier 1889. Baker round — Hempstead 1058, Xavier 873.