The Christmas season is a time for giving and doing good deeds.

Lockport High School's boys bowling team gave up a first-place award, did a good deed and had hundreds of people-from high school-aged students to adults-crying.

The Lincoln-Way East Thunder Bowl Invitational Dec. 12 featured a wide range of emotions all day. But when the Porters won the tournament and gave up their first-place plaque to Plainfield South, it brought smiles and tears all around the Thunder Bowl in Mokena.

South finished 48 pins behind Lockport in the tournament. The Cougars were trying to deal with the grief of the death of their teammate, Eric Brander, who was killed in an auto wreck the day before.

For the Porters, many of whom knew and were friends with Brander, the decision was easy.

"The real story is that Plainfield showed up to bowl," said Lockport bowler Kyle Anderson, who was the top individual bowler in the tournament and a friend of Brander. "Just the courage of those bowlers showing up...that was a great job by them. I give them tons of credit for that. It was the least we could do for Eric."

"We talked about it before the tournament," added Lockport's Justin Vandenburg, a Homer Glen resident. "We said that if we were lucky enough to win it, it would be a great idea to dedicate it to Eric. He was a pretty good friend. He was always happy. I never saw him get down on himself or down on anyone else. He was always helping everybody and making everybody happy."

And, under tough circumstances, that's what the Porters tried to do.

"We wanted to win the tournament for him and give the trophy to Plainfield," said Lockport bowler and Homer Glen resident John Isit. "We thought it would cheer them up a little bit. It was a rough day. After it was over, I don't think there was a dry eye there."

This afternoon of bowling was going to be anything but normal from the start. Lockport coach Jeff Wyatt said that when the South bowlers arrived, they were greeted with a standing ovation. They received a second standing ovation when the teams were announced.

Then came the bowling.

Lockport's Cody Klich, who said he was always joking around with Brander, rolled a perfect 300 game. The low of losing a friend...the high of bowling a rare perfect game...

"It was a pretty emotional day," Klich said. "I had a rollercoaster of emotions all day."

When it was over, Lockport rolled a 6,378 and the Cougars rolled a 6,330 for second place. South bowler Kyle Heywood finished runnerup to Anderson for the individual title.

Then came the award ceremony.

Lockport was announced as the winner. The Porters turned the award over to Romeoville coach Tony Talley, who presented it to South coach Jeff Bailey and his troops.

Talley was South's coach for the previous three years and coached Brander and five teammates since they were freshmen. But Talley left South this season so he could coach his son, Brandon Lisak-Talley, at Romeoville.

Before Talley presented the trophy, he gave a stirring speech about Brander.

"After a tragedy like this, a lot of coaches are, of course, going to say nice things," Talley said. "But how I feel about Eric is genuine. I was so close to the kids. I was blessed with the situation I was put in. I left six kids behind- six kids who I felt were sons to me-to coach my one son.

"But that Friday morning, I lost one of my sons."

Talley added Brander was unique.

"He never put himself in front of the team," Talley said. "If I had to move him from varsity to the JV team, he never had a problem with it. Most kids would be upset. Not Eric. He was an unselfish kid. As long as he was bowling, he was happy. Wonderful kid."

Other members of the Lockport squad are Justin Alberico, Blake Vodicka, Ryan Kendziora, Tyler Bandauski, Sean Karli, John Cunat, Justin Cunat, Jimmy Kurzawa, Conner Ryan, Alex Wilmsen, Jonathon Kamba, David Wysocki, Brian Hodolitz, Patrick Karli, Dan Ryan, Justin Pochervina, Jake Tassone, Shane Matejcak, AJ Michalowicz and Larry Novak.

While Wyatt is proud of his students' generous gesture, he also beamed about Plainfield South’s bowlers.

"It was remarkable to overcome what they were going through," Wyatt said. "For what they went through, they bowled their hearts out. They were outstanding."

By Jeff Vorva

Triblocal.com reporter