BELLEVILLE — It was a while coming, but once the AltonRedbirds bowling team found its spark, a state tournament berth was in the offing.

Alton got a 300 game from Jacob Donahue in the fourth game Saturday and that helped lift the Redbirds to their best showing of the season Saturday at the IHSA Boys Bowling Sectional Tournament at Bel-Air Lanes in Belleville. Alton finished with a 6,285 for the day and finished fifth, just ahead of Jersey in the race for the last two state-qualifying spots.

The top six teams advance to next weekend’s IHSA StateTournament at St. Clair Bowl in O’Fallon.

Collinsville came away with the team title with a score of 6,795 pins. The Kahoks were followed by O’Fallon with 6,761, Belleville East with 6,726, Cahokia with 6,345, Alton’s 6,285 and Jersey with 6,241 n the final state qualifying spot.

Highand was seventh with 6,227 followed by Herrin with 6,214, Salem with 6,091, Triad 5,969, Columbia 5,911, Mount Vernon 5,881, Eldorado 5,867, Edwardsville 5,849, Carbondale 5,835 and Taylorville 5,585.

Tyler Stevenson bowled a 1381 series for the Redbirds. He bowled a 300 game earlier in the season for the Redbird sin the Alton Tournament. Matt Fritz bowled a 1,167 for the Redbirds and Chris Perkey had a 1,249 series. Nik Meggos has a 900 in three games and Derek Henderson bowled one game with a 193 score.

“We did a nice overall job, but (Donahue”s) 300 might have been the spark we needed,” said Alton coach Jeff Woszczynski. “We had just an average season, not all that great in dual matches, but we were looking for a spark.”

Going to the state meet has become commonplace for the Redbirds in recent years. But unlike previous years, the Redbirds aren’t among the team favorites as they head to O’Fallon.

“It’s almost like when we got back to state after a few seasons back in 2007,” Woszczynski said. “That year, we were seventh in the conference, but finished sixth at state.

“I think going to state with nobody expecting us to do much is an advantage. Winning state will be quite a challenge, but I think we have a shot at a top six finish. We just need to get them to relax and have some fun with it.”

Jersey, which went into the afternoon session in fourth place, found the going a little rocky the last two games.

“But we got through,” said Jersey coach Chris Skinner, whose boys will be making their first appearance at the state tournament. “We were consistent all day, but the last two games we were a little lower.

“It was touch-and-go there the last game,” Skinner said. “When they started announcing the individual (state) qualifiers and I didn’t hear any of our guys, I figured we were through.”

The top bowlers from teams that did not advance qualify for the state tournament as individuals.

Jacob Freand had a 1,348 score for the Panthers. Teammates Jeffrey Gump had a 1,256; Brandon Handler a 1,222; Dane Farmer a 1,211 and Kevin Mangrum a 1,204

“We had a good morning session,” Skinner said. “Dane Farmer was outstanding all day with a 207 average. Going in, his average was about 187. And Freand and Handler were steady too.”

Roxana’s Christian Bertoletti, who won the Decatur Regional title last weekend, bowled a 1,300 Saturday. Teammates Dalton Baggett had a 1054 and Ethan Arnold a 1,037. None of them will advance to the state tourney.

Edwardsville’s Tyler Cooper bowled a 1,312 and Civic Memorial’s Devin Davis had a 1,2600.

The state tournament is set to begin at 9:45 a.m. Friday. Saturday’s championship session is set to begin at 9:45 a.m.

Reach Pete Hayes at 463-2500 or Twitter @HayeserPete