ST. CHARLES – With just one more strike needed to bowl a perfect 300 game, St. Charles East senior Allison Heuer turned to the crowd behind her and requested some noise.

The tense silence didn’t suit Heuer, who was shaking with nerves. But despite the plea, Heuer’s final release yielded a 7-10 split, leaving her to settle for a career-best 298 game.

“That moment, I was really happy because it was my high game, so close [to a 300],” said Heuer, standing near lane No. 11 at St. Charles Bowl, the site of her brush with perfection at the recent Upstate Eight Conference River position meet. “But the next couple days I was, like, depressed. I was like, ‘Two boards [off].’ It just replayed over and over again in my head.”