BETHALTO — A championship from the boys and a runner-up finish from the girls carried Alton Redbirds bowling to the title of grand champion.

Alton edged Highland by four pins to win the boys division of the Alton Invitational bowling tournament Thursday at Airport Bowl. Grand champion is determined by a combination of scores from both the boys and girls.

The Redbirds boys finished with 5,852 pins, with the Bulldogs at 5,848. Belleville East, which led Alton by 56 pins after the first series, finished third at 5,811. Civic Memorial (5,597) placed fourth, with Collinsville (5,488) fifth in a field with 13 boys teams. Jersey (5,083) finished in eighth place, with Marquette Catholic (4,013) taking 13th.

Belleville East’s Kurtis Murphy won a contentious three-way battle for the boys title, edging Alton’s Jared Cochran by five pins and Highland’s Brandon Munie by six.

Murphy posted series of 661 and 616 for a per-game average of 213. Cochran’s opening series of 732 built a 51-point lead and he finished with 1,272 pins for a 212 average. Alton’s Derek Henderson scored in the top 25, placing 18th with a 186 average.

CM put four boys in the top 25. Devin Davis was eighth at 202 per game, Cort Jackson was 10th at 199, Gordon Madrey was 16th at 186, and Gage Jennings was 17th at 186.

Jersey’s Jeffrey Gump placed fifth with series of 599 and 640 averaging 207 per game. His Panthers teammate Greg Towell also broke the top 25, finishing 23rd at 175 per game.

Marquette was paced by Cameron Ratney’s average of 158 to place 34th.

Alton’s girls totaled 5,372 pins to place second, 310 pins back of tourney champ Collinsville. Cahokia (5,158), Belleville East (5,116) and Harrisburg (5,053) rounded out the top five in a 13-team field. Jersey (4,433) finished ninth, CM (4,104) was 12th and Marquette (3,570) was 13th.

Collinsville’s Anna Watsek won the girls individual title with series of 590 and 659 for an average of 208 per game. She beat Harrisburg’s Elizabeth Davis by 20 pins.

Alton’s Ashley Heistand placed fifth with a high game of 279 from series of 634 and 549 for a 197 average. The Redbirds also got top 15 finishes from Elizabeth Hanke in 13th and Alex Bergin in 14th. Hanke averaged 183 per game, with Bergin at 181.

Jersey put two girls in the top 25. Lindsay Vanost averaged 171 per game to finish 18th, with teammate Emily Stemmler at 164 to place 25th. CM was led by Ashley Westbrook in 21st with a 166 per game average. Marquette’s Shelby Jones was 36th at 150.

Greg Shashack may be reached at 618-798-1486 or on Twitter @gregshashack