La Salle-Peru junior Aiden McCray spent his offseason improving his game.

McCray went to the Illinois Valley Super Bowl three to four times per week, sometimes bowling alone and other times running into friends and bowling with them.

He also worked with L-P assistant coach Joe Zokala. He sought out advice from Nate Stubler, a professional bowler and former state champion from L-P, and former St. Bede standout Trenton Acuncius.

“I made a really big improvement from last year,” McCray said. “My mentality was better than last year. My understanding of the game was better – why certain things happen and why you don’t get reaction you want from time to time, and how to fix that in the moment.

“[I also improved] the consistency on my swing and overall timing. It’s smoother, it’s better, it’s more repeatable. [I improved it through] repetition and fixing the aspects that weren’t as smooth or repeatable. Just simplifying it.”

McCray’s work paid off as he improved his average by 14 pins, going from a 190 as a sophomore to a 204 this season.

He placed second at the Interstate 8 Conference Tournament to help the Cavaliers to a second-place finish in the tournament and the regular-season conference title.

McCray placed fifth at the La Salle-Peru Regional to help the Cavs advance to the Minooka sectional as a team. He took seventh there to make state, where he advanced to the final day and placed 35th.

For all he accomplished this season, McCray is the 2025-26 NewsTribune Boys Bowler of the Year.

“Aiden had a great year,” L-P coach Randy Gunia said. “Aiden worked at it extremely hard through the offseason, and it showed pretty much from the start of the season all the way through, carrying him to state and doing well.”

McCray said he felt his season started to take off at the Plainfield North Strikefest on Nov. 22 in Joliet, where he rolled a 1,269 six-game series, including a 297 high game, to place 17th individually in the 44-team tournament.

“The beginning of the season was the worst part,” McCray said. “I think I was nervous for the first couple weeks, but it was uphill from there.

“At the Strikefest, I shot my highest sanctioned game with a 297, and that was where it all clicked.”

Gunia noticed McCray’s confidence improved following the Strikefest.

“The Strikefest has 44 teams, and he ended up 17th, which is huge,” Gunia said. “The competition there is state level. Doing well at that level was a huge boost for him as far as knowing that he’s right there with them.”

McCray carried that confidence through the postseason.

He averaged a 211.5 through the state series, including a 1,322 six-game series in the sectional, an average of 220.3.

“He stayed consistent in the regional and then pushed through the sectional,” Gunia said. “It’s getting strikes, and when he would miss, he would clean it up, pick up spares and stay consistent in that 210-plus range.”

After experiencing state this season, McCray has loftier goals for next year as he wants to improve his average to 215 and place in the top 10 at state.

“I feel really good about next year,” McCray said. “I think I’m going into it thinking I’m going to make, and that’s infinitely better than thinking you might make it. I’m going to work harder because it means a lot to me.”