THE FRONT ROW WITH BRUCE BOURQUIN: Friday, February 6, 2014

By the ninth frame of what would become a perfect game, Anthony Huck was not necessarily nervous about finishing it off.

ON JAN. 17 at River City Lanes in Post Falls, at a Saturday morning youth league in front of more than 100 youth bowlers, teammates and parents, the 15-year-old, 6-foot-1 Huck became the youngest bowler to bowl a perfect game at River City Lanes and is believed to be the only one in at least the past 10 years who was 18 or younger. Anthony turns 16 on St. Patrick's Day, March 17.

"I didn't pay attention," Huck said of whether he knew or not he was bowling a perfect game. "I was taking it one frame at a time. My grandpa, Kenneth Huck Sr., helped keep me calm, so did my teammate, Raymond Johnson. I'm more focused on bowling an 800 series instead of bowling another 300."

When it was over, Anthony, his father and personal coach, Kenneth Huck Jr. and his mother, Laurie, were pretty happy. One of the fathers of the East Valley High sophomore's teammates videotaped the last strike and Anthony has the video on his Facebook page. His previous top score was 243.

"He was kind of in disbelief," Laurie said.

Her son agreed.

"I was walking back to my family," said Anthony, who lives in Spokane Valley. "That last shot, my arm was numb."

ANTHONY's AVERAGE is 201. Since last March, it increased from 179, after a certain change in his game, a green-and-white colored bowling ball.

"He got his own bowling ball that fit his hands," Laurie said. "Before, sometimes he bowled with my ball."

Huck Jr. - who said he got his son into leagues at River City Lanes because "it's got a better youth atmosphere", got his son into bowling when he was 5, and gave him a bowling ball with a NASCAR logo on it.

Huck Jr. was a youth bowler in Spokane and is a local race car driver in the summer.

"The thing I've always liked about his bowling is he's got a lot of natural ability," Huck Jr. said. "He approaches the game with a humble attitude, he doesn't like to gloat."

Anthony, who wants to work on NASCAR cars and was on his father's pit crew last summer, plans to get behind the wheel and drive a car this summer in the Roadrunner stock class series, which races at Stateline Speedway and at Airway Heights. He is also in a robotics class at East Valley and is a part of the pep band.

Pretty busy guy.

IN A 14-team youth scratch league in Spokane Valley, he qualified for a state bowling competition in Tacoma, where he finished 14th out of more than 100 bowlers. He also qualified for the Pepsi United States Bowling Congress Youth Championships state tournament in Burley, Wash., last year, after qualifying over the course of four months.

"His biggest strength with his bowling is his consistency," Huck Jr. said. "He took to it, paid attention. He wasn't as distracted as some kids are."

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013 or via e-mail at [email protected]