No matter what the Riley Shufflers did, they just couldn't shake the Norsk Cowboys from the saddle. The Shufflers led the match through the first seven frames but in the final frame the Cowboys sat tall, gaining 21 points over the Shufflers to win by 16. Dean Disch and Bob Darrow loaded 111 bullets into the Cowboy's holster while Roger Olstad and Ferdie Schmitz loaded another 110 rounds. With the win, the Cowboys remained undefeated and were crowned winners of the first half. The Cowboys will meet the second half winners in the championship match in March.

Cheese Eaters Kendal Wenger and Brett Eichelkraut were held to 11 points in the fifth frame by Harry and Jim Gehin, but still ended the night with this week's high score of a 116 points, just 4 points short of a perfect night. This was Kendal's second 116-point game and high score honors in as many weeks. The Cheese Eaters out ate the River Rats for a 34-point victory.

After seeing what happened to Al Zimmerman and Jeff Judd on November 29th, Dave and Charlie Steinhauer realized one way to get their name in the paper is to be skunked. So, not to be outdone by Al and Jeff, they conceded to a skunk by Rodney Latham and Dean Herfel last Thursday night. Well Dave and Charlie, you got your wish, you made the paper. Opie, you should inform them that in this case that is not a good thing. The skunk, in conjunction with the 78 points put up by Dale Herfel and Shawn Farrell, this week's low score, and the fact that none of the engineers surpassed the 100-point barrier, the Express stalled giving the Norsk Pranksters a 27-point win.

In the battle between the other two teams at the bottom of the ladder, It's Time made it to the first step, one above Jones' Plumbing and Harley Blue, after handing the Pipe Benders a 26-point defeat. For the second time this half, not a single Pipe Bender or Engineer broke 100. I suspect Harley Blue, Jones' Plumbing and It's Time are all looking forward to redeeming themselves in the second half, which begins on January 3rd.