Greg and Andrew Lancaster of Magnolia reigned as Bocce champs at the St. James Italian Festival held in June.

There were 20 teams participating in this year's tournament. The single-elimination tournament was off to a blazing start and was attended by nearly 250 spectators when a big storm hit on Saturday, June 21. The tournament had to be resumed the following day.

Team placers included John and Greg Mizer of Canton placed second and Jim Kovac and Jim Mikes of Canton finished third. Other area participants were The Piezon's, which included Jim 'Hunterino' Hunter of Magnolia and Ralph 'Renino' Rennie of Morges.

RULES OF

OPEN BOCCE

Traditionally, Bocce is to be played on an oyster shell court, but has adapted to many surfaces such as asphalt, decomposed granite or grass. Courts can be set at approximately 20 to 30 meters in length and 3 to 4 meters in width. More commonly, it can simply be played in an open backyard or beach with no boundaries. This style is known as open bocce.

A game of open bocce can be contested between two players or two teams, depending on how many people are involved. The game is played with eight large balls (four per team) and one smaller ball known as the pallino or pill. The purpose of the game is to toss your teams bocce balls, by means of rolling or underthrowing as close to the pallino as possible, while knocking the opponents balls away.

The match begins with one of the teams throwing the pallino. The same team goes first, one player at a time. Whichever team is closer to the pallino, will forfeit their throw until the other team gets closer. This continues until all balls are thrown.

The team closest to the pallino is awarded one point for every ball that is closer to the pallino than the other team's.

Games can be played to any point value, but are usually played to 11, 13 or 21.