ONONDAGA COUNTY – With match victories at their respective home venues, the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool bowling teams got just the start to the new year that they each imagined.
Later in the week, though, a match between the boys Northstars and Baldwinsville at Strike-N-Spare Lanes saw C-NS attempt to avenge its lone defeat of the season, but not do so, falling 5-2 to the Bees.

C-NS had a pinfall of 3,292 just behind B’ville’s 3,354, with Jacob Calabria the top individual bowler for the Northstars as he shot 233, 234 and 190 in his 657 series.

Garrett Arnold’s second-game 224 was part of a 585 series, while Tom O’Connell also shot 224 during a 553 set and Sam Hoffman’s lone game was yet another 224.

B’ville still won with a consistent effort led by Sam Leonardo’s three-game total of 604, with Zenon Gasiorowski (587 series), Scott Ritcey (565 series) and Jordan Sevigny (558 series) close behind.

Both of the Northstars’ sides shut out Syracuse City 7-0 last Tuesday afternoon, with the boys led by Calabria, who shot a 258 second game in between a 210 and 215 on his way to a 683 series.

Arnold, closing with a 234 after a 202, ended up with a 610 series that edged out the 609 set from O’Connell, who opened with a 224 before a 199 and 186. Jonathan Artz added a 233 opening game and Derek Tarquinio started with a season-best game of 205.

As the C-NS girls prevailed 7-0 over Syracuse, Trinity Short led the way, her 196 and two 174s producing a three-game total of 544. Jennifer Draper’s 481 included a 181 and 166 as Melody Schwartz had a 400 series.

Then, facing B’ville two days later, it again was a 7-0 decision for the Bees, who got a 683 series from Samantha Hass that featured games of 237, 235 and 211. Draper paced the Northstars with a 435 series and Schwartz improved to a 411 total.

Liverpool, meanwhile, would find constant success early in 2024.

The Warriors swept Fayetteville-Manlius at Flamingo Lanes, taking it 5-2 on the boys side led by Ray Rucker, who shot a second-game 258 to go with 167 and 183 in his 608 series.

Though F-M’s Gabriel Williams led all individuals with a 611 set, no other Hornets bowler got to a 500 series as Grady Foster did so with a 545 that began with a 202 and Tanner Gist, helped by a second-game 196, did so with a 515 total.

The girls Warriors beat the Hornets by that same 5-2 margin, despite a pinfall of 1,868 to the Hornets’ 1,986. Sara Conover had a three-game total of 477, with Alainna Deyneka adding a 454 series and Sarah Daniel getting a 402 series

Two days later, it was the Liverpool boys sweeping West Genesee 7-0 led by Gist, who shot 200, 232 and 208 for a 640 series as Austin Burch added a 211 in his 543 set and Kyle Lake opened with a 200.

Among the upcoming matches is another Liverpool showdown with C-NS, this time at Flamingo next Thursday afternoon. The Northstars got twin 7-0 shutouts when they met back on Dec. 13.