A strong season for the Solvay girls bowling team would culminate with a third-place finish in the Class B portion of the Section III team tournament, held last Sunday at Strike-N-Spare Lanes.
With a total pinfall of 3,677, the Bearcats finished just 184 pins behind Camden, who won the division with 3,851, with Whitesboro (3,733) taking second place. Solvay was also ninth overall as Utica Proctor (4,379) edged Auburn (4,324) for the top spot.
Carissa Moleski led Solvay on the individual side, as her six-game total of 940 put her in 29th place, with a high game of 177 earned in the morning session.
Molly McGuire was close behind, her 208 game leading to a 910 series, while Lauren Bandera shot a 182 opening game in her 894 series and Jessica Birdslow had a 191 game in her 884 set.
As for West Genesee, it had a team total of 3,416, with Kristen Moth earning the best series of 767 that included a high game of 141. Neither the Wildcats, nor Solvay, were part of the boys sectional team tournament.
Solvay went on to a sweep of its league match against Christian Brothers Academy on Tuesday afternoon, also at Strike-N-Spare.
McGuire led the girls Bearcats past the Brothers 3-0, shooting a three-game total of 599 that included a high game of 221. Birdslow’s 189 game led to a 545 set, while Moleski had a 429 series and Lauren Bandera a 416 series. No CBA player did better than Gabby Damico’s 371 set.
The boys match also ended 3-0 in Solvay’s favor. Dylan Rathbun had a 561 series, one pin better than Zaric Raymond, though Raymond had the better high game of 224. Ryan Biggs shot a 556 series with a high game of 203 as Brandan Messer (458 series) and Antonia Pallotta (451 series) helped out.
McGuire then went to Friday’s Section III Shoot-out at Rome’s King Pin Lanes and came within 85 pins of advancing to the state tournament.
Over the course of six games, McGuire accumulated a pinfall of 1,115, including a high game of 225. That put her in fifth place, but only the top two advanced to the state tournament, Chittenango’s Casey Smith (1,219) and Rome Free Academy’s Megan Durgan (1,190) finishing that way.
West Genesee’s Morgan Rether also competed in Rome, finishing 15th with a six-game total of 925, which included a 208 in the second game.
