An eventful season for the area’s high school bowling teams would culminate in two consecutive Sundays of Section III championship activity.
The girls would go first, competing Sunday at Liverpool’s Flamingo Bowl, where in Division II (small schools) Christian Brothers Academy finished fifth out of 14 teams, but the Brothers’ Elianna Occhino finished second in the individual standings.
Occhino had games of 191, 175 and 215 in the morning session. While others tired, Occhino got afternoon games of 203, 180 and 210 to finsh at 1,174, trailing only the 1,200 by Utica Proctor’s Kaitlynn Conte.
Of the six games, CBA did best in the third, with a team total of 751. Ultimately, the Brothers’ pinfall of 4,220 trailed a field led by Camden, whose 4,878 secured a berth in the March 14-15 state tournament at Strike-N-Spare Lanes.
Aside from Occhino, Cadence Malicek had the best individual series for the Brothers, accumulating 903 over six games as Rachel Farella had a 762 series.
Up in Division I (large schools), Fayetteville-Manlius finished seventh overall, sixth among Class A sides, with a pinfall of 4,557 as Rome Free Academy took top honors with 5,418.
Shelby Miner paced the Hornets and was 25th among individuals, her fifth-game 207 part of a 1,021 series. Lydia Chase, with a 935 series (186 high game), was one pin ahead of the 934 from Kendra Elliot, who had a top game of 204 as Samantha Estock got a 910 series.
CBA’s girls had already locked up its first-ever Onondaga High School League regular-season title when it defeated Bishop Grimes 3-0 last Tuesday at Strike-N-Spare.
Finishing with games of 182 and 177, Occhino earned a 506 series, while Sophie Schultz had a three-game total of 422. Malicek added a 159 game as Grimes’ Olivia Coppola led her side with a 423 series.
On the boys side, it was the Cobras prevailing 3-0 over the Brothers to improve its record to 8-3, led by Matt Rogers, who opened with a 212 and was steady during a 566 series.
Joe Belton, improving with each game, closed with a 201 in his 540 set. Ben Schultz opened with 188 and 185 in his 504 set as Alex Williams (476 series) and Louis Pelose (440 series) followed. Isaiah Lerch had CBA’s top game of 159.
East Syracuse Minoa met up with Auburn last Thursday afternoon at Falcon Lanes, and the boys match was a close one, the Spartans falling 2-1 to the Maroons.
Ryan Buffum, with games of 231 and 220, finished with a 625 series as Tyler Talarico opened with a 235 in his 591 set. To win, Auburn needed Tyler Kraushaar to put up a 254 in the middle of his 660 series.
In the girls match, ESM lost 3-0 to the Maroons, led by Emily Blakeman, who shot three steady games in her 522 series as America Carhart opened with games of 182 and 181 in her 520 set.
Auburn featured its superb duo of Kaylee Hodson and Amber Pidlypchak, as Hodson shot 212, 238 and 256 in her 706 series and Pidlypchak put up a 10-strike 277 in her second game as part of a 700 set.
Then, against Central Square on Friday, ESM’s boys lost 3-0, though Talarico shot a 236 opener in his 619 series.
Chris Bayly had a 564 series and Brett Smith a 553 set, but the Redhawks’ Dimitri Queior tore it up with a 278 opening game, plus a 246 and 226, in a 750 series as Jayden Allen got a 655 series.
F-M won a 3-0 boys match over Bishop Grimes in a non-league match on Thursday, with Kevin Winschel authoring a 700 series for the Hornets that included games of 233, 230 and 237.
Adam Koss helped with a 624 series that included a pair of 211 games, while Dan Fiumara shot a 209 in his 585 series. Grimes had Rogers shoot a 224 in his 492 series and Belton earn a 501 series.
Then, when F-M’s girls met Cicero-North Syracuse in Friday, the Hornets prevailed 2-1 over the Northstars.
At Green Lakes Lanes, Miner shot a 198, 182 and 180 in her 560 series. Elliot’s 177 was part of a 491 set as Estock got a 475 series and Hannah Smith had a three-game total of 430.
