MATTYDALE – Accomplishing back-to-back state championships, regardless of the sport, is something rare and special. Getting three in a row is even rarer.

This is what Christian Brothers Academy girls bowler Eliana Occhino was trying to accomplish last Saturday during the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships at Strike-N-Spare Lanes – and she nearly pulled it off.

Once again, Occhino led the Section III All-Star side in the individual state tournament and would find herself improving her scores throughout a majority of the competition.

Opening with a 213, Occhino found herself briefly outside the top 10, but quickly moved up the board with solid games of 231 and 233 to close out the first half of the session with a 677, behind Jamestown’s Annie Derby (724) and Maple Hill’s Kate Ackerman (694) among the top contenders.

With a 245 in the fourth game, Occhiono passed Derby but still found herself behind Ackerman, whose 267 now put her in first place.

Then came the fifth game. After an opening spare, Occhino converted 10 consecutive strikes, only stopped by a single pin on her final roll but still, at 289, recording the high score of the entire tournament.

Ackerman’s 257 meant that, going to the final game, she had 1,228 and Occhino was at 1,212, a 16-pin separation. Yet it was Ackerman able to get clear by shooting a 259, while Occhino again bowled well, but could only get 226.

Ultimately, the margin between Ackerman (1,487) and Occhino (1,438) was 49 pins, while Derby finished third at 1,387 and Glens Falls’ Jocelyn Smith was fourth, posting 1,366 after a final-game 180 pushed her back in the standings.