ONONDAGA COUNTY – If the point was to earn collective honors and build up plenty of confidence for the upcoming Section III championships, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys bowling team succeeded.
Yet what made the Northstars’ 7-0 shutout of West Genesee Monday at Strike-N-Spare Lanes more than routine was seeing Garrett Arnold get to perfection again.
Arnold, who never shot a 300 game before doing so in a match against East Syracuse Minoa in December, pulled it off again in the second of two games against the Wildcats, putting all 12 shots in the pocket and seeing them turn into strikes. He also had a 300 in a separate tournament in between these other two gems.
All of this was part of a match where no C-NS bowler competed in more than two games. Still, there was time for Jayson Gilchrist to earn a 268 prior to Arnold’s 300, with Hunter Baciuska adding games of 224 and 202. Cameron Miller and Nehemiah Bachmann had matching opening games of 209.
Liverpool had quite a lead-up to the sectional tournament with three matches, two of them against rival Baldwinsville – one of them at B’ville Sports Bowl, the other at Flamingo Bowl.
The Bees needed to win both matches to catch C-NS atop the standings in the SCAC Metro division or the Northstars would earn the outright title.
In Tuesday’s 7-0 defeat at B’ville, Liverpool saw Mykey Hatherill impress with games of 212, 234 and 231 for a 677 series. Carter Thomas had 188, 203 and 215 for a three-game total of 606 as Kaden Lake got a 566 series (high game 197) and Tanner Gist a 510 series.
However, the Bees got a 703 series (high game 257) from Zenon Gasiorowski and a 10-strike 276 opening game by Scott Ritcey on his way to a 679 series which edged out the 676 set from teammate Wes Lell. Jordan Sevigny added a three-game total of 661.
Meanwhile, the Liverpool girls got the best individual series from Sara Conover as her 246 second game augmented a 189 and 205 during a 640 set. Still, LHS lost 7-0 to B’ville,who had more depth as Sam Hass shot a 606 series and Lizzy Hildreth added a 596 set.
Liverpool’s boys would handle Fayetteville-Manlius in another 7-0 match Thursday at Flamingo led by Gist shooting 235, 233 and 214 for a 682 series which beat his previous season mark by 51 pins.
Kyle Lake closed with a 10-strike 278 to finish with a 666 total that included an opening 212. Thomas added a 574 series with his own 212 game as Chris Harding shot 204 in his lone game. Kaden Lake and Peter DiRubbo had matching high games of 194.
Even with Conover shooting 187, 157 and 212 in her 556 series, Liverpool’s girls took a 7-0 defeat to F-M who had a well-balanced effort of six bowlers recording series of 438 or better led by Lillian Squire’s 497 set.
Both Liverpool sides lost to B’ville again on Friday at Flamingo Bowl but the 5-2 defeat for the boys included several outstanding performances for the hosts.
Leading all individuals, Kyle Lake shot a 650 series with games of 245 and 226. Gist closed with a 246 in his 604 series as Hatherill opened with a 226 in his 566 series and Chris Harding stepped up with a 215 game during his 518 series. Four Bees shot series of 580 or higher led by the 635 set from Ricey that included a 258 game.