All bowlers strive for strikes, but in tournament competition, spares often make the difference between winning and losing.
The Colonie High School girls’ bowling team converted some key spares in the final game and rallied to beat Class B champ Lansingburgh by 14 pins, 5,391 to 5,377, to win both the Section II Class A crown and the overall girls’ championship Thursday at Boulevard Bowl.
The Garnet Raiders have won seven straight Class A titles. This is also their fifth overall title since 2009.
“We knew we were close,” said veteran Colonie girls’ coach Pete Grugan. “We were something like 90 pins behind Lansingburgh and 40 behind Columbia in the fifth frame of the third game. This is the sixth championship for me here at Colonie, and this is definitely the closest final score.
“I’d rather come from behind. Before the fifth frame of that last game, the girls were pumped up, and they were pulling the ball. After I calmed them down, they bowled better. You can’t make the ball do things. You’ve got to let things happen.”
“We just focused on making spares,” said senior Tiera Gulum, who shot a 243-653 triple in the morning block and an 1,181 six-game total. “We do better when we’re under pressure.”
Gulum said that the scoring was much lower than expected.
“We expected a strike fest, based on our practice session [Wednesday]. But they were a lot tougher today,” she said.
Sophomore Amanda Chrzanowski, who tossed triples of 558 and 616 for an 1,174 total, said she felt the pressure trying to come from behind.
“It’s a lot different when you have to make up ground, but we had a lot of people behind us spurring us on. It gets harder when you have to make it happen,” she said. “Experience helps. We weren’t as stressed, because many of us have been in this situation before. Coach kept telling us to stay behind the ball.”
Lansingburgh coach Roland Blanchet said the Knights had trouble making their spares down the stretch.
“The girls couldn’t function in the final game,” he said. “They tightened up. Unfortunately, they missed two spares in the final game, and that was the difference. We stress making spares all the time. We were optimistic going in. We defended our Colonial Council title, and the girls were undefeated except for one tie this year.”
Mechanicville dominated Class C with 4,992 pins.
Named to the all-section team were Jenna Lemke (1,273) of Bethlehem, Julia Favata (1,217) of Niskayuna, Shannon Bristol (1,201) of Lansingburgh, Lauren Piotrowski (1,192) of Schenectady, Melanie Lemke of Bethlehem (1,161) anad Katie Lynch (1,127) of Lansingburgh.
RESULTS
CLASS A
Leading teams: Colonie 5,391, Columbia 5,332, Schenectady 5,196.
High triples: Jenna Lemke (Bethlehem) 693, Tiera Gullum (Colonie) 653, Julia Favata (Niskayuna) 617.
High singles: Heather Aiken (Columbia) 247, Lauren Piotrowski (Schenectady) 237, Samantha Hart (Columbia) 231.
CLASS B
Leading teams: Lansingburgh 5,377, Mohonasen 5,055, Schalmont 4,921.
High triples: Shannon Bristol (Lansingburgh) 656, Katie Lynch (Lansingburgh) 629, Lauren Liberatore (Schalmont) 571.
High singles: Autumn Rivet (Cohoes) 223, Becky LaBelle (Schalmont) 212, Megan Caza (Schalmont) 212.
CLASS C
Leading teams: Mechanicville 4,992, Middleburgh 4,595, Canajoharie 4,409.
High triples: Kate Bee (Mechanicville) 583, Haley Groat (Mechanicville) 582, Taylor Dolan (Middleburgh) 551.
High singles: Makayla Williams (Schoharie) 221, Erin Mastropietro (Mechanicville) 212, Madelyn Fannell (Mechanicville) 200.
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Categories: High School Sports
