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SCHENECTADY – Many people view high school bowling as an individual-based team sport.
The Shenendehowa boys’ bowling team will hear none of that. To the Plainsmen, it’s a team sport all the way, and it has a championship plaque to back that opinion.
The Plainsmen, coming off a win in the Suburban Council Tournament, started strong and stayed steady throughout Tuesday to win the Section II Class A tournament at Boulevard Bowl. Shenendehowa finished with 5,979 pins, 64 higher than runner-up Saratoga Springs.
It was Shenendehowa’s first Section II title since 2012, when co-coach Connor Chatterton was a member of the team. He and Jessica Aiezza shared coaching duties this year. They both said they were fortunate to get the crew they did.
“We just showed up and had a great squad from the start,” Chatterton said. “They just play off each other. They’re great teammates, they know how to pick each other up, they know how to communicate, it’s all on them. They did awesome.”
“I think we just tried to play and find out everyone’s strengths,” Aiezza said. “We have a very good, solid, even, overall team. I don’t know if I’d say we had one standout. Honestly, when one person was down, the rest of the team would pick him up.”
The bowlers said camaraderie meant a great deal to the Plainsmen.
“The team is just friends,” said senior Jonathan Bauer, who overcame a slight ankle injury in the first game to keep bowling. “It’s not a bunch of strangers, it’s not people trying to make friends, it’s people that genuinely enjoy each other’s company.”
Shenendehowa started strong with a 1,078 in the first game. Remarkably, that put it in second place, as Guilderland started with a 1,106. But the Dutchmen had an 886 third game to Shenendehowa’s 1,012. Halfway through the day, Shenendehowa, at 3,085, led Guilderland by 79, Shaker by 108 and Saratoga Springs by 138.
“When the oil’s there, you’ve got to take advantage of it,” Shenendheowa senior Jeremy Shafer said of the team’s first game. “I feel like the first game is the most important. You want to come out of the gun hot because, statistically, your games are going to go down the more you bowl. The better you do earlier, the better you’re going to be throughout the whole day.”
The Blue Streaks rallied in the final three games, led by a 1,058 fourth game, but couldn’t make up the difference.
Bauer said he had different thoughts entering the final game.
“A lot of, ‘my ankle hurts.’ A couple of ‘we got it.’ We’re up by quite a bit. All we’ve got to do is just keep it close, bowl our game and we’re fine,” Bauer said.
At the beginning of the season, Aiezza and Chatterton said they had no expectations, but the bowlers had a feeling a title was possible.
“There’s always a feeling, like, yes, we’ve got the skill,” Bauer said. “But at the same time, the past couple of years we haven’t been close. But then a couple practices in, you start to notice everybody loves being with each other, and yes, we have a shot this year.”
Shenendehowa will be Section II’s Division 1 representative at the State Bowling Championships March 10-12 at Strike N’ Spare Lanes in Syracuse. Cohoes, the Class B champion, will be the Division 2 representative, and the Section II composite team consists of Mechanicville’s Jason Walker, who rolled a 1,429 six-game series Friday at the Class B tournament, La Salle’s Zack Bombard, Johnstown’s Darryn Fallis, Stillwater’s Connor Julian, Lansingburgh’s Daniel Goldston and Saratoga Springs’ Macallan Gagne.
Walker, a junior, qualified for his first interscholastic state tournament. He said he didn’t like being the first of the boys’ classes to compete.
“Waiting until everyone was done was kind of a pain,” Walker said. “I bowled good the first four games, then the transition hit me. I should have made a ball change earlier, but I still shot good, so I’m not too mad that I didn’t make a ball change earlier.”
Team scores – Shenendehowa 5,979, Saratoga Springs 5,915, Guilderland 5,818, Shaker 5,813, Niskayuna 5,726, Amsterdam 5,599, Mohonasen 5,592, Averill Park 5,582, Colonie 5,580, South Glens Falls 5,570, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake 5,563, Columbia 5,549, Albany 5,475, Troy 5,387, Bethlehem 5,112, Ballston Spa 4,704, Scotia-Glenville 4,583, Queensbury 4,350, Schenectady 3,942.
High singles – Jayson Capullo (Gld) 280, Derek Bellamny (BH-BL) 279, Jacob Kellar (AP) 266.
High triples – Macallan Gagne (Sar) 693, Ryan Harris (Sha) 683, Jeremy Shafer (Shen) 679.
Section II Team – Jason Walker (Mechanicville) 1,429, Zack Bombard (La Salle) 1,397, Darryn Fallis (Johnstown) 1,396, Connor Julian (Stillwater) 1,369, Daniel Goldston (Lansingburgh) 1,366, Macallan Gagne (Saratoga Springs) 1,356.
Contact Will Springstead at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WLSpringstead.
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