Published: December 02, 2008 11:57 am         

BOWLING: NT fares wellat Maryvale tournament

LANCASTER — A number of local bowling teams opened the 2008-09 season at Airport Lanes on Monday in the Maryvale Holiday Tournament, with the Lockport and North Tonawanda squads turning in impressive performances.

The Lady Lions earned the girls title with a total of 2,913 pins, while the Lions took third. The NT boys team finished second behind only West Seneca East, the defending Section VI champion, while the Lady Jacks were fourth.

“I predicted the boys would finish third or fourth in the (Niagara Frontier) league,” NT coach Bill Rohring said. “I’ve got a team with seven juniors on it, and they’re impatient. They don’t want to wait a year. They want to succeed now. I think they’re going to put up some big scores this year.”

NT was led by Tyler Skoczylas, who was honored for the second-highest single game of the tournament with a 267, en route to a 701 series. Also for NT, Josh Horab contributed a 247-683, while Wes Thompson rolled a 226-655. The NT girls were led by Brianna Larson, who had the tournament’s third-highest series with a 245-633.

Lockport, under head coach Matt Burt, earned the girls title, as Sam Stachura-Lee’s 247-636 was good for the second-best series among girls. Also for the Lady Lions, Jenna Geiger added 243-608.

“I’m extremely happy. We were very consistent all day,” Burt said. “The scoring was really spread out, which doesn’t put the pressure on any one girl.”

Other local teams with top-10 finishes included: Tonawanda A girls (fifth), Lew-Port girls (10th), Kenmore West A boys (fourth) and St. Joe’s boys (seventh).

Individually, Steve Sadaro of Lancaster earned high-game honors for the boys with a 268. St. Joe’s Phil Tabbi and Lew-Port’s Mike Grannis were among three bowlers who tied for the third-best individual game, with each rolling 266. The three best series among the boys were turned in by Canisius’ Matt Kwiatkowski (268-731), Amherst’s Justin Galus (258-730) and West Seneca East’s Brandon Simon (289-706). High series are honored first, then high games, so that’s why Simon didn’t also win the high game award.

On the girls side, Clarence’s Nicole Crastenberg’s 246 was the high game, followed by Frontier’s Jamie Brooks (245) and Clarence’s Jackie Willy (227). Megan Aurelio of Lancaster had the high series with a 246-685, followed by Stachura-Lee and Williamsville South’s Tricia Kent in a tie for second at 636 and Larson in third at 633.

Contact editor Jay Skurski at 693-1000, ext. 117.