Bellmore-Merrick Boys Bowling Can't Find Rhythm Against Wantagh

The Bellmore-Merrick boys bowling team fell to Wantagh for the second time this season on Thursday afternoon 8-3.  

The team led early over Wantagh, but lost the final two games to drop to 3-3 on the season behind a total score of 2,318-2,209.  

"In that last game, in the eighth and ninth frames, everybody missed their spares and we lost the match," head coach Joe Bianca said. "It's simple."

Calhoun senior Dan Mueller was the high scorer in the opening game with a score of 224, followed by Mepham senior Ricky Hough with a 202. A normally solid Joe Cucinella, a Calhoun junior, struggled to find his line as he posted a 159, followed by Calhoun senior Scott Castellano with a 153. Bellmore-Merrick was able to take the early lead with a 738-708 win.  

Mueller continued his stellar performance with a team-high score of 235 followed up again by Hough with a strong score of 200. Calhoun junior Anthony Belbo was substituted into the second game to post a 178. Kennedy junior Mike Anagnostopulos also came into the game to bowl a 139. Wantagh picked up their play to edge Bellmore-Merrick out in game two 790-752.  

Hough and Mueller each rounded out their matches with a 234 and 169, respectively. Castellano came back into the game to match Mueller's score of 169, followed up by Mepham senior C.J. Marino who bowled a 149. Wantagh posted the lone 800 score of the match, taking the advantage over Bellmore-Merrick 820-719. 

"We were a little sloppy all-around and weren't hitting our spares when needed," Hough said. "After the second game, it went downhill from there."  

Despite Wantagh committing a handful of errors early on in the match, Bellmore-Merrick couldn't capitalize to gain the sizeable lead it was hoping for.  

"Today, we just didn't bowl that well along with them not bowling that well," Bianca said.  

The team will now have another go at its league opponents to try to put together a winning streak and move up the standings.  

Bellmore-Merrick will match up against MacArthur next Monday at 4:15 p.m. at Levittown South Lanes.