Hough, Cucinella Lead Bellmore-Merrick Bowling to Win Over Island Trees

The Bellmore-Merrick boys bowling team won handily against Island Trees on Thursday afternoon 11-0 to avenge two consecutive losses to Wantagh and Levittown Division.  

Mepham senior Ricky Hough and Calhoun junior Joe Cucinella led the team from start to finish, breaking the 200-pin barrier in all three games to help Bellmore-Merrick (2-2) take the match 2,501-2,258.  

"As a team, we bowled well and today we just came to play," head coach Joe Bianca said. "We bowled as a team and were consistent. Two of our guys, Joe and Ricky, had great series all-around."  

Hough bowled the match's highest score in the opening game with a 259 followed by Cucinella with a 214. Calhoun senior Dan Mueller followed right behind Cucinella with a 213, wrapped up by another Calhoun senior, Scott Castellano, bowling a 135. Bellmore-Merrick took the early lead over Island Trees 821-757.  

Bianca stuck with his three high scorers for the second game, and it proved to be the right decision. Hough and Cucinella led again with a 257 and 247, respectively. Mueller cooled off from his opening game, bowling a 179. Calhoun senior Taylor Weinberg was substituted in for Castellano and posted a 173. The group tallied their highest total of the match with a big 856-701 win.  

With the match all but won, Hough and Cucinella didn't surrender any ground. The defending Nassau County champion bowled a 228, followed closely behind Cucinella with a 221.

Mueller posted his second consecutive score of 179, and Kennedy junior Mike Anagnostopulos with a solid 196. Bellmore-Merrick hit that crucial 800 plateau in all three games, wrapping the final one up by the count of 824-800.  

"I was bowling much better, getting the ball out on the lane and working," Hough said. "We need to be consistent and make spares. The strikes will come, but in between you have to make spares in those frames and shoot 800 as a team consistently."  

Team qualifiers for the Nassau County championship are based on the number of 800+ rounds a team shoots, so the win on Thursday was an important step in the right direction.  

"If we continue to bowl like this then we have a real opportunity to win," Bianca said. "It's what we need to do to qualify for the counties."  

Bellmore-Merrick will match up against Plainedge on Monday at 4:15 p.m. as South Levittown Lanes.