The Nassau individual championship seemed like a two-bowler race going into the final game, then Matthew Banfich rolled his way into the conversation.
Banfich bowled a 267 in Game 6 of a 1,379 series to win the Nassau individual championship at AMF Garden City Lanes Tuesday. The Division senior was in third place, trailing by 69 pins, headed into the final game.
“Honestly my goal was just to be in the top six,” Banfich said. “But then in that last game I realized I had a chance and pulled it off.”
Banfich rolled a 277 in Game 3 to get within 28 pins of Island Trees’ Nicholas Lesica, who rolled a 278 in Game 3. Seaford’s Andrew Ceraulo rolled a 233 in Game 4 to jump past Banfich.
Banfich headlines the Nassau Division I all-star team, consisting of the top six finishers of the individual championship. His teammates will be Syosset’s Jaiden Ng (1,350), Bellmore-Merrick’s Lucas Lam (1,325), East Meadow’s Erik Rich (1,318) and Sewanhaka’s Joshua Agliam (1,291).
The all-star teams will compete at the state championships, scheduled for March 15 in Syracuse.
“It feels great to make it to states with the all-star team,” Banfich said. “Being champion here means a lot. I didn’t think I’d win it and then it just happened.”
Ceraulo will be a member of the Division II all-star team. He will be joined by Lesica and four of his Seaford teammates, Matthew Mele, Brian Karaman, Brendan Dennehy and Jack McKenny.
MORRIS WINS SECOND INDIVIDUAL TITLE
East Meadow’s Amanda Morris has been Nassau’s best girls bowler for the past three seasons and her performance at the individual championship further cemented her place at the top.
Morris, a senior, knocked down 1,316 pins in her six-game series to win a second individual championship at AMF Garden City Lanes, her first coming as a freshman.
“I’ve been very nervous because it’s my last year,” Morris said. “I’ve had the high averages and I knew I could do it again, but I kept getting in my head.”
She rolled a 258 in Game 1, but trailed Sewanhaka’s Morgan Winchell, who had won the competition the past two seasons. Morris rolled a 254 in Game 2 to take the lead and didn’t relinquish it.
Morris took a 66-pin lead into Game 4, but led by just 35 pins going into Game 6. She regained her composure and rolled a 226 to close out her victory.
"I was throwing the ball 17 miles per hour when I usually throw it like 15,” Morris said. “The lanes were playing tighter in Games 4 and 5 and it just came down to me letting the ball get out there and trusting it.
Morris headlines the Division I all-star team alongside, Winchell (1,238), Sewanhaka’s Jayla Phillips (1,185), MacArthur’s Abby Buenaventura (1,184), Great Neck South’s Simone Chan (1,151) and MacArthur’s Holland Boder (1,126).
The Division II all-star team is made up of Seaford bowlers, Joanna Bello, Ava Caruso, Kaylee Craft, Taylor Jebaily, Megan Reder and Island Trees’ Kaitlyn Lesica.