After narrowly getting past the Brooklyn Tech Engineers in the second round of the playoffs, the Pinheads, the girls’ bowling team, lost to the top-seeded Falcons of Susan Wagner High School in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, November 20. The Falcons won games A and B, 758-510, 593-481, respectively.
According to coach Peter Bologna, every girl had to bowl 40 pins higher than her seasonal average in order for the Pinheads to beat Wagner. “It was an uphill battle,” he said.
Senior Sue Yee Chen and junior Tiffany Wan both bowled a high of 133 in game A. Junior Anna Zhang was the top scorer of the B game, taking down 132 pins.
The Falcons bowled higher than 133 points in game A. Senior and Falcon Jessica Soranno and sophomore and teammate Nicole Maugeri both bowled over 200 points.
Seven Falcons averaged above 140 in the regular season, with the highest average of 183.71 belonging to senior Heather Reebe. Stuyvesant’s top bowler, junior Tiffany Wan, averages 133.22 points per game. According to Bologna, “We knew what we were getting into.”
What the Pinheads did not know was what the Falcons brought with them to the quarterfinals. Stuyvesant had the chance to see a team that not only has its own bowling balls but also one whose members can throw a hook ball, a type of release that allows the ball to curve after deliver.
A hook ball skids down the lane, through the oil and then rotates towards the center pin. “A few have spoken to me about getting a ball and learning the hook,” Bologna said.
Learning has been the key to the Pinheads success in their three-year existence since the team started in 2004 as a developmental team. “It’s the farthest we’ve gotten,” Chen said.