Bloomfield HS bowling teams each finish runner-up in the ECT

BLOOMFIELD, NJ – The Bloomfield High School boys and girls bowling teams each finished in second place at the Essex County team Tournament at Eagle Rock Lanes in West Orange this past Monday, Feb. 4.

The boys finished in a close second behind West Orange.

“It was a tough fought battle as we were bowling on the same pair of lanes as West Orange, so it was more of a head-to-head battle,” wrote head coach Phil Rapavi in an email to EssexNewsDaily.com.

Gabe Farabaugh lead the way with a 254 high game and 639 series. Bruce Sprague added a 216 and Bryan Fuscarino, Egan Adler and AJ Moore all contributed to make the match competitive.

“The boys knew we were down 50 pins going into the last game,” Rapavi said. “We started the third game strong and cut the deficit slightly. We just needed to put a string together in the last half of the game in order to put some pressure on West Orange, but we had a little trouble carrying, and West Orange was able to get the breaks they needed to finish up with the win. It was a great match, with both teams showing a lot of respect for each other in the end.  I am proud of the way the boys handled themselves and fought to the very end.”

The girls division as a whole struggled, Rapavi noted. “The lanes had a very high volume of oil and everyone was struggling to get some sort of ball reaction.  The conditions definitely attributed to the low scores overall. I know many of the girls in the league under-performed due to the conditions. That being said, you could tell that the team with the most spares would probably win the day.  Nutley proved to be the more consistent team won by a 100. The girls fought hard, lead by Shannon Broadfoot. Jennifer Cleary, Keyana Coley-Rice, Sophia Zaman and Bear Julian all did their best on the tough conditions. We had a consistent effort all three games, but never really got on a hot streak. I am proud of the effort and the result, and I know we have greater things to come in the future.”

Gabe Farabaugh, Bryan Fuscarino, Jennifer Cleary and Shannon Broadfoot all qualified for the County Singles Tournament on Monday, Feb. 11 at Eagle Rock Lanes.