Lansing bowling strikes early-season stride

The Section IV winter season is already a few weeks in, and multiple teams in the area have gotten off to great starts, namely Lansing and Trumansburg boys basketball. But two local team’s successes have gone under the radar.

Lansing boys and girls bowling are on a roll to kickstart their respective campaigns. As of December 18, the boys team won its first three matches, while the girls team claimed victory in two of its first three.

How each match works is that each team consists of six players and plays three games. The lowest score for each game is dropped, so only the top five scores are counted per game. Whichever team has the highest score is awarded one point per game, and an additional point is earned for the team with the highest total score, meaning that four points are up for grabs each match.

This is important to know when it comes to the boys team because they won eleven of a possible twelve points to begin their campaign. In fact, they were just 10 pins away from winning all 12 points but fell short in the third game against a strong Candor team.

The Bobcats’ dominant performances have been led by Nicco Binns, who is averaging a team-high 189 score per game. He revealed how he has found his stride on the lanes.

“[It’s] just focusing on the mechanics and just making sure you’re doing everything right and then making sure you make as many spares as possible,” Binns said. “[It’s] also the mental game, keeping as even-keeled as possible to remain in a good state.”

What makes Binns’ stellar start even more impressive is that he’s only a freshman. In fact, the Bobcats as a whole are a very young team, as seven of the 10 bowlers are underclassmen, including two eighth graders. Even as a ninth grader, Binns has already emerged as a leader who his teammates can depend on and learn from to help better their own game.

“I just have to try and help them improve as much as possible and just encourage them to improve their game so when they reach their later years in high school, they can be the best they can be,” Binns said.

One other thing that makes Binns stand out on the lanes is that he’s a left-handed bowler. While there is a clearer advantage for lefties in other sports such as tennis, whether or not lefty bowlers have the upper hand depends on the lane itself.

“It can depend on the day,” Binns said. “Sometimes, righties will have a good day and will start out good. Because there’s a lot of them, the oil will change and then they’ll start to struggle. For lefties, the oil doesn’t change as much because there’s less people going on that side. If it starts difficult, it’s most likely gonna stay like that. If it starts easy, you’ll probably score high throughout the whole three games or however long you’re bowling.”

As for the girls team, leading the charge is senior Keara Armstrong, who is averaging a team-high 154 score per game. Like Binns, Armstrong emphasized the importance of the mental aspect of bowling, which has helped her get off and running.

“It’s all about the mental game,” Armstrong said. “Bowling is a game that when you get discouraged, that really ruins it all for you. It’s about staying positive, keeping it slow with your approach and really being consistent every shot.”

Armstrong has played an instrumental role in growing the girls team. She was one of only three bowlers on the Bobcats in 2021, a season that was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Two years later, they now have 10 bowlers on the roster, in large part thanks to Armstrong’s help in spreading the word throughout the school.

“It was amazing that just posters or morning announcements can make all the difference to have a full team to actually participate in all the matches,” Armstrong said. “It’s just really good to get new faces in here once all the seniors leave and keep the sport alive and keep it from going under.”

While it’s still early on in the campaign, both teams have a good chance of winning their divisions in the IAC. For head coach Lee Christopher, he aims to strike a balance between the fun and competitive sides of the sport.

“I just ask everybody to have fun and meet new people,” Christopher said. “It’s not like another sport where in baseball and football, you got the team on the other side. You’re actually bowling next to the individual, and you will about three times a year, so you might as well get to know the person there, for one. But [number] two is competition. You’re in a competition mode now. Show them that this is our lanes and this is you. But the bottom line is to try to beat your average.”