After a busy week with three matches, the Pascack Valley Boy’s bowling team travelled to Parkway Lanes in Elmwood Park on Saturday for the New Year’s Team Championships.  The team headed into the tournament with some momentum after beating Indian Hills and Westwood on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

Despite these positive results, Valley didn’t fair as well as they had hoped in the tournament.  The five man team was comprised of sophomores Henry Tipping and Christian Previtali, juniors Tom Smith and Brian Sumereau, and senior Alex Robinson.  They had a combined score of 2,624, which was good for twelfth place in the twenty-team bracket.

Henry Tipping led Pascack Valley, bowling 256, 224, and 173 in three games for a 653 series.  Tom Smith and Brian Sumereau also made nice contributions to the team.  Smith had a 538 series, while Sumereau bowled a 500 series.

Although the team’s performance didn’t meet its expectations, the bowlers aren’t dwelling on the poor outing, and are looking for ways that they can make improvements.

Sumereau mentioned that the key to the team’s success is not letting the pressure get to them.  

“A lot of the time we put pressure on ourselves and that’s when we start to mess up,” he said. “When we relax we perform better.”

Somewhat rhetorically, Tipping said that “To win, we need to knock down more pins.”  Tipping also noted that the team needs to make more spares.

The Indians (both boys and girls) will look to get back on track this week when they face Northern Highlands on Monday and Wayne Valley on Tuesday.  Both matches are at Bowler City in Hackensack.