Jets steamroll into tournament

East Meadow rolled through the regular season with a 10-2 mark in Conference IV bowling action and netted the crown for a fourth consecutive time. Now the Jets, who also topped Nassau County with an average team pinfall of nearly 840, have their sights set on the big prize — the county championship.

This Saturday, seven members of the Jets will hit the lanes at Garden City as one of 16 teams vying for the title and a chance to represent Nassau at the New York State Championships in Binghamton Mar. 3-4.

“We have seven solid bowlers that give us a shot to win a county championship,” East Meadow coach Andrew Ghirardi said and noted that all 12 of the JV and varsity members carry averages of at least 175.

Leading the way for the Jets is sophomore Jeffery Juarez, a four-time All-County honoree who’s been bowling at the varsity level since seventh grade. He boasts a team-leading 223.5 average and enters Saturday’s tournament ranked fourth-overall in Nassau. Despite underclass status, Juarez is one of the team leaders. “His game is mechanically sound and he is the definition of perfection,” Ghirardi said. “He expects nothing less than perfection and, he is a role model.”

Right behind Juarez in the East Meadow pecking order is senior Joseph Sineno, Nassau’s No. 6 bowler with an average hovering around 215. Though Sineno’s helped keep the team loose in tense times, there’s nothing funny about his game for opponents. A two-time All-County honoree, Sineno is on point when the ball’s in his hands. “He brings comic relief if things are looking down,” Ghirardi said, but quickly notes, “When he has to, he focuses and gets lined in. He leads by example,”

After carrying a healthy 180 average and splitting time with the JV team last season, senior Matthew Heubish has blown past the 200-pin barrier and has easily been the Jets most improved, and most consistent bowler. “He’s shot right where he’s supposed to every match,” Ghirardi said. “He’s making all the spares. That’s how you improve by 20 pins. He’s more consistent with his first shot and his spares have been on point.”