Mineola High School boys JV basketball coach Jason Sauter figures he has a nice mix of talent and experience on this year's team. He has forward Marc Dadich and guard Rob Maloney back from last year's team. Joining them is another sophomore who didn't play last year. But, Chris Orlando has basketball talent and a lot of athletic ability. Add to the mix freshman point guard T.J. Gessner, freshman center Mike Brady and Danny Benbow and Coach Sauter is expecting to have a pretty good season. The coach's goal for this team is to play hard every day, especially in practice to show sportsmanship throughout the season and develop into well-rounded and mature basketball players.

When a coach has a three-time All-County bowler to anchor its squad, he's got to feel very fortunate. That's just what Mineola High School boys basketball coach Helms Bohringer has in junior Anthony Tretolo, who already has a 300 game to his credit.

This is Bohringer's fourth year of heading into the program and his hope is to make the county tournament. Last year, the Mustangs just missed out on qualifying.

In addition to Tretolo, Bohringer is counting on two more returning bowlers to solidify his team. Chris Williams has big game potential, according to the coach. John Carnabucci got a little taste as a sophomore and now as a junior, Bohringer is looking for big things. Rounding out the squad is senior Dan Vezo, sophomore Calvao and Brian Ciuffo.

At the halfway point of the season, the Mustangs were in fourth place while the JV boys were in second place. Tretolo was averaging 216.5 and was ranked eighth in all of Nassau County. Carnabucci had a 193.4 average, Williams was at 177.3 and Vezo had a 170 average.

The junior varsity squad is paced by Bryan O'Malley, who had a 155 average at mid-season. Matt Ponte was bowling 150 and Matt Vuolo was at 140. Others helping the Mustangs to second place are Paul Tapias, Tim Papagiannis and Matt Wojis. Coach Bohringer wants to remind fans that the Mustangs' matches are at Sheridan Lanes every Wednesday and Thursday.

The Mineola girls varsity bowling team had a 4-3 record as of January 5. The ladies opened with wins over Great Neck North, North Shore and Garden City. Mineola then dropped matches to Sewanhaka and Garden City before getting back on the winning track against Great Neck North.

In the course of those first seven contests, Danielle Rivera had registered a 517 series with a 209 high game and a 575 series with a 214 high game. Erin O'Neill bowled a personal best 182 in the season opening match and came back with a 473 series in a win over North Shore and a 478 in a win over Garden City. O'Neill twice more set new personal highs with games of 196 and 212.