Anybody who really understands bowling knows that sometimes, for some reason, pins just don’t go down. One day, you throw a great pocket shot and the 10-pin drops even if the 3-pin breezes by it. Other days, that stubborn thing flips you the bird.

Still, spares win big games, and that’s entirely on the bowler. Unfortunately, the Barnegat girls bowlers missed a few too many spares in their final match of the regular season on Jan.