Sectional Preview - Girls Central

GIRLS CENTRAL
Saturday, February 10 at Bowlero, North Brunswick

New for 2018
Monroe jumps from G3 to G4, Middletown South jumps from G2 to G3, Watchung Hills drops from G4 to G3. Middletown North entered after being absent in 2017, while Franklin did not enter this year.

What I got wrong
I expected Howell to drop to G3, which didn't happen. Middletown South jumping up was a surprise.

Ranked Teams Participating
#9 Freehold Township, #10 Woodbridge, #11 East Brunswick, #12 Monroe, #13 South Brunswick, #14 Colonia, #17 Colts Neck, #18 Carteret, #19 Edison, "Just Missed" South Plainfield, Ocean Township, Wall Township, Manasquan, Ewing, "Good Argument" Howell, JP Stevens, Matawan

GROUP I
defending champ: Carteret
The top three Group I teams in the state, and five of the top six, are all here in the Central sectional.  Life isn't fair sometimes.  But I think #18 Carteret, the defending sectional champs and state runnersup, will be just fine.  They went 16-2/62-10 in the tough GMC, lost a tough 3-game match to East Brunswick in the GMC team tournament quarterfinals, won the Baker Challenge and finished second at the Wheeler.  The Ramblers have easily the top GA (154) and T5 (764) in Group I, and have shot a bunch of good sets, as high as 2565. And they do it with some great balance and depth, which is always hard for a small school to develop.  Ashley Espy (166), Amanda Medvetz (163) and Angela Baginsky (162) are their top three, and they seem to show up for every single match.  Clear favorites, here and at the TOC.

Possibly as many as five teams may give second place a run, with Manasquan being the best bet.  Anna Foo (161), Tara Ulbrich (154) and Erin McBride (150) led a solid Warriors lineup to a third place finish in the Shore-Central-A and a second-place finish at the Wave tournament. They sit pretty close to the top 20, and with a season-high set of 2412, competing for the top spot is not out of the question here.

Matawan is on the "good argument" list, and they've had a heck of a season. The Huskies rolled all over Shore-North-A at 42-3, they've shown some solid tournament success at the Brick (shooting 2416) and winning the title at Bayshore, and and they start three 150+ bowlers in Katie Devoe, Laura McConnon and Samantha Siragusa (154). Nobody is better situated to take out one of those top two.

Finishing above .500 in the GMC is a nice achievement, especially for a Group I school, and South River got it done this year. The Rams have a good bowler in Kayelena Brimage (158) and a developing star in junior Eleni Feggulis, who's averaging 188 overall and just under 200 in tournaments. The season-long numbers, including a top set of 2291, are a step or two behind the favorites, but stranger things have happened.

South Hunterdon finished second in the Skyland tournament after a pretty good season, compiling a GA of over 137.  If Julia Kreider (152) and Hannah Wooden (144) can keep the Eagles alive with big scores, we could see them a lot higher on the standings list than anyone expects.

Second in Shore-North-A, St. John Vianney may be a slightly bigger underdog than those above, but the Lancers have a top two as good as anyone in the group: Elizabeth Brogna (162) and Caylei Hoffman (165).

Keansburg and Keyport don't expect to be among the contenders, but Emily Frizell (154) of Keansburg may surprise as an individual.

GROUP II
defending champ: Ocean Township 
This is a close one.  Six teams are legitimate threats to earn a TOC slot here, and there is not very much separation between them at all.  All six were mentioned in the last rankings. Gonna be fun.

#14 Colonia is the first among equals here, as the Patriots have the best numbers across the board: 158 GA (14th in the state), 782 T5 (16th) and a high series of 2613.  In addition, they finished a strong 4th at the James and 3rd at Woodbridge. Colonia gets a lot of scoring punch from an excellent top two, Rebecca Hoff (174 overall, 2nd place at the James), and senior star Laryssa Fiore, who's carrying a conference average over 192. Other key contributors include Jennifer Weber and Brittany Langevin. This team will be tough to beat.

Talent at the top is also the strength of last year's second-place team, #17 Colts Neck.  Erica Dugan (170) and Morgan Gitlitz (192) are very much the driving force behind this successful Cougar team. The Shore-Central-B runnersup went 14-1 in regular season matches and carry a more than respectable 154 GA.  Seventh place in an event as deep as the Shore Conference tournament is pretty impressive, as well.

Obviously South Plainfield, just outside the rankings, has a huge head start on the field with superstar Lanasia Neal (208 average, lots of titles) in the anchor position.  But one-man teams don't have top-25 numbers (149 GA, 757 T5), they don't go 11-6 in a tough league like the GMC. No, the Tigers are a team with a genuine shot at the state TOC because Neal has some teammates who can score, like Hallie Bisgaard (145), Samantha Lorito (147) and Anya Wilson (153).

Ocean Township is the defending champion, and the 42-6 Shore-Central-A champs are very much a threat to repeat. Very nearly in the top 20, the Spartans have gotten nice seasons out of Emma Sylvia (145) and Maribella Ferraina (150), and junior Alexa Tieto is a full-blown star, averaging 198 in a season that included a 300 game and a tournament title for both Tieto and her team.

The team that finished right behind OT in conference play, Wall Township, has one of the strongest lineups in this sectional and has gone as high as 2560 this season. Athena Greer (168) and Emily Mele (167) lead a Crimson Knights attack that also includes Lindsey Vigus (153) and Ashley Bauter (154).

Do NOT sleep on Ewing. Just outside the rankings, and with a 3rd at the Olympic and an absolutely sparkling 16-0-1 regular season record, the Blue Devils are very used to success.  The deep, balanced lineup is deceptively strong: freshman Jazmyn Willis (160) leads the way, but Amelia Baffuto (149) Korin Ricketts (148) and Olivia Ross can score as well - the team has gone as high as 2523, and something in that range may well get them to the state finals.

Iselin Kennedy and Middletown North complete the entry list.

GROUP III
defending champ: Freehold Township
I had #9 Freehold Township as low as #16 as recently as a few weeks ago.  Now, the defending champs have won the Shore-Central-B, are solidly in the top 10, with the 9th best GA and T5 in the state, an awesome high series of 2772, the clear favorites to win this sectional again, and a very real threat to the top teams at the TOC. Fifth place in the Shore tournament is nothing to sneeze at, either. The whole team seems to have gotten better - Jaden Schaefer (166), Kristen Pagliaro (158),Victoria Parinello (159) and Caitlyn Tamai (149) have all improved. And then the Patriots have Sarah Orensky, who's been one of the hottest bowlers in the state, with a bunch of 600s the last few weeks and her average up to 190. They're gonna be a tough out.

There are a couple of very good GMC teams that will take aim, though.  First we'll look at #10 Woodbridge, who compiled an excellent league record of 11-1-2 and made it to the GMC tournament semifinals.  The Barrons have a high set of 2671, a great GA of 161, finished 3rd at James, 2nd at the Baker Challenge, and a strong 9th in the very deep CJWC, and 4th at their own event. The Barrons may not have any gaudy averages, but they lots of quality bowlers, including Eliza Abreu (179), Breanna Tolocka (161), Leah Gautier (157) and Meagan Raimondo (163).

#19 Edison was the runnerup last year, and finished 3rd at states, and they're right back at it despite the loss of their top two to graduation.  The Eagles had some tournament success at the James (2nd), and lost a tough 3-game match in the GMC quarterfinals.  The biggest asset they've got is a deep lineup (#15 T5 in NJ), with as good a top three as anyone in Tori Johnson (186), Faby Jean-Denis (173) and Sam Osiadacz (169). Edison has gone as high as 2625, so expect them to be right in this.

Two more GMC teams are here; they have extremely similar stats in every way, and each has an outside chance to compete for one of the TOC slots.  Sayreville is a little deeper, led by Melissa Yataco (151) and Katie Vince (152), while North Brunswick has a really good top two in Trinity Gray (181) and Carly Lodise (163).

Middletown South is not a realistic contender here, but the Eagles had a fantastic season, dominating the Shore-North-B with a 41-1 record.  Ruby Arena led the way with a 144 average.

Watchung Hills and Manalapan round out the field.

GROUP IV
defending champ: Howell
There are three top contenders to win in Group IV.  They're all GMC teams, and they all have unbelievably close numbers: ranked 10-11-12, GAs are 161-160-159, T5s are 797-799-799. They finished 1-2-3 in the GMC tournament. Obviously, there's no favorite here

#11 East Brunswick won the GMC tournament in a sweep over South Brunswick. They went 13-3/51-13 in the regular season, have a high set of 2636.  Madison Steinbeck is the Bears' top gun, and she's had a fantastic year, averaging 193 and winning the James. Plenty of talent surrounds her, including Sydney Ramos (149), Rebecca Reitano (151), and Alicia McLaughin (167). Second in 2017, and ready to move up.

Next up is #12 Monroe, who hasn't quite had the tournament success of the others, but had just as great a regular season - 11-4-1 - and has easily the best one-two punch in Victoria Stasicky (193) and Bridget Bolan (194), who finished 2-3 in the GMC individual tournament. You can't overestimate how important those two are to the Falcons; it seems like at least one of them goes big every single match. Sometimes they're both on: high set of 2640. They get plenty of help from Nina Carey (146) and Shannon Glynn (155) as well.

#13 South Brunswick is our third GMC favorite.  The conference tournament runnersup won the Woodbridge tournament last month, went 14-1-1 in the regular season and have a competitive high set of 2556. A strong top three makes the Vikings go: Kirsten Thorne (166), Jillian Kwock (170), and Rachel Guida (169) have each carried the team at times, and Katelyn Schwab (148) and Sanjana Senthil (149) give them the best depth in the group.

The numbers are a little down, but nobody has more tournament experience than Howell, the defending sectional champs. The Rebels finished 3rd behind two excellent teams in Shore-Central-B, and tested themselves constantly with a very aggressive tournament schedule that included eight events (that I know of), including a championship at the James, 13th at CJWC and 4th at the FDU challenge. Zoe Madamba (154) and Alexa Scranton (166) lead the way.

The other two GMC teams here are longshots to contend.  JP Stevens has a pair of good bowlers in Ashkita Kumar (162) and Yoana Hyman-Cruz (161), and they've shot as high as 2405, so there's certainly a glimmer of hope for the Hawks.  Old Bridge is led by Stephanie Sanders (157) and Grace Bucca (151), and the Knights managed 5th place at Bayshore.

While the team is a longshot to contend, Hunterdon Central does have an excellent competitor in Jillian Dambres, whose 173 average was shaped by tough conditions. She can definitely make an impact as an individual.

Piscataway is the final team in the field.


INDIVIDUALS
Brittany Lucci of Hamilton West is a good bowler, a legitimate threat to take a TOC slot.