Saturday, February 10 at Laurel Lanes
New for 2018
Pennsauken Tech moves up from G1 to G2. Toms River East moves up from G3 to G4. Burlington Twp moves up from G2 to G3. Lenape and Pinelands declined to participate this year. No new teams this year.
What I got wrong
TRE moving up was unexpected, as was Penn Tech. I did expect Jax Liberty to drop to G2, but it didn't happen.
Ranked Teams Participating
#1 Toms River North, #3 Brick Township, #4 Brick Memorial, #5 Lacey, #6 Manchester, #7 Toms River South, "just missed" Central, Eastern and Southern; "good argument" Washington Township, Barnegat, Pemberton
Six of the top seven in the state - 2 teams each in each of three groups. That really sucks the air out of the room if you're looking for competition for advancer spots. Surprise trips to Bowlero may be hard to come by, but we'll have some excellent bowling on display.
GROUP I
defending champ: Donovan Catholic
None of what I just wrote applies to Group I, however. This one is wide open, with at least five, maybe six teams with a healthy chance to advance to North Brunswick. With very little tournament experience in this group, I'm just going with the numbers, and the favorite is Bishop Eustace. Coming off an 8-0 regular season, the Crusaders have a rarity among Group I teams: they can fill all five starting slots with averages over 130. Led by Ashley Sorelle (160) and Gianna Riviello (141), BE has vastly superior depth and the best chance at taking the title.
New Egypt also had a great regular season, at 12-3-1, and has the second best numbers in the group. The Warriors' standout is Ellie Witham, a junior averaging 148, and the team has no obvious holes and a high set of 2206, which will probably be plenty on Saturday.
Last year's runnerup had a fantastic regular season too, and Collingswood is well within the mix to move up to the #1 slot in 2018. Another exceptionally balanced team, Ava Enstrom leads the Panthers at 140, and they used that balance to mow down opponents all season, finishing with a tremendous 12-1 / 48.5-3.5 record. Last year's successful run may be the confidence-builder that makes the difference.
Maple Shade is very much in the mix, too. Juliana Lotierzo (151) and Dakota DeNoto (142) have led the Wildcats to a 49-19 record, and they very well might be peaking at the right time, as they tossed a season-high 2268 set just this week.
Getting beat up by the likes of Manchester and Lacey all year prepared Donovan Catholic to take this title in 2017, and there's no reason that can't happen again. The Griffins have a good T5 (674), the highest top set in the group (2286), and have an outstanding top two in Elizabeth Schucht (172) and Alana Collins (151).
Sarah Heil leads Bordentown with a 137 average, and the Scotties have a nice, balanced lineup. The numbers seems a little short of contention, but they finished fifth at the Olympic tournament, so there's darkhorse potential here.
Gloucester City is probably just out of reach of contention, but the Lions had a great regular season, finishing 9-3 / 35-13.
Cinnaminson, Holy Cross, Salem and Lindenwold round out the entry list.
GROUP II
defending champ: Lacey
My favorite rivalry in all of New Jersey bowling comes front and center here, and the drama is only slightly lessened by the fact that they're both overwhelming favorites to advance to the TOC. Both teams want the title. And, all things considered, they are dead even.
We'll start with the defending champs. #5 Lacey is a juggernaut. The Lions went 40-5 in Shore South B, which tied Manchester, because of course it did. The lineup is fantastic. Autumn Laird (182), Samantha Trembley (167), Julia Muro (181), Claudia Schreier (183) and Liz Schreier (191) are all capable of beating you on any given day. They have an outstanding T5 of 904, 4th in the state. Lacey finished 2nd at RWTI, 4th at Snowball, 3rd at Brick and 4th at the Shore Conference tournament. And if it takes a big number, they can throw a big number: How about 2893 for a high set? Lacey is going to the TOC, it's just a matter of what type of hardware they pick up along the way.
#6 Manchester? Also a juggernaut. Third place at both the season-opening Mustang, and the season closing Shore Conference tournament. An excellent fifth-place finish at CJWC. A slightly higher GA than rival Lacey, and as noted, an identical 40-5 league record. Bowlers? Oh, yeah. Just the deepest team in the state. Vicki Smith (180), Victoria Shaw (179), Kim Wolf (179), Mackenzie Weber (177) and South Jersey Singles runnerup Theresa Bedaro (188) are all excellent, can all throw numbers, and all have plenty of tournament experience. The odds are very, very high that this is just round one, with round two deciding a state title.
Any team thinking upset has a tough hill to climb. Barnegat knows this better than anyone, bowling in the same division with that top two every day. The Bengals actually have top-40 stats, with a 727 T5 and a 142 GA, and feature some good bowlers in Precious Anderson (164), Kelly Kantenwein (148) and Allanagh Dambroski (147).
One of my favorite teams all year has been Pemberton. They flat out torched their competition in the regular season, sitting at 15-0-1. Always just slightly out of the rankings, with top 40 marks in T5 and GA and a top set of 2390, it's been suggested that their scores may suffer from tough conditions (certainly possible). The Hornets have a chance to prove it right now. Danea Dunston (156), Dayanarah Dunston (152) and freshman Brianna Braman (147) lead the way.
Breaking into that top four should be the goal for West Deptford. The Eagles have a solid lineup with ability all the way through (T5 of 684), and a pretty good top gun in Liana Egersitz (155). They're unlikely to go big, but this has been a consistent team all season.
Deptford went 8-3-2 this season, and could very easily climb over a few teams and challenge for third place. The Spartans own a very good top set of 2288 and have an excellent one-two punch in Elena Rodriguez (160) and freshman Paige Clegg (155).
Jenna Flemings (149) has had a nice season for Seneca, leading her team to an 8-4 record, and the Golden Eagles could make a run at a top five finish. Point Pleasant Boro has a pair of good bowlers in Emilie Carr (169) and Alexis Fitzmanice (149), but contention is going to be out of reach for the Panthers.
Lakewood, Medford Tech and Pennsauken Tech complete the Group II field.
GROUP III
defending champ: Brick Township
Just like in Group II, there's a pretty clear top two here. But there's also a pretty clear favorite, and that's #3 Brick Township, the defending champions and 2017 state runnersup. All the numbers here are just outstanding. They have the #3 GA (180), the #3 T5 (905), finished ahead of the state's #1 team in regular season play and have a top set of 2875. The Dragons have a brilliant top two in Caylin Ryan (199) and Julianna Forbes (198), but the talent runs much deeper than that: Cristy Sharkey (183) and Christina Gonzalez (180) have been excellent in their first varsity seasons, and Chelsea Tussel (152) has been a reliable #5 scorer. The tournament record is pretty great, too: FIVE second place finishes, including at the Mustang, Bayshore, Woodbridge, Shore and a very narrow loss in the season's top field at CJWC. Sectionals is mostly a prelude to the state TOC for this group.
But the sectional title is no gimme, not by a longshot. Take a look at #7 Toms River South. There's a lot to see here. First, going 29-22 in a division with #1, #3, and #4 is excellent. The 856 T5 and 169 GA are more than good. Lots of tournament experience, all of it good, including outperforming Brick Township on three separate occasions - RWTI, Brick, and Snowball. And the Indians can match up with anyone - Natalie Swindell (189) won the South Jersey Singles, and Hannah Dalton (181) and Ciani Sanchez (177) have each thrown some numbers this season. Jessica Ramirez (157) and Ashley Ferrara (158) are good enough to compete at a high level. A win here would be an upset, but it wouldn't be a shock at all.
It's a shame Central can't get away from these Shore-South-A opponents, because they're a really good team, maybe the #21 team in the state. Ally Dalton (167) has had a tremendous season for the Golden Eagles, and Emily Elley (143), Meghan Bilello (153), Madison McFadden (157) and Liz McGee (150) have kept them competitive even against the toughest schedule imaginable. With a 772 T5 (20th in NJ), they have the only realistic shot to keep one of the favorites from North Brunswick.
Gloucester Tech has had a wonderful season, going 11-1-1 and finishing fourth in the Olympic tournament. Meredith Baubles (146) and Kyla Fellon (141) have helped the Warriors to sets as high as 2213, and they could reach as high as third with a great day.
Two things should give Burlington Township some hope of a high finish on Saturday. One is their top set of 2173; I think the Falcons can go higher. The only is a deep lineup - like six girls average in the 120s - headed by sophomore Chloe Mazza (152).
It's tough chasing good teams all season, as Jackson Liberty knows very well, but the Lions got a nice season from Victoria Baker (146) and a breakthrough year for top gun Jasmine Brodowski (177). Top four wouldn't really surprise me.
At 10-6-1, Westampton Tech had a pretty good regular season, and the Panthers could sneak into the top four or five with a good day here. Dom James leads with a 150 average.
Camden Tech is unlikely to get near the contenders, but they have a pair of good bowlers in Cooper Clarke (146) and Amanda Sheehan (143).
Northern Burlington, Hammonton and Pennsauken are the other teams competing in Group II.
GROUP IV
defending champ: Toms River North
Last year, it was an upset. Now, #1 Toms River North is the hunted. Where do you begin? How about here: there is a very, very short list of teams with 4 bowlers averaging over 170. Warren Hills, both Bricks, Lacey. Only Manchester has five bowlers over 170. Toms River North has seven. Livia Spalluto (178), Cassidy Syrdale (178), Kennedy Pfeifer (172) and MacKenzie Dudas (181) are all somewhere between "better than last year" and "much, MUCH better". Gianna Daniele came off the bench for the season's last match and shot 614. Just crazy depth. Then there's the numbers: 937 T5 and 187 GA, both first in the state by huge margins. Then there's the tournament success: titles at Mustang, Brick and Shore, first in qualifying at Snowball. And I haven't even mentioned that the Mariners start Kamerin (208 average, 1st at Brick and Shore) and Paige (200 average, 1st at Snowball) Peters, two of the absolute best around. One a freshman, one a sophomore. TRN is gonna be around awhile, and they're taking aim at state title number one.
Which means that somehow the defending state champs are the hunters. Brick Memorial has plenty going for it as they go after their third straight state championship. The first thing they have is junior Amanda Shelters, who (last I checked) has the highest overall average in the state at 211 and individual titles from RWTI and CJWC. Shelters has a lot of talent behind her, too, with Veronica Lewis (192), Rachel Katz (185) and Maggie Neafsey (173) all have very good seasons and Briana Rodriguez, Erica Cuccurullo and Jordan Konopada providing several good options at #5. They may not be quite as dominant as recent years, but the Mustangs have found plenty of success, winning RWTI, placing 2nd at Brick, 3rd at CJWC, and winning the (by far) toughest division in the state with a regular season record of 44-10. The #2 T5 (912) and GA (181) aren't too shabby, either. Saturday is the appetizer to next week's state finals, but I'm quite sure Memorial wants this title back, too.
The Eastern field hockey team has won something like 200 consecutive Group IV state titles. I bring this up because I think the Eastern bowling team probably has some idea how the rest of the state's Group IV field hockey teams feel; no matter how good you get, there's always that unstoppable force waiting at the end of the road. And Eastern bowling has had some damn good teams. This year, the Vikings are 43-1 in regular matches, finished 2nd at the Olympic and were excellent at CJWC. Three juniors drive the team: Ryann Werner (150), Hailey Dadi (160) and breakout star Cloe Lowell (182). They sit just outside the top 20, but, well, you know. But hey, Bridgewater has given Eastern some pretty good games in the state finals, and this Eastern squad has gone as high as 2550 so why not now?
Strictly by the numbers, Southern has an even better lineup than Eastern. Skylar Calnan (162), Keara Cousins (161) and MacKenzie Olson (149) are the Rams' top performers, and they have a top series of 2379. Most likely result here is a tough three-way fight for third place.
Washington Township is a top 30 team statistically, won the Olympic tournament and sits at 7-2 with an impressive high set of 2415. Juniors Diana Chan (171), Shannon O'Neill (168) and Patricia O'Neill (169) lead the Minutemaids, who have a really good chance to break through to the next level, if not on Saturday, then next season.
It's hard to argue with undefeated, which is what Kingsway is, at 12-0-1. The Dragons have shot as high as 2373, so they may be able to compete for a top-three finish. Senior Katie Robb (208) is a genuine superstar, one of the favorites for individual honors here and at Bowlero.
Katy Vernon (161) and Lauren Rumbolo (146) were solid all season for Toms River East, and the Raiders did manage to crack 2200 this year, so a top-five finish is not impossible.
Jackson Memorial and Egg Harbor don't have the firepower to compete with the top teams, but each has an individual who could make some noise: Alexis Wands (174) for the Jaguars and Stacey Phung (162) for the Eagles.
Atlantic Tech, Shawnee and Cherry Hill East will also be competing.
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