Sectional Wrapup - Boys North 2

nj.com has a pretty good article right here.

I have to say I'm disappointed that I don't have the full results from this one, so this recap is going to be very short on detail.

Team and individual advancers in bold.

GROUP I
The two favorites survived and advanced, just not in the order I expected; A.L. Johnson used a fantastic day by Toan Le, who advanced to North Brunswick as an individual with a 664 set, to take the title by 37 pins over Roselle (Abraham Clark). Roselle had their own individual advancer in Brandon Patterson (653).  

Dayton made a run in game three, but came up 84 pins short of advancing despite a 4th place set by individual advancer Evan Weinberg (673). Caldwell, who showed up to bowl in Group II but ended up in Group I, kept it close, shooting 912 in game one, but ultimately faded to 4th.

Glen Ridge only bowls in postseason tournaments, so I really had no idea what to expect, but they put up a solid 2340 set for sixth place, and placed an individual in the TOC, Bobby Critides, with a 3rd place 680. Most of the rest of the field had scores pretty well in line with their averages.  Sometimes, the numbers work.

GROUP II
Cranford got off to a hot start, shooting an opening-game 954 to take an early lead. However, the favorites here asserted themselves, with Union Catholic throwing the best game in the grouping in both game 2 (939) and game 3 (1009) to take the sectional title by a comfortable margin.

The defending champs from Montville closed very strong, firing 956 in game three to take the runnerup position and qualify for the team TOC on Monday. Cranford held on for third at 2570, followed by Nutley (2497) and Jefferson (2454), who got a great performance from Nick Thies, who shot 693 to take second place and qualify for the individual TOC.


GROUP III
This was a three-team breakaway from the jump, as #19 Linden, #18 Morris Knolls and Scotch Plains broke 950 in game one, with Morris Hills sitting just a bit back at 920.  Linden broke away even further in game two, shooting 1035 to take a commanding lead, which they would solidify with another big game, 982, to finish at 2996 as sectional champs. The incredibly young Tigers were led by freshman James Fitz, who punched his ticket to the individual finals with a 638 set.

The other advancer spot was hotly contested; Morris Knolls was nine pins behind Scotch Plains after two, and barely eked out the spot with a 965 in the closing game, earning a place at Bowler by just 22 pins over a very game Scotch Plains squad and their TOC qualifier, Dan Grambor (630). The Golden Eagles put both of their stars into the individual finals, Joey LaMont (669) and Rob Murray (660).

Form mostly held in the rest of the field, with Morris Hills 4th, injury-depleted Warren Hills 5th and Millburn 6th.

GROUP IV
It doesn't happen often, so I'll mention it when it does: this one was almost exactly as the numbers predicted. Union was the clear favorite and the Farmers won going away, posting a huge 3043 set, the highest in the building. Kiara Powell led the way with a tremendous 678 set, but she'll have to do it again on Saturday to make the girls TOC.  Nick Melchionna (654) will be making the trip to the boys finals.

Defending champs Livingston were in second place all day, firing a strong 2881 set to book their trip to North Brunswick. Sophomore Michael Liu continued to be a force of nature in tournaments, taking the sectional title by quite a large margin with a 758 set.

Westfield (979 in game one) and Seton Hall Prep (1905 through 2 games) kept it close for a while, but ultimately settled into third and fourth place respectively with 2834 & 2795. Bloomfield showed my limited numbers were no fluke and took fifth at 2684, and also sent Jonathan Andruchowitz  (645) to the TOC.

Really, the only surprise in Group IV was Phillipsburg.  This brand new program soared past their averages (another Skyland team bowling in tough houses) to finish fifth at 2525.  Only one senior for this rookie team, so there may be a bright future here.