TOMS RIVER NORTH: THE DYNASTY BEGINS
nj.com article here
northjersey.com article here
Twenty-four teams, four state titles on the line, and one overall champion. You know how this works. Plenty of drama, with three of the Groups extremely competitive and the fourth providing the lion's share of big scores.
GROUP I
So, two big favorites in Group I, but Maple Shade, led by Dakota DeNoto's 180, was having exactly none of that, shooting eighty pins over average, 746, to sit just thirty pins behind co-favorite Matawan. Game on.
But #18 Carteret was ready, willing and able to make a game of it, and the Ramblers and Angela Baginsky (217) came out hot in game two, dusting the Group I field by 89 pins at 834 and taking a narrow ten pin lead over Matawan into the final game, with Maple Shade stubbornly hanging on, sitting just 55 pins behind the leaders after a solid 730.
It did end up being a two-team race after all, with Carteret putting up another very strong game, 810 to post a solid 2341 set. But the Matawan Huskies continued their fantastic postseason run, with Laura McConnon (225) and Samantha Siragusa (202) fueling an amazing 896 game under huge pressure to take the Group I state title.
Carteret came up just short of their goal, but they bowled well; Ashley Espy posted a 529 set, Amanda Medvetz 484, and Baginsky shook off a rough to start to finish 217-224 for a 558 set. They left it all on the lanes. Maple Shade finished third after a very good day, with nice numbers thrown by DeNoto (488) and Juliana Lotierzo (475).
Mother Seton, Bordentown and Dumont really made their seasons at sectionals, as qualifying for states at all is a huge accomplishment. Mother Seton's top sets came from Alex Anton (448) and Dominique Liantonio (443), Colleen Kotch led Bordentown with a 471 set, while Dumont was paced by Shanna Bucheister's 463.
Matawan earned their state title by elevating their game in the postseason as well as any team in the state, boys or girls. After putting up a 143 GA during the season, the Huskies raised their postseason average to an impressive 157, right in line with teams in the top 20. At the state finals, Siragusa (510) and McConnon (506) were joined by Katie Devoe (500) and Faith Smith (492); this was a fantastic team effort. And... they weren't done just yet.
GROUP II
With all six competitors in the state's top 17, the most wide-open state final totally lived up to the hype in game one. #17 Colts Neck got out to an early lead with an opening 865 , but #5 Lacey, #14 Colonia and #6 Manchester were all within 41 pins, and #16 Holy Angels and #15 Mahwah not far behind.
Lacey did its best to take control of the tournament with a huge 993 in game two (Trembley, Liz Schreier and Laird were all over 210), but Manchester very nearly kept pace with a 949, and Colts Neck also broke 900. All three teams were within 67 pins and the championship was very much still in doubt.
Really, nobody blinked. Each of the top four teams broke 900, but Lacey (970) and Colts Neck (978), who got a big 238 from Morgan Gitlitz and had all five bowlers at 180+, were on a slightly higher level, and the Lions lead from game two enabled them to walk away with the trophy.
Colts Neck, as they have been all postseason, was truly excellent in the finals. Their 2748 total would have been good for at least second in any of the four groups. Gitlitz, as she has many times, was the star, finishing at 624, but Cougars Gianna Bamonte (606), Erica Dugan (558) and Victoria Hulse (514) all scored well. With no senior starters, they'll be back in a big way next season.
Manchester certainly bowled well, with Mackenzie Weber (555), Kim Wolf (542), Theresa Bedaro (540) and Victoria Shaw (531) scoring; there really isn't very much separation in the talent levels of these teams, and the Hawks 2682 could have easily been the best mark. The Hawks' three seniors graduate with two state titles and two near-misses, which is not bad at all.
Mahwah's tournament performances in 2018 were universally good, and their 2405 here was no exception. Michaella Raab put up two fantastic games (236 & 243) sandwiched around one bad game, totaling 599 on the day, and Julia Colucci pitched in with a 485 series.
Colonia and Holy Angels were just a step below the contenders on this day, but both teams had excellent seasons. Laryssa Fiore (567) and Rebecca Hoff (570) led Colonia, as they have all season. Holy Angels was led by Alexa Hernandez's 484 set.
Lacey's first-ever bowling state championship was built over several years and forged in the amazing rivalry they have with Manchester. The two teams have been so even the past two seasons, with nearly identical stats and equal portions of talent. The key to Lacey's emergence may have been Claudia Schreier's return from an injury sustained before the season started; right at that point, the Lions seemed to reach another level, from placing fourth in the Snowball and the Shore Conference tournament to firing a huge 2893 set. At the state finals, the whole lineup bowled well, taking the title without a single huge individual score: Samantha Trembley (587), Liz Schreier (579), Autumn Laird (576), Claudia Schreier (533), and Julia Muro (532) all showed up. The best Group II team won here, I think, and they all contributed.
GROUP III
With five of New Jersey's top nine teams competing, it's not surprising that Group III produced the highest scores of the TOC. But, given the talent all across the event, Group III having the top five individual performances and eight of the top ten? That was surprising. The girls of Group III threw a LOT of numbers.
The team race, however, certainly seemed to be over quickly. #2 Warren Hills attacked the state finals with devastating force, firing four game-one 200s, led by Kelcie Mannon's 232, and posted the best score any team would attain on the day at 1021. #7 Toms River South, #9 Freehold Township and #3 Brick Township all broke 830 and were tightly grouped in spots 2-4, but they were 162 pins behind the Blue Streaks.
But in game two, four other teams bested Warren Hills to narrow the gap, led by Toms River South's 921 and Freehold's 904. Even so, Warren Hills took a 103-pin lead to the final game.
The defending champs reasserted themselves in game three, and the outcome was never really in doubt, as Katie Winch's 235 led to a 987 game (best in the building for game 3) and a tournament-best 2870 total.
Warren Hills' runaway obscured a really wonderful performance by runnerup Toms River South. The Indians' top three was absolutely unconscious: Hannah Dalton fired three 200s en route to a 649 series, Ciani Sanchez finished the afternoon with an eleven-strike 280 for a 651 set, and Natalie Swindell finished up her career with a sparkling 231-246-213=690, the best mark in the building. It all added up to a 2748 set, TRS's top score on the season, and a runnerup finish.
Freehold Township finished their great postseason - really, the whole second half - run with a strong 2667 set for third place. It's been a team effort all along for the Patriots, and Jaden Schaefer finished an impressive freshman year by chipping in a 516 set, but on Friday it was Sarah Orensky standing out in bold relief, putting up a sparkling 207-211-260=678 in a valiant effort to keep her team close. Only one senior. Incredibly bright future.
North Brunswick exceeded expectations in a big way, posting their highest series of the season at 2454. I liked this team in the preseason because I was impressed with their top two; that was especially true at states, with Carly Lodise shooting 580 and Trinity Gray posting a brilliant 670 in her final high school action.
Teaneck and Brick Township, despite Christina Gonzalez's excellent 255-649, never truly got it going, and there were just too many good teams in Group III to make it back into contention. Teaneck was led by Margaux Lesser (520) and Mia Aish (504), while Brick's Cristy Sharkey shot 522.
So, Warren Hills wins its second straight state title after finishing in second place in 2015 (in Group II) and 2016, and they did it in dominating fashion, despite 60% of last year's team graduating and losing their coach so devastatingly right at the start of the school year. Jackie Nesbeth (500), Sam Irwin (517) and Olivia Ostrander (555) all did their jobs, with Mannon (637) throwing a top ten number and Winch (661) closing her career with a big clutch series and another title. They were loud (too loud?) and they were confident and they went out and backed it up with a big number. Hard to argue with that.
GROUP IV
I have all the respect in the world for #12 Monroe and #13 South Brunswick; they're very good teams with some dynamite bowlers. But it didn't take Nostradamus to predict that this would be a two-team race; it turned out to be quite an entertaining one, too.
#1 Toms River North got the faster start, putting up a 948 in game one behind newly crowned state champ Kamerin Peters's 225, but #4 Brick Memorial was well within range at 888. Monroe and South Brunswick, along with a continually-overachieving Bergen Tech squad, were 150+ back and wouldn't be able to get back into it.
Memorial, however, very much got back into it, firing a 924 in game two, highlighted by Veronica Lewis's 226, and pulling to within just seven pins of the top team. Defending champs often have some fight in them.
So it all came down to one game, and on this day, TRN was able to forge a balanced 936 to finish at 2755 as the Group IV state champions.
For a program like Brick Memorial, who's won four of the last five State Group IV championships, anything short of a title may feel like a disappointment, but this was a really talented group that had a fantastic season and came within 61 pins of knocking off the state's #1 team on, really, an off day for the Mustangs. Amanda Shelters was great, as she usually is, putting up three deuces for 646, while Lewis (589), Maggie Neafsey (515) and Rachel Katz (507) all broke five. They'll be back in a hurry, I'm guessing.
Monroe and South Brunswick had fantastic seasons in the GMC, but the water, much like the talent on the top two teams, was just a bit too deep. Both teams were over average here at states, just as they were at sectionals. By that standard, and it's a reasonable one, both teams had great postseasons. Monroe got good sets from Bridget Bolan (540) and Shannon Glynn (621), and saw Victoria Stasticky close her very successful high school career with a big 650. South Brunswick's balanced effort was topped by Kirsten Thorne (511) and Rachel Guida (604)
Bergen Tech? Wow. By their averages, they should have been right around 2200 as a five-man group, but the Knights, behind very good series by Sam Comes (515) and Mamiko Swanson (551), and despite getting eight different bowlers into the match, shot a fantastic set of 2410 after hitting 2339 at sectionals. Great job peaking at the right time.
Ridgewood finally ran out of tournament magic, but it was a great run while it lasted. Madison Murphy had the Maroons top series at 505.
So, the #1 team, the team with the highest averages and arguably the most talent, came through at the end. The scores were probably a bit below their lofty standards, but it got the job done. Peters (Kamerin) finished at 595, with Livia Spalluto close behind at 571, and Paige Peters (566) and Cassidy Syrdale (535) contributing. Last year, the Mariners stole the sectional title from Memorial but gave it back at states. This time, it's all theirs to keep. It's easy to forget just how young this group is, too, with only one senior in the top seven. They're deep and disciplined and found a way to earn a title on a day when they only shot three 200 games. This is a program that is built to win for several more years. Of course, there was one more thing to deal with this year.
INDIVIDUALS
Official awards for high series aren't given out, so I'll list the top 10 here
690 Natalie Swindell, Toms River South
678 Sarah Orensky, Freehold Township
670 Trinity Gray, North Brunswick
661 Katie Winch, Warren Hills
651 Ciani Sanchez, Toms River South
650 Victoria Stasicky, Monroe
649 Christina Gonzalez, Brick Township
649 Hannah Dalton, Toms River South
646 Amanda Shelters, Brick Memorial
637 Kelcie Mannon, Warren Hills
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
TRN came out just a little flat against Lacey, dropping game one 172-133. That was the last game under 199 they would shoot all day. The Mariners took the next three games 203-153, 199-173 and 202-178 to end the Group II champs' season in what seemed like about five minutes, but that hardly seems possible.
They would be waiting for a while, because the other TOC semifinal was, somehow, epic. Warren Hills was a huge favorite, with a much higher score in the Group finals and extensive Baker experience, winning the FDU challenge and Snowball, not to mention the 2017 TOC. But Matawan took the Bayshore in a Baker final over Brick Township, and the Huskies had nothing to lose.
Warren Hills took game one 204-187, but four opens in the first six frames of game two forced Streaks' anchor Katie Winch to go out the door in the tenth just to earn a 156-all tie. That would be important later, because after cruising to a 205-131 win in game three, the defending champs got sloppy, dropping 151-146 and 164-161 decisions to force a tiebreaker game six.
An early triple against a few Matawan opens ended things with a 195-174 Warren Hills win, but the Group I champs sure made Hills sweat it out. Well done.
So, the two best teams all year got it on one more time in the TOC final - Warren Hills had won the 2-game total pins Baker final at Snowball. Just as a side note, this was, considering crowd size, probably the loudest sporting event I've ever experienced. I've been in quieter crowds at rock concerts. Anyway, both teams, truly, bowled exceptionally well, but the Shore Conference champs and their superstar anchor made every shot they needed to. At one point I thought they had snuck in a third Peters sister, but it was just that Livia Spalluto was throwing some fantastic shots. TRN took the opener 207-182 and game two 226-188 before Warren Hills unloaded with a ten-strike barrage to take game three 269-233 and stave off elimination. But the Streaks comeback came up short in a very tight game four, and the Mariners were the queens of New Jersey bowling after a 205-200 win.
Warren Hills averaged a very healthy 209 in the final, but TRN finished with a 217 average, more than enough to earn the title, the trophy, the biggest celebration... and the beginning of the dynasty.
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