Clifton’s Johann Gamo carries banner for North Jersey in Singles Championship finals by Greg Tartaglia of The Record

LODI – Johann Gamo advanced to the boys final at Saturday’s North Jersey Singles Championships by bowling three straight 250-plus games in the playoff round.

The Clifton right-hander left no pin standing until the seventh frame of the title match, when his ball drifted right of the 6 as he was trying to pick up a single-pin spare.

“I just missed my target,” Gamo said afterward.

Meanwhile, Warren Hills sophomore Ryan Monahan strung together five consecutive strikes from frames five through nine and overtook the Mustangs junior to prevail, 239-216.

 Rhianna Smith of Mount Olive captured her second NJSC girls title in three years, 214-171, over Paige Peters of Toms River North.

In the morning qualifying round – which was moved up one-half hour due to the impending snowfall – Gamo shot a three-game 635 to earn the No. 5 seed for the playoffs. Although he missed a first-round bye (given to the top four seeds) by 10 points, he made the most of his first four elimination games.

In the Round of 40, he blasted a 255, then followed with a 259 in the 16-bowler quarterfinals and a 256 in the six-man semifinals.

“I just kept saying to myself, stay focused and don’t worry about what other people are doing,” said Gamo, the reigning Passaic County champ.

Monahan tried to do the same after seeing his final opponent blast a 770 series in the first three playoff rounds.

“That’s what the toughest thing was [about facing Gamo],” the 6-foot right-hander said. “I had to get that out of my head, focus on the next shot, make my spares and throw good balls.”

The Mustangs placed two bowlers in the semifinals, as Sean Cruz shot a 258 in the quarterfinals on the same pair of lanes as Gamo.

Joe Mahoney of Park Ridge, Joe Paolillo of Clifton and Nicholas Dominy of North Bergen were the North Jersey boys to earn first-round byes. Mahoney, a freshman, had the No. 2 qualifying series (686) behind North Hunterdon’s Francis Vitelli (745), who rolled a 299 in the third game.

Holy Angels senior Alexa Hernandez was North Jersey’s top girls finisher, reaching the four-bowler semifinals as the No. 10 seed and taking fourth overall.

Smith had defeated Paramus Catholic’s Kristen Kane for the 2015 title and made the semifinals in 2016, the last year that the tournament was held at Parkway Lanes in Elmwood Park. The senior lefty made several clutch, late strikes in the quarterfinals and semifinals to overtake her competitors and advance.

“I was pretty much right on the border both times,” Smith said, “and I told myself, ‘Take your time, just make the good shots that you need to make.’”

South Plainfield’s Lanasia Neal, the 2016 state champion, also had a perfect game bid in qualifying and wound up with a 289 high game. Neal (754) and Peters (767) both averaged over 230 in the morning to earn the top two seeds, while Smith (685) qualified third and Leonia’s Gabrielle Capalad (665) was fourth.

North Jersey Singles Championships results

BOYS TOURNAMENT

Qualifying (Top 40 advance): 1. Francis Vitelli (North Hunterdon), 745; 2. Joseph Mahoney (Park Ridge), 686; 3. Joe Paolillo (Clifton), 685; 4. Nicholas Dominy (North Bergen), 645; 5. Johann Gamo (Clifton), 635; 6. Michael Milligan (Pompton Lakes), 624; 7. Eric McKenna (North Arlington), 617; 8. Nick Greco (Fair Lawn), 611; 9. Andrew Finke (West Milford), 610; 10. Trent Petito (North Arlington), 609; 11. Ryan McGuire (Indian Hills), 609; 12. Eric Lawson (Warren Hills), 608; 13. Christopher Lopez (North Bergen), 606; 14. Ralph Utter (West Milford), 602; 15. Ryan Monahan (Warren Hills), 598; 16. Sean Cruz (Clifton), 594; 17. Matt Myers (Ridgewood), 592; 18. Mikey Nicholas (West Milford), 590; 19. Avante Wilson (Warren Hills), 589; 20. Michael Lavell (Lyndhurst), 588; 21. Jordan Tse (NV/Demarest), 584; 22. Tyler Klein (Mahwah), 581; 23. Liam Henkel (North Arlington), 579; 24. Kyle Campbell (Teaneck), 573; 25. Ben Nelson (NV/Demarest), 572; 26. (tie) Troy Villani (Lyndhurst) and Brian Skettini (Ridgewood), 571; 28. (tie) Hunter Perry (Hawthorne) and Jake Nappi (Fair Lawn), 559; 30. David Neil (Pompton Lakes), 556; 31. Liam Barron (Mahwah), 552; 32. Matt Ramos (Teaneck), 550; 33. Pablo Maldonado (Lyndhurst), 544; 34. Brandon Barth (North Arlington), 541; 35. Bryan Fuscarino (Bloomfield), 531; 36. Zachary Chan (Bergen Tech), 528; 37. (tie) Dominic Quitoni (Mahwah) and Nick Allegro (NV/Demarest), 527; 39. Andy Hong (Leonia), 524; 40. Alex Rodriguez (Paramus Catholic), 522.

First Round (Top 16 advance): 1. Vitelli, bye; 2. Mahoney, bye; 3. Paolillo, bye; 4. Paolillo, bye; 5. Lopez, 279; 6. Gamo, 255; 7. Myers, 235; 8. Greco, 227; 9. Cruz, 224; 10. (tie) McKenna and Campbell, 222; 12. Monahan, 221; 13. (tie) Nicholas and Rodriguez, 214; 15. Villani, 211; 16. Neil, 210.

Quarterfinals (Top 6 advance): 1. Vitelli, bye; 2. Gamo, 259; 3. Cruz, 258; 4. Monahan, 247; 5. Mahoney, 244; Lopez, 228.

Semifinals (Top 2 advance): 1. Gamo, 256; 2. Monahan, 234; 3. Vitelli, 189; 4. Mahoney, 185; 5. (tie) Cruz and Lopez, 179.

Final: Monahan def. Gamo, 239-216.

GIRLS TOURNAMENT

Qualifying (Top 24 advance): 1. Paige Peters (Toms River North), 767; 2. Lanasia Neal (South Plainfield), 754; 3. Rhianna Smith (Mount Olive), 685; 4. Gabrielle Capalad (Leonia), 665; 5. Kamerin Peters (Toms River North), 645; 6. Lindsay Pepper (Ramsey), 613; 7. Arielle Wallace (Hackensack), 606; 8. Margaux Lesser (Teaneck), 569; 9. Kelcie Mannon (Warren Hills), 556; 10. Alexa Hernandez (Holy Angels), 554; 11. Michaella Raab (Mahwah), 550; 12. Rachel Duncan (Indian Hills), 533; 13. Victoria Vucak (Paramus Catholic), 527; 14. Jillian Dambres (Hunterdon Central), 524; 15. Katie Winch (Warren Hills), 519; 16. Amanda Finke (West Milford), 518; 17. Hayley D’Alessandro (Wayne Valley), 506; 18. Marissa Cosentini (Wayne Valley), 505; 19. Angela DiNallo (Ramsey), 504; 20. Gianni Calzadilla (Teaneck), 495; 21. Justina Kender (Mahwah), 490; 22. Shayma Jimenez (Teaneck), 487; 23. Amelia Brunda (Holy Angels), 482; 24. Mia Aish (Teaneck), 477.

First Round (Top 10 advance): 1. Paige Peters, bye; 2. Neal, bye; 3. Smith, bye; 4. Kamerin Peters, 221; 5. (tie) Mannon, Hernandez and Aish, 212; 8. Calzadilla, 211; 9. Jimenez, 207; 10. Vucak, 194.

Quarterfinals (Top 4 advance): 1. Paige Peters, bye; 2. Mannon, 214; 3. Hernandez, 199; 4. Smith, 187.

Semifinals (Top 2 advance): 1. Paige Peters, 254; 2. Smith, 186; 3. Mannon, 175; 4. Hernandez, 167.

Final: Smith def. Peters, 214-171.