North girls bowling champs get a case of the “blues” by Greg Tartaglia of The Record
HACKENSACK – Though it was not her original intention, Samantha Conklin represented the color of the day in the North sectional girls bowling tournament Saturday at Bowler City.
Blue-uniformed teams secured three of the four group titles and five of the eight transfer spots to the state team finals. Warren Hills topped Teaneck, 2,794-2,665, to repeat as Group 3 champion, and Holy Angels defeated NV/Demarest, 2,607-2,445, to go back to back in Group 2.
Then there was navy-clad Ramsey, which tallied 2,294 to capture its first sectional title in Group 1. As Conklin and Grace Buysse, the Rams’ senior starters, held the trophy for pictures, the former was easiest to identify with her hair dyed aqua blue.
“It’s from an anime character,” said Conklin, a fan of the Japanese animation style.
“It does match her bowling ball,” Ramsey coach Bill Chesney added.
The Rams built an early lead behind sophomore Lindsay Pepper (212) and junior Angela DiNallo (219) in Game 1. Pepper tossed a 590 series and was among the 18 qualifiers for the Feb. 15 state individual finals in North Brunswick.
Westwood, which came in as the three-time defending Group 1 champ, closed the gap in Game 3.
The Cardinals trailed by six pins entering the final frame but were hurt by a pair of splits. They ended with a second-place 2,268 to book their fourth straight trip to the team finals, scheduled for Friday at Bowlero North Brunswick (formerly Carolier Lanes).
“After we finished, we all stood there watching to see, what is Westwood going to do? Are they going to be able to pass us?” Buysse said. “Then when the Westwood coach congratulated us, it hit me that we’d won.”
The one champion to buck the color trend was black-and-gold Bergen Tech.
The Knights outscored Kearny, 2,487-2,265, to repeat in Group 4. Senior anchor Olivia Wank shot a 10th-place 607 series to propel her team to its second trophy of the week.
“We just came in first at the [State] Vo-Tech tournament [on Tuesday],” Wank said. “So that was a big boost to us. We were very excited to come here and continue to do well.”
Group 3 produced the highest sectional scores, as Warren Hills led the house en route to its sixth group title in 11 years. The Blue Streaks were paired on the same lanes with Teaneck, which would have won any other group yet found motivation in its situation.
“I pulled the [drawing] for our lane, and who are we next to? Warren Hills,” Highwaywoman coach Stephanie Baer said. “I said, ‘Beautiful’ – because we just pushed each other right along.”
Freshman Mia Aish (ninth, 619) had Teaneck’s best series and shared second-high game (247) honors with Clifton senior Gabby Pangaro, the individual runner-up with a 668 series.
Alize Stevenson of St. Mary (Elizabeth) won high series with a 674, and Millburn’s Lauren Potechin had the high game, a 252.
Holy Angels got a 12th-place 600 from Alexa Hernandez, plus a boost off the bench from senior Demi Poulous. She entered midway through Game 2, strung a few spares together and closed with a 156 in Game 3.
“I was nervous but excited,” Poulos said. “I’m just happy for all of us [seniors], that we were able to come this far.”
Other North Jersey girls to reach the state singles finals included Hawthorne’s Madison Perry (fifth, 638), Northern Highlands’ Emily Mamunes (sixth, 635), Hackensack’s Arielle Wallace (eighth, 622), Paramus Catholic’s Victoria Vucak (14th, 585) and Wayne Valley’s Marissa Cosentini (16th, 581) and Claudine Rosca (18th, 576).
NORTH SECTIONAL GIRLS BOWLING TOURNAMENT
TEAM RESULTS (Top two advance to state team finals)
GROUP 4: 1. Bergen Tech 2,487; 2. Kearny 2,265; 3. Clifton 2,019; 4. Bayonne 2,002; 5. Passaic Tech 1,873; 6. Dickinson 1,815; 7. Bloomfield 1,810; 8. North Bergen 1,743; 9. Passaic 1,652; 10. Montclair 1,537*.
GROUP 3: 1. Warren Hills 2,794; 2. Teaneck 2,665; 3. Wayne Valley 2,533; 4. Paramus Catholic 2,359; 5. Hackensack 2,275; 6. Nutley 1,991; 7. Ridgewood 1,857; 8. Immaculate Heart 1,775; 9. Wayne Hills 1,772; 10. Belleville 1,300*.
GROUP 2: 1. Holy Angels 2,607; 2. NV/Demarest 2,445; 3. Paramus 2,355; 4. Mahwah 2,268; 5. Indian Hills 2,125; 6. Ridgefield Park 1,946; 7. Lakeland 1,904; 8. River Dell 1,861; 9. Snyder 1,773; 10. Tenafly 1,731.
GROUP 1: 1. Ramsey 2,294; 2. Westwood 2,268; 3. DePaul 2,011; 4. Pascack Hills 1,861; 5. Hudson Catholic 1,805; 6. Mother Seton 1,731; 7. Hoboken 1,682; 8. Marist 1,656; 9. McNair Academic 1,588.
*Team had four bowlers
HIGH SERIES (Top 18 advance to state individual finals)
1. Alize Stevenson (St. Mary-Elizabeth), 674; 2. Gabby Pangaro (Clifton), 668; 3. Goldera Surles (Union Catholic), 649; 4. Kelcie Mannon (Warren Hills), 644; 5. Madison Perry (Hawthorne), 638; 6. Emily Mamunes (Northern Highlands), 635; 7. Lauren Potechin (Millburn), 626; 8. Arielle Wallace (Hackensack), 622; 9. Mia Aish (Teaneck), 619; 10. Olivia Wank (Bergen Tech), 607; 11. Jaime Golden (Sparta), 604; 12. Alexa Hernandez (Holy Angels), 600; 13. Lindsay Pepper (Ramsey), 590; 14. (tie) Victoria Vucak (Paramus Catholic) and Lauren Marks (Parsippany), 585; 16. Marissa Cosentini (Wayne Valley), 581; 17. Emma Thies (Jefferson Township), 577; 18. Claudine Rosca (Wayne Valley), 576.
HIGH GAMES
Potechin, 252; Pangaro and Aish, 247; Stevenson, 246.