3/10/11 Big North-Patriot Division results

The old Northern Bergen Interscholastic League was one of The Messenger's favorite leagues to recap back in the day, in part because the final statistics packet put together by league commish/Bergenfield head coach Howie Conklin was a veritable statman's paradise.

Well, the good news is, Coach Conklin is still the commish of the new Big North-Patriot Divison, so the stat pack lives on... even if the new league is a random amalgamation of old NBIL-1, NBIL-2 and BCSL-American teams.

The Ramsey boys claimed their second consecutive outright league title (third in a row overall), holding off Pascack Valley in a fierce race that came down to a scant few points. This may have been the strongest division in North Jersey, given that both squads won their respective Group championships at the Bergen County tournament, both advanced to the State team finals, and both fielded the two top shooters in Bergen, seniors Kyle Landau (Rams) and Brian O'Flaherty (PV).

Meanwhile, the Bergenfield girls did as TM quasi-predicted in this very corner of the blogosphere last season — the Bears won their seventh straight league championship, with the last three all coming in different conferences (NBIL-2, NBIL-1, Big North-Patriot). Again, Pascack Valley played a pretty mean second fiddle... in fact the Indian girls finished with the exact same divisional record as the boys, which is a slightly eerie coincidence.

And now, for the tasty tidbits from the "Odds & Ends" page of the stat pack: River Dell junior Max Barnett finished the season with 9 straight 200-plus games... In 16 matches, Kyle Landau opened up with a 200 game on 13 occasions... the list of most 200 games on the season — (boys) Bergenfield junior Brian DiMarco 26, O'Flaherty 24, Landau 23; (girls) Bergenfield juniors Sarah Esmenda (7) and Cassidy Fiore (4) and Indian Hills junior Emily Ostapczuk with 4... and, always a fan favorite, the highest "low games" of the year belonged to Landau and O'Flaherty (tie, 160) and Esmenda (133).

Final random nuggets: Pascack Valley junior Tim Frantin rolled a 300 against Tenafly on Jan. 11, becoming the first Big North-Patriot bowler to do so (although DiMarco bowled a perfecto in this leagues quote-unquote "predecessor", the NBIL-2, last season)... although Mahwah struggled this season, junior Kevin Knapp had the team's high average (155) and their lone 200-plus game, a 214. Senior Esther Kim and freshman Allison Homler tied for the Lady T-Birds' high game (184)... nickname of the year may have to be Ramsey freshman Tyler Suser, who goes by "Doc" on the overhead screen (a play on the pronunciation of his last name — think Dr. Seuss). The Landau twins' handles of "R-Lanny" and "K-Lanny" seemed to be fan favorites as well, so much so that Indian Hills dubbed junior anchor Bridget Pyryt "B-Lanny". Go figure...

At any rate, congrats to coach Bill Chesney and the Rams, and to coach Conklin and the Bears, for claiming the inaugural Big North-Patriot titles. The stats:

FINAL STANDINGS (Points Won-Points Lost-Team Average)

Patriot Div. - Boys	W	L	Avg.
Ramsey	55	5	957
Pascack Valley	52	8	952
Indian Hills	40	20	881
Tenafly	28	32	861
Bergenfield	20	40	836
River Dell	13	47	774
Mahwah	2	58	714

Boys high game: Tim Frantin (PV), 300
Boys high series: Brian DiMarco (B'field), 566 (2 games)
Boys All-League 1st Team w/averages: Brian O'Flaherty (PV), 225.93; Kyle Landau (Rams), 225.81; Brian DiMarco (B'field), 220; Max Barnett (RD), 211; Sam Fogelgaren (T'fly), 203; Marc Solangon (B'field), 199; Ryan Landau (Rams), 198.
Boys 2nd Team w/averages: Joe Farinelli (PV), 197; Tim Frantin (PV), 195; Jerry Azzolini (IH), 188; Andrew Wierzbicki (IH), 185; Jarrett Floyd (Rams), 184; Graham Mulligan (IH), 182; Ethan McGowan (T'fly), 176.31; Andrew Trinidad (B'field), 176.22; Pat Mercogliano (IH), 175.54.
Boys Honorable Mention: Josh Burke (B'field); Eliot Sackler (T'fly); George Kim (RD); Perry Starr (Mah.); Mike Shine (PV); Ronny Wagner (IH); Bryan Boyd (Rams).

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Patriot Div. - Girls	W	L	Avg.
Bergenfield	56	4	742
Pascack Valley	52	8	686
Indian Hills	38	22	643
Tenafly	25	35	610
Ramsey	15	45	585
Mahwah	14	46	570
River Dell	10	50	538

Girls high game: Emily Ostapczuk (IH), 268
Girls high series: Emily Ostapczuk (IH), 447 (2 games)
Girls All-League 1st Team w/averages: Sarah Esmenda (B'field), 176; Emily Ostapczuk (IH), 173; Cassidy Fiore (B'field), 168; Bridget Pyryt (IH), 159; Claire Reiser (PV), 154; Emma Taylor (T'fly), 146; Samantha Griffenkranz (B'field), 144.
Girls 2nd Team w/averages: Danielle Volpe (PV), 139.93; Danielle Hayes (B'field), 139.56; Sky Davenport (PV), 139.18; Ashley Delaney (PV), 132; Jodi Iannantuano (RD), 131.93; Nicole Schielzo (B'field), 131.00; Carolyn Donnelly (Rams), 129.
Girls Honorable Mention: Melissa Schielzo (B'field); Melissa Ehrlich (T'fly); Sarah Lee (RD); Alise Strauch (Mah.); Maggie Campbell (PV); Harveen Kaur (IH); Laura Dosch (Rams).

Please e-mail any/all corrections to NorthJerseyBRG@gmail.com.