2/18/11 NJSIAA Team Finals - Boys

As already detailed on Tuesday's annual WGHT Sports Overtime Bowling Extravaganza, this was a big year for boys squads in The Messenger's general coverage area. Four from the GHT listening area qualified for the State team finals, which TM believes is the most in his nine years on the job. AND, a couple posted the best *finishes* by any of the locals in quite some time.

Ramapo took fifth in Group 3 by shooting 3,035, which is believed to be the first time a GHT-area team has cracked the 3,000 barrier since Clifton in 2002 (the Mustangs, incidentally, shot 3,044 that season to win the State championship, five years before the NJSIAA instituted group titles). Anyhow, the Green Raiders will return 4 of 5 starters next year, with Victor Stickna being the only senior on this year’s squad. Juniors Kevin Macchia (234-243), Mike Carr (213-236), Nick Fasolo (217) and Tyler Kammen (213) all rolled deuces in a 1,084 second game, and their best showing in the "Game 3" Baker series was 233. Plenty more to come on the fellows from Franklin Lakes in an upcoming edition of Suburban News.

In its first-ever trip to Carolier Lanes, Northern Highlands fired a pair of "10-handles" (as coach Rich Smith called them) en route to a sixth-place 2,924 in Group 4. The most interesting storyline for the Highlanders — and this was a deal that began in the Bergen County tournament — was that even though the team won the Big North National Division title, it somehow always struggled in tournaments at Bowler City. So, for the last two games at the Counties, Smith told his charges that whoever had the lowest score in the next game would get subbed out, since they have 6 pretty good bowlers... TM thought that was a neat motivational tool (which his alter ego did not have space to mention in today's Town Journal article), and it really seemed to work at both sectionals and States: Highlands was over 1,000 in each of the 1st two games last Friday before they stumbled in the Baker round. However, they do have the entire team coming back next year, including juniors Eric Sibbald (225-233) and Billy Olszewski (182-255) and sophomore Josh Taylor (218-224).

As far as the other GHT teams went, Clifton (2,615) ended up 10th in Group 4, while West Milford (2,364, 10th in Group 3) made its first appearance at Carolier since TM was on the Highlanders beat for the Suburban Trends in 2005. (Something about those newspapers in the 'burbs keeps drawing me in...)

As far as the other North section teams went, things weren't all that bad — if you're from Hudson County. Secaucus finished runner-up in Group 1 with nice efforts from Dante Iyer (225-236) and Darnell Winters (233-213)... Bayonne had a monster 1,151 in Game 2 (for the record: Joe Picarelli 174, Frank Iasparri 227, Nicholas Wisniewski 266, Chris Kim 205 and Jerel Rodriguez 279) and was within 30 pins of the Group 4 lead before winding up 3rd. Hey, it's tough when Jackson, Brick Memorial and East Brunswick are all posting 1,000s in the Baker games... Pascack Hills (5th in Group 2) didn't do too bad, either, and Cowboys lefty Jason Prezant deserves a little extra pop, because he threw a 300 earlier in the winter and got the same one-line treatment as PC's Nikki Vucak. Prezant had a 414 series with a high game of 233, and he will return next season along with junior classmate Bryan Kist (213-220) to help keep PH formidable... Sparta (4th in Group 3) shared lanes with Ramapo, and put on quite a show in Game 2, although the Spartans had the upper hand with an 1,123 (Sarah Rhodes 200, Alex Tamian 225, Cody Spector 219, Nicole Chanin 224, Scott Wilcox 255).

OTHER THOUGHTS NOT ALREADY TWITTERED BY TM: Jackson Memorial was the big winner in the high-stakes Group 4 bracket and did not throw a Baker game under 200... but if you thought that was impressive, how about Woodbridge? The Barrons basically laid seige to the Group 3 title with a Baker series of 1,118: 213, 278, 168, 225, 234. How'd that 168 get in there? Regardless, that signaled the end of Sayreville's three-year run as Group 3 champs... Ocean Township won its first-ever Group 2 crown, and yes, the Spartans' Kenny Ryan did bowl opposite of Manchester Township's Ryan Kenny for the entire day. I love word play... and of course, hail to the champs from Keansburg, who rolled nine consecutive strikes in Game 3 of the Tournament of Champions finals to turn the tide in their favor.

Actually, in TM's mind, K-burg's turning point came on the ball before the nine-bagger. Senior Shaun Moran left a 4-6-7 split and almost converted it, with the 6 falling forward to wobble the 7 ever so slightly. Being a sucker for the "hidden plays", TM asked the mop-topped Titan about the near-miss, and he basically said hey — if the bowler with the lowest average on the team can almost make a shot like that, then they all should be able to step up and make big shots. (BTW, I'm paraphrasing his words, and incidentally, having the lowest average on the State champs still is nothing to sneeze at).

So Moran, senior Ryan Schoentube and juniors Dylan Jordan, Korrie O'Hanlon and Dale Barshewsky ride off into the sunset as the first Group 1 school to win the overall State title since... who knows? As mentioned, the NJSIAA didn't start dividing into groups until 2007, and TM has no concept of school sizes prior to starting on the varsity beat 10 years ago. After conferring with venerable Star-Ledger bowling reporter Mike Moretti (and the NJSIAA's tournament program), we concluded that the last time it happened was with Harrison in 1959. A.L. Johnson Regional of Clark won it all in 1985 but was probably a Group 2 at the time, and Pope Pius XII was the 1962 State champ... yet, not only is the latter school no longer open, I have no idea what group it may have been in OR where it might even have been located.

FINAL FINAL THOUGHTS: Now, given that he has spent nearly the entirety of the past decade trekking down to North Brunswick for the State finals every February (the lone exception being in 2003), The Messenger is compelled to share the one desire that has tugged at him more and more each year. The itch to stick around after all the varsity tournament action is done and bowl a game for his ownself at Carolier begged to be scratched... and at long last, on Friday Feb. 18, it was.

At the behest of one of his fellow Blogspot colleagues — Hanna Jane of the perspicacious Veritas & Vignettes — TM finally quit putting it off and rolled at Carolier, challenging Hanna to a 10-frame, winner-take-all showdown. (In case you were wondering: Yes, HJ does share a name with a Hootie & the Blowfish tune of old, and yes, TM still owns a copy of "Cracked Rear View" on cassette tape. No, he will not pay the slightest bit of attention to any snarky comments on the subject.)

Guess there really must be something to the whole North Jersey/Carolier hex, as TM (a Bowler City regular) managed only three marks, and HJ (a product of Hy-Way Bowl in Union) emerged with a 31-point victory. HOWEVER... my lone goal was to get a single strike in the game, and sure enough, it came after I salvaged hope with a 7-spare to start the 10th and got to throw one final ball: it was an ugly backdoor job that involved the 3-pin taking down the 1 at the last minute, but it was a strike nonetheless! Never mind the final score (it's listed below if you really need it), or the fact that TM nearly tumbled over backwards in excitement — knowing what it's like to knock down all 10 on a single shot, on the last roll of the day, on the lanes where the PBA's 68th annual U.S. Open is stationed this week... well, that was more than enough to make The Messenger smile.

What a way to cap off the season.

NJSIAA Boys State Team Tournament scores

GRP 4	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Jackson Memorial	1094	1054	1085	3233*
2nd	Brick Memorial	1112	1043	1015	3170
3rd	Bayonne	1017	1151	951	3119
4th	East Brunswick	1081	974	1050	3105
5th	Livingston	1096	1098	829	3023
6th	Northern Highlands	1009	1057	858	2924
7th	Paramus Catholic	878	978	904	2760
8th	Hunterdon Central	908	1017	798	2723
9th	Union	862	865	986	2713
10th	Clifton	849	904	862	2615
GRP 3	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Woodbridge	1090	1013	1118	3221*
2nd	Sayreville	1046	1104	1041	3191
3rd	Jefferson	1124	1030	1022	3176
4th	Sparta	956	1123	993	3072
5th	Ramapo	982	1084	969	3035
6th	Nutley	972	895	1025	2892
7th	Brick Township	922	972	897	2791
8th	Pascack Valley	1013	873	893	2779
9th	Burlington Township	929	852	848	2629
10th	West Milford	816	782	766	2364
GRP 2	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Ocean Township	1075	1040	951	3066*
2nd	Wall Township	1039	982	1037	3058
3rd	Manchester Township	1123	896	952	2971
4th	A.L. Johnson	1087	993	887	2967
5th	Pascack Hills	867	1026	915	2808
6th	Morris Hills	982	925	882	2789
7th	Deptford	901	944	899	2744
8th	Hopatcong	942	908	837	2687
9th	Wallkill Valley	868	834	810	2512
10th	Ramsey	765	870	837	2472
GRP 1	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Keansburg	1007	1150	1082	3239*
2nd	Secaucus	989	993	950	2932
3rd	Bordentown	997	961	897	2855
4th	Becton	838	1005	966	2809
5th	Sussex Tech	990	925	863	2778
6th	Roselle Catholic	944	933	840	2717
7th	Middlesex	905	913	871	2689
8th	Monsignor Donovan	886	845	954	2685
9th	Science Park	892	834	820	2546
10th	St. Mary (Rutherford)	859	862	821	2542

*Group champ, advanced to Tournament of Champions

T of C - SEMIFINALS	BAKER 1	BAKER 2	BAKER 3	BAKER 4	BAKER 5
1) Keansburg	200	217	227	204	237
4) Ocean Township	173	218	203	216	235
2) Jackson Memorial	185	225	226	165	232
3) Woodbridge	216	203	216	218	202
T of C - FINALS	BAKER 1	BAKER 2	BAKER 3	BAKER 4	BAKER 5
1) Keansburg	179	244	255	215	-
2) Jackson Memorial	235	200	199	177	-

_______________________________________________
Unofficial Season-Ending Blogspot Bowling Challenge

Hanna Jane (V&V) def. The Messenger (NJBB), 122-91

Please e-mail any/all corrections to NorthJerseyBRG@gmail.com. Please, no corrections for the Blogspot Challenge...

2/14/10 NJSIAA Team Finals - Girls

Since the NJSIAA boys team, girls team and singles finals were separated out over a three-day span several years ago, the girls team tournament is the only one that still carries on the tradition of the 9:30 a.m. start on Presidents' Day – normally. However, since the event didn’t actually fall on Presidents' Day this year, the powers that be had to push the start time back to 12:30 p.m. to accommodate Carolier Lanes' usual Monday morning leagues.

According to several sources, the time change was made within the week leading up to the tournament, and the news failed to reach just one team: Ridgewood. Incidentally, the news also failed to reach one reporter – I’ll give you one guess as to which one.

The Messenger has shared plenty of the news and nuggets he has collected on the Maroons this season (including on today's WGHT Sports Overtime broadcast), and frankly, the early-bird Ridgewood folks were embarrassed enough about the gaffe, so we'll move on. Although, to the girls' credit, they seemed pretty relaxed and hey, they got to bond over brunch at a local diner.

Thoughts on some other storylines that may have slipped through the cracks:

Didn't get to mention it on GHT, but although Ridgewood was the only area school to reach the girls team finals, Paramus Catholic featured a couple of bowlers from the listening area -- sophomore Anastasia DeLeon of Saddle Brook and junior Casey Fuhrman of North Haledon -- as well as one girl about whom the NJBB is agog that she did not receive more notice.

PC freshman Nikki Vucak, a Garfield resident, rolled a 300 against Northern Highlands on Jan. 31, and all she got was this dinky one-line write-up. Granted, I understand that newspaper space is tight this time of year... but in the 8 seasons that TM has been on this beat, this is the first occurrence of a girl bowling a perfect game that he can recall. In fact, he just did a bit of research and found that IHA's Dyanne Robles shot a 300 in 1999, and at that time, she was the first girl in the history of Bergen County varsity play to do so -- meaning to my knowledge, Miss Vucak is the second. Kudos to the frosh, the NJBB is proud to be able to augment your 15 minutes of fame.

Other thoughts not already twittered by TM: Congrats to Washington Township, the folks from Sewell now have a Group 4 title for both their boys and girls teams in the past two seasons... and yes, Group 2 champ Manchester Township has accomplished the feat in recent years, just not this season. The Lady Hawks' three consecutive group titles are impressive nonetheless... actually, can't forget Bordentown, that's four Group 1 titles in the five years since the NJSIAA switched to the group format... and let us never forget Brick Township, which merely did the following: A) capture its fourth straight Group 3 championship; B) bring home its second T of C title in four years; C) continued to have one of the sweetest mascots in the state -- c'mon, they're Green Dragons! -- and D) featured not one but TWO left-handed starters in freshman Amanda Nardiello and sophomore Sydney Scelfo. Plus, junior Kaitlynn Nardiello is pretty good too. Plus plus, they did win the whole thing, so let's get the entire starting lineup a mention with freshman Amber MacLeod and sophomore Madison Lukosius in there.

Wait, wait... Brick is the defending State champ, the entire lineup returns next year, and 4 of the 5 should be there for at least two more years? TM will leave you with two parting words: yikes strikes!

NJSIAA Girls State Team Tournament scores

GRP 4	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Washington Twp.	849	996	1016	2861*
2nd	North Brunswick	864	1071	895	2830
3rd	Brick Memorial	922	865	944	2731
4th	Howell	852	899	868	2619
5th	Immaculate Heart	818	865	866	2549
6th	Ridgewood	787	804	878	2469
GRP 3	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Brick Township	919	938	944	2801*
2nd	Jackson Liberty	946	891	844	2681
3rd	Monroe	818	838	778	2434
4th	Colonia	775	783	738	2296
5th	Warren Hills	771	757	756	2284
6th	Paramus Catholic	755	773	726	2254
GRP 2	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Manchester Twp.	923	1022	963	2908*
2nd	Carteret	809	865	742	2416
3rd	New Brunswick	771	772	793	2336
4th	West Deptford	826	786	684	2296
5th	Holy Angels	782	728	765	2275
6th	Bergenfield	805	688	705	2198
GRP 1	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Bordentown	717	829	704	2250*
2nd	Cardinal McCarrick	738	763	721	2222
3rd	Mother Seton	655	725	833	2213
4th	Manasquan	748	708	735	2191
5th	Gloucester City	647	758	704	2109
6th	Westwood	678	723	654	2055

*Group champ, advanced to Tournament of Champions

T of C - SEMIFINALS	GMS WON
1) Manchester Twp.	3
4) Bordentown	0
2) Washington Township	1
3) Brick Township	3
T of C - FINALS	GMS WON
3) Brick Township	3
1) Manchester Township	2

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

2/20/10 NJSIAA Team Finals - Boys

There were messengers flying all over Carolier Lanes on Saturday, including this one. First, allow me to apologize for my ranting/venting entry on the individual finals, as I momentarily lost sight of the NJBB's two most important bowling-reporting credos: 1) we do this because it's fun; and 2) half the fun is that you never know what you're going to see next.

POINT OF ORDER: In the future, should The Messenger ever suffer a similar lapse in gratitude toward having one of the most awesome jobs on the inter-web, kindly remind him of what he saw at the 2010 State boys Tournament of Champions: a brand new champ in the form of Washington Township, new group champs Keansburg and Manchester Township, a 10th-frame rally that led to a third straight ToC appearance by Sayreville, not one but two 300 Baker games, and a brief conversation lefty legend and PBA Hall-of-Famer Johnny Petraglia. Basically, TM died and went to bowling heaven, but he has revived and shall attempt to do justice in recapping the best tournament he witnessed this year, and possibly ever. END POINT OF ORDER.

BEGIN TODAY'S EPISODE: "Legends of the Pinfall." That last paragraph probably gave you a hint as to why this quasi-butchered movie title is appropriate. Unlike the State girls finals, where there are only 24 schools, The Messenger had a lot more ground to cover with the 40 at the boys finals — which included double the amount of North section teams. One similarity between the two events is that both now incorporate the third-game "Baker 5" during qualifying, where teams roll five Baker games and that counts as their series, instead of five traditional individual scores.

However, since the NJBB likes to change things up to stay fresh, instead of counting up to No. 1, we will take this particular journey from North to South (with a few exceptions when appropriate). If you are unfamiliar with the NJSIAA term "Northing number," take a peek at the State's Group Classification sheets if you have a burning desire to know how TM organized all of this info. If not, away we go...

Pascack Hills (8th in Group 2, 2,682): This was one of those teams whose scores that The Messenger didn't quite get the chance to peruse at sectionals. He got an excellent look on Saturday — sophomore leadoff man Bryan Kist began the day with 9 consecutive strikes on his way to a clean 277 that earned him third-high game honors. Senior anchor Brian Galbraith made the last individual game of his career a 235, and right now I'm really fighting the temptation to refer to this team not as the Cowboys but the Cow-Brians (too late). They had one of the better Baker series put forth by the Bergen County publics in attendance (927) and will return 5 of the 6 bowlers they used at Carolier.

Indian Hills (9th in Group 3, 2,608): The Messenger was impressed not only with the way the Braves rallied from behind at sectionals, but also with how they rallied together after parting ways with their anchor at the beginning of the month (details withheld to protect the innocent). IH made its first trip to North Brunswick since 2008, when they won their first sectional title to get there. This year's crew featured three seniors: Andrew Schwarz (203–383), Kyle Mulligan and Bob Klein, the latter of whom can be heard on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 2:30 p.m. on WGHT's annual Sports Overtime bowling extravaganza. The Braves' finish was so-so, but the Carolier Experience may prove invaluable to freshman lefty Andrew Wierzbicki (212–391), who had their high series.

Pascack Valley (8th in Group 3, 2,661): Senior southpaw Jon Frantin is a man of his word — as soon as TM spotted him entering Carolier, the first things I noticed were the hiked-up stirrup socks. I did not, unfortunately, get a look at the Indians' mode of transportation, but I heard it was a sight to behold. Frantin led things off with a big-time effort (235), and although PV's first-game score of 941 was pretty solid, it just wasn't enough, especially competing in Sayreville's bracket. Keep an eye on junior anchor Brian O'Flaherty (204-227–431), though; he's already established himself as legit, and could be a contender for some major hardware next year.

Bergen Catholic (6th in Group 4, 2,898): The Crusaders had a 1,036 after Game 1 and were tied with Union City for second place. Their next game was a 916 — again, a respectable number, it's just that Group 4 was loaded (e.g. Jackson Memorial was over 1,000 all three games and finished third, while East Brunswick put up two 1,100s and got second). Senior Rob Grippo had about as consistent a close to a career as one could have (211-211–422), but before you ask what BC is going to do without the power-bowling righty and classmates E.J. Mendez (204–368) Mike Parsons (354 series), note the numbers put up by sophomore Charles Long: 234-216–450. He and junior Patrick Henry (201–358) should keep BC near the head of the pack next winter.

Wayne Valley (10th in Group 3, 2,554): Although I had been to see the Indians once in NJTCC play this year, Saturday was the first time I got to speak with any of them. Although he had taken individuals to North Brunswick before (Kevin Cheuvront and Kari Berkman come to mind), this was the first time coach Jason Wilke brought a team down in his 11 seasons. Senior lead-off man Dominic Pascucci (212–365) is quite the eloquent spokesperson — if you don't believe me, he'll be on GHT Tuesday as well — and talked highly of his teammates, who are all underclassmen including sophomores Dean Fiorellini (206–352) and Dan Giannone, the anchor. Since WV is in North 1B, TM did not get to see them at sectionals, but if you ask me, beating out league rivals West Milford, Wayne Hills, Lakeland and Passaic Valley for the final Group 3 transfer spot to Carolier is a pretty sweet deal for them — especially the triumph over Hills, which A) won the NJTCC-Passaic and B) is Wayne Hills. Does Valley ever not enjoy beating the folks north of Alps Road at... anything?

Teaneck (10th in Group 4, 2,632): Just as quickly as the Highwaymen peaked at sectionals, they came back to Earth at States. Then again, TM can't remember seeing a Teaneck bowler at Carolier for quite some time, and in the words of loquacious leadoff man James Hoover, if the best his team could do was qualify for the Ultimate Event, "I'll take it." Hoover (358 series) and anchorman Joshuah Romero (353) will both graduate, but junior Dylan Laloo (200-204–404) appears ready to pick up the scoring slack next season.

Lyndhurst (10th in Group 1, 2,366): From the Department of "Ask And Ye Shall Receive" — Golden Bears coach Mike Rizzo e-mailed The Messenger after reading the NJBB's North 1A tournament recap and delivered the scores we'd been hoping to see. The system works! And since the senior-less Bears took their lumps down in North Brunswick, what better way to pick up spirits than to review their Feb. 13th championship outing... junior captain Nikki Villani led Lyndhurst at sectionals with a 214–580, while freshman Lexus Lopez shot 190–501 just days after firing a 547 at the North Jersey girls tourney, coming within 15 pins of advancing to the State singles finals. Coach Rizzo also pointed out that in addition to averaging 173 and 171, respectively, BOTH of these girls play basketball for Lyndhurst and often have gone right from a league match to a hoops contest in the same night. Villani, in fact, is the starting point guard — Holy Bo Jackson, Batman! Sophomore Angela Sammarone also gives the Bears more girl power than anyone in the BCSL National/Olympic, and let's not forget the boys, either. Junior anchor Kyle Bonser (233–628) and sophomore leadoff man Carmine Battista (255–619) helped them pull away from the sectional pack, and fifth man Paul Ulrich added a high game of 188. This, in all likelihood, will not be the last we hear from these South Bergenites.

Nutley (2nd in Group 3, 3,106): TM alluded earlier to Sayreville's third-game, 10th-frame comeback, and unfortunately for the Maroon Raiders, it happened at their expense. But here are some things to consider: Nutley was in third place after each of the first two games and trailed Sayreville (3,110) by over 100 pins after Game 2. The fact that they lost by 4 pins is sour, but the fact that they were able to make up so much ground — plus the fact that their 1,076 Baker game was the third-highest total in the house — is pretty sweet. And those five sophomores that we mentioned in last year's State finals entry? They are now five juniors with one more year to go (and have help from sophomore Tyler Huey), and some of their individual totals were eye-popping: Angelo Lambroschino (213–416), Nick Rizzi (215–428) and Joe Frezza (233–455) all averaged 208 or better on the day. Heck, even their Baker numbers were mind-boggling; the lowest one was 203! Granted, nobody ever wants to suffer through a close loss, but I refer you back to the story of the Manchester Township girls team, which lost Group titles by 1 pin and 2 pins in 2007 and 2008, respectively, then came back to win the 2009 ToC. If the Nutley boys keep up these types of numbers, do not be surprised to see the bowling gods smile on them in such a fashion next year.

Secaucus (7th in Group 1, 2,787): To date, Dylan Caruso had been the only member of this team — again, one whose nickname is sadly sullied due to similarities with TM's least favorite NFL team — that I had seen, and his run to the North Jersey Singles finals was impressive. What impressed me about Secaucus at Carolier was that they seemed to get even better once the Baker games began... well, the first two (203, 235), anyway. Actually, now that I look, they had the highest Baker total (959) of any public school from the "North Jersey" area (if you count only Bergen, Passaic and part of Hudson counties, as The Record does). Corey Czechowski (227–412) had the team's high game and series, and Caruso added a 211–393.

North Arlington (8th in Group 1, 2,699): Quite an end to a decorated career for Vikings senior Matt Priore, at least individually. He finished the second game with 9 strikes in a row to clock out with a 258 before helping NA to a 948 Baker series (featuring games of 225 and 203). Lest we forget, the Vikes also have employed one of the top girls bowlers in the area for the past few years in senior Ashley Johnson (186–356). They may have finished behind cross-town rival Queen of Peace in the Group standings, but in terms of bragging rights, their Baker finish was better than the Griffins' (930). Plus, these Vikings don't have to sit through any hemming and hawing about whether or not their stars will return (yes, I'm referring to YOU, Mr. Jet-jilter — good riddance) because, well, graduation hits everyone eventually.

Queen of Peace (5th in Group 1, 2,806): Other than the Baker 300s, which will be mentioned shortly, the longest string of strikes on Saturday was the 11 in a row thrown by Griffins senior Nick Gavron, who started with an 8 and ended with a 278, taking honors for second-high game. He may have been one of those who would have preferred to keep going under the old format, since his second-game 236 gave him a 514 series. QP endured the same fate as Bergen Catholic, tallying a 1,042 to take the Group 1 lead after Game 1 before dropping down to an 834. The graduation of Gavron, North 1A champ Andrew Suscreba (197–343), Rebecca Van Dyk (182–327) and George Bosch (160) will leave a mark, but the Griffins do have another one of the Maurer girls, junior Taylor (225–364), whom TM is confident will continue progressing in much the same way older sister Shannon did (P.S., the elder Maurer went out as a three-time All-Bergen first teamer and was third at State sectionals as a senior).

And now, in the interest of keeping things moving along, we will take the advice of a long-forgotten 1970s R&B one-hit wonder and take a float on:

The Stream of Consciousness... Recycling back to the top of the state — sophomore Larry Tufaro (236-224–460) led Wallkill Valley (2,975) to a fourth-place showing in Group 2... On its way to a fifth-place finish in Group 3, Sparta (2,888) had a phenomenal Baker series of 1,035 and got nice efforts from lefty Cody Spector (226-204–430), Dustin Steffen (202–361), State girls champ Nicole Chanin (206–348) and perhaps the bowler with the most fantastic surname in the entire tournament, John Hawxhurst (184–368)... Dayton of Springfield (2,828) shot a 1,069 in Game 2 to momentarily take the lead in Group 1 before dropping off in the Game 3 Bakers (844) and finishing fourth. Consolation: the Bulldogs' Mark Masucci (sorry for the Twitter misspelling) took home the high-game trophy for his 279... How insane were the scores on Saturday? Jackson Memorial and Nutley were joined by Wall (3,102) as teams to top 1,000 in all three qualifying games but not come away with a Group title. That means you KNOW we have some serious numbers to share with you in the big finish. In fact, they're so big that the rest of these sections are getting their own sub-heads...

Recipe for perfection — Bake @ 300: Let it be said, at this very time, in this very space, that The Messenger will never again bemoan missing a 300 game, because he saw two of the absolute best. On its way to winning Group 1, Keansburg (3,093) didn't start out all that strong in the "Game 3" Bakers, rolling 169 and 198. Then came a 267. Then came one of the most improbable occurrences you'll ever see on the lanes: congratulations Ryan Schoentube, Shaun Moran, Dylan Jordan, Korrie O'Hanlon and Dale Barshewski, you just combined to throw a perfect game. All told, an 1,122 Baker series for the Titans.

BUT WAIT... they were not the first ones to accomplish the feat. Moments earlier, Washington Township (3,287) was cruising toward wrapping up the Group 4 championship with Baker scores of 240 and 212. Then it happened: Nick Maccarone (212–376), Matt Lucich (207–378), Jason Pavlinko (224–439), John Bartosiewicz (268–481) and Steve Pavlinko (252–454) all struck in order through the first five frames of the next game. They followed up with five more strikes before Steve Pavlinko, the anchor, cemented his place in The Messenger's Book of Awesomeness... he recorded the 11th strike by getting a messenger pin — the very inspiration for yours truly's moniker — to come across and knock out the 10-pin... and he blasted the 12th strike by getting another messenger pin to fly in from the left and take out the 10 AGAIN. This could well be the greatest coup that has ever occurred for this blog's purposes, and even though the NJBB has stressed the "no cheering in the press box rule," TM couldn't help but feel like the Minutemen were angling for his allegiance.

At any rate, I can't recall seeing a team get as much pin action in one afternoon as Washington Twp. Johnny Petraglia himself, who was on hand to observe, said the probability of a team "Bakering" a 300 is next to impossible, and sure enough it happened twice within 10 minutes. Mr. Petraglia also introduced TM to the term "slamming the dime," which apparently is exactly what Mr. Pavlinko did in sending the aforementioned messengers to take out the 10-pins. Oh, speaking of the living PBA legend...

Parker Lewis Can't Lose; Parker Bohn, we're not so sure: All of a sudden, The Messenger is in a quandary! His very own category of postseason awards, the Parker Bohn III All-Stars — so named because A) TM's top 3 defining characteristics are left-handedness, love for his home state of New Jersey and a passion for bowling, and B) he wishes to honor those varsity bowlers in similar shoes — was created with his favorite active bowler in mind. He unwittingly yet completely forgot that the now-retired Johnny Petraglia has many similar outstanding traits: left-handedness, a tasteful surname that is nearly identical to that of TM's alter ego, and oh yeah, he had a tournament named after him (the Johnny Petraglia Open) that used to be held at Carolier Lanes. The fact that Mr. Petraglia was born in Brooklyn perhaps may have been the original cause for our gross oversight, but the NJBB is prepared to throw that out the window since Johnny currently resides in the Garden State and is now a close, personal friend of The Messenger ("close" meaning TM stood next to him and chatted for about 5 minutes, and "friend" meaning he was polite enough to accept one of TM's business cards).

So the quandary is now this... should the NJBB rename the Parker Bohn III All-Stars? Should we turn it into a combined honor like the Johnny/Parker All-Stars? If you have any opinions on the subject, e-mail The Messenger at NorthJerseyBRG@gmail.com. P.S. In the highly unlikely event that Mr. Petraglia drops us an e-mail on the subject, we're basically going to do whatever the heck he says. I mean, TM has never met anyone else that's on the PBA's list of the 50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years.

Okay, where were we? Oh right, Hawk pride!: The boys from Manchester Township (3,227) joined their female counterparts as State Group 2 champions this year. The Hawks won the first game of their Baker semifinal match with Sayreville, 255-181, before the two-time reigning ToC champs won the final three. Still, take a look at this Baker series that Manchester put together in the morning: 248, 237, 185, 215, 265. And that was the second-highest "Game 3" series. Four different Hawks averaged over 200 in the two individual games, including John Herbert (257-225–482), Nick Nametko (225-224–449), Alan Garcia (202–403) and Billy Carudo (215–401). What a job that coaching staff (and the bowlers, of course) have done with this program, kudos to MT.

Say you, say me... Sayreville always, naturally: Even though the Bombers were unable to become the first team to win three straight ToC crowns, they did not go down without a fight. When Nutley came storming back to take its brief lead at the end of qualifying Game 3, Sayreville was still on the lanes and knew what it needed to get the job done. Junior Eric Applegate, a veteran of last year's title team, responded with an 8-spare-strike in the 10th and final frame of the five Baker contests to cap off his team's Group 3-championship tally of 3,110. In the ToC semis, with the Bombers leading two games to one, senior returnee Glenn Sauer touched off a string of five consecutive strikes from frames 6 through 10 — with Wayne Bebert, Anthony Nicholas, Phil Bailey and Applegate following suit — that helped Sayreville put away Manchester, 232-174, in Game 4. Nicholas, Bailey and Applegate each struck twice in Game 2 of the ToC finals, helping their team to a 231-191 win that evened the series at 1-1.

But let's face it: the day belonged to the Township.

Don't let those other four "Washington Townships" fool you: Yes, by now the existence of New Jersey's five townships named "Washington" has become a standard Garden State geography gag (although there used to be six, thanks to Robbinsville for stepping out of line and getting a little creative). A long, long time ago, a young The Messenger lived in the Bergen County Washington Twp., but that's quite a hike from whence this year's champions hail.

And yet, perhaps nothing makes a 70-mile bus ride back to Gloucester County happier than a Group 4 trophy (which the Sewell-based Washington Twp. captured with a house-leading 3,287 in the morning) and a ToC trophy (which the Minutemen claimed with their 235-189, 191-231, 262-174, 247-199 victory over Sayreville in the finals). I can't even begin to tell you how many strikes this team threw on the day... well, we know it was 12 in the perfecto, plus they added 10 more strikes in that 262, and they even made another bid at perfection in the title-clincher, starting off with a 7-bagger before getting robbed by a stone-10 in the 8th.

Give Sayreville credit, they strung together a 5-bagger in the finale to keep the pressure on. But after getting a 9 on his first ball of the 10th, Steve Pavlinko picked up the spare to clinch the victory, leapt into the air and did his best Springsteen/Super Bowl-halftime stage slide (fortunately there was no TV camera in his sliding line, as there was for Bruce).

The Minutemen also have their own "legends" connection. Nick Maccarone's father Sam, the team's assistant coach, has bowled on the pro tour and works with coach Mike Hudock's squad on a volunteer basis. The payoff was not only Washington Township's first-ever trip to the boys State team finals, but also its first State title.

When asked about it, the younger Maccarone did agree that the Baker 300 was a sign the Minutemen might be in for a special afternoon. "That's when you know," he said, "When those [messenger] pins come over and then take [the 10-pin] out, you know it's your day. I mean, it's a good shot when you come in and send a messenger, and when it doesn't miss, you know that it's your day to win."

Quite simply, it was indeed The Messenger's day...

NJSIAA Boys State Team Tournament scores

GRP 4	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Washington Twp.	1015	1113	1159	3287*
2nd	East Brunswick	1100	947	1130	3177
3rd	Jackson Memorial	1033	1043	1002	3078
4th	Livingston	1006	1007	931	2944
5th	Old Bridge	978	940	1000	2918
6th	Bergen Catholic	1036	916	946	2898
7th	Union	979	965	949	2893
8th	Union City	1036	817	891	2744
9th	Kearny	934	931	851	2716
10th	Teaneck	858	893	881	2632
GRP 3	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Sayreville	1091	1051	968	3110*
2nd	Nutley	1010	1020	1076	3106
3rd	Woodbridge	961	1072	986	3019
4th	Scotch Plains	1046	964	986	2996
5th	Sparta	869	984	1035	2888
6th	Brick Township	968	1013	881	2862
7th	Jackson Liberty	902	987	884	2773
8th	Pascack Valley	941	823	897	2661
9th	Indian Hills	847	894	867	2608
10th	Wayne Valley	809	852	893	2554
GRP 2	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Manchester Twp.	1029	1046	1152	3227*
2nd	Wall Township	1000	1054	1048	3102
3rd	Burlington Twp.	1000	992	1025	3017
4th	Wallkill Valley	959	1031	985	2975
5th	Hopatcong	897	939	978	2814
6th	Gov. Livingston	866	993	890	2749
7th	Ocean Township	894	910	902	2706
8th	Pascack Hills	926	829	927	2682
9th	A.L. Johnson	921	902	838	2661
10th	Lyndhurst	711	837	818	2366
GRP 1	SCHOOL	GAME 1	GAME 2	GAME 3	TOTAL
1st	Keansburg	1039	932	1122	3093*
2nd	Monsignor Donovan	1029	953	960	2942
3rd	Roselle Catholic	917	997	949	2863
4th	Dayton	915	1069	844	2828
5th	Queen of Peace	1042	834	930	2806
6th	BCIT-Medford	968	984	845	2797
7th	Secaucus	967	861	959	2787
8th	North Arlington	845	906	948	2699
9th	Sussex Tech	885	882	900	2667
10th	Bishop Ahr	827	858	767	2452

*Group champ, advanced to Tournament of Champions

T of C - SEMIFINALS	BAKER 1	BAKER 2	BAKER 3	BAKER 4	BAKER 5	GMS WON	AVG
1) Washington Twp.	268	177	225	-	-	3	223.3
4) Keansburg	166	174	214	-	-	0	184.7
2) Manchester Twp.	255	178	210	174	-	1	204.3
3) Sayreville	181	193	212	232	-	3	204.5
T of C - FINALS	BAKER 1	BAKER 2	BAKER 3	BAKER 4	BAKER 5	GMS WON	AVG
1) Washington Twp.	235	191	262	247	-	3	233.8
3) Sayreville	189	231	174	199	-	1	198.3

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