Girls Bowling: Season comes to an end in Group finals

NORTH BRUNSWICK — Sometimes you just run into a Brick.

It’s not that the three Greater Middlesex Conference girls bowling teams did poorly at Friday’s NJSIAA Group Finals, but the champions just excelled. Brick Township won Group III with a 3065, and Brick Memorial took Group IV with 3095 at Carolier Lanes.

“That would beat most boys’ teams,” East Brunswick coach Doug Spishock said.

With that in mind, Spishock, Edison coach Tracie Smith and South Plainfield’s Brian Panek were pleased with their team’s performances, which were filled with season-high scores. East Brunswick took third in Group IV with a 2645, Edison got fourth in Group III with 2686 and South Plainfield finished third in Group II with 2495 behind champion Manchester (2735).

Individually, South Plainfield’s Lanasia Neal had the fifth-best game with a 245, but Friday’s emphasis was on the team. The four group winners of the morning session, which consisted of three games with traditional scoring, advanced to the afternoon’s Tournament of Champions meet.

East Brunswick opened with a 962, its best score of the season. Freshman Alicia McLaughlin had a career high game of 223 and Ashley Figueroa chipped in a 235 followed by Kate Onorato’s 181, Madison Steinbeck’s 173 and Brianna Walsh’s 150.

The Bears, which qualified for the meet after finishing second in Central Group IV last weekend, finished with team scores of 825 and 858 — closer to their average of the mid-800s.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the girls,” Spishock said. “They’re having their best game of the season on the last day of the season on the biggest stage — it was really great. The girls have been working hard all season so we knew that they had potential to go out and put up really good scores.”

There also weren’t too many frowns from the South Plainfield side. The Tigers, which had won Central Group II to qualify, didn’t get a team high, but Panek said the finish surpassed his initial expectations.

“If you’d asked me at the beginning of the year and told us that we were even going to shoot a 2400, I would have said absolutely not,” he said. “To have our high game of over 2500 and to shoot a few individual games over 900 is very good. Now to average at the end of the season over 800 a game is ridiculous. So, steady improvement.”

Sophomore star Neal led the way with a 674 series followed by Emily Sukenik (536), Chelsea Alers (486), Melissa Novak (450) and freshman Hallie Nisgaard (349).

For Edison, the top four bowlers all exceeded their averages for the season as Victoria Johnson (596), Touri Holmes (584), Samantha Salzone (575) and Abigail Buchany (515) had career days. Stephanie Kawall and Samantha Osiadacz split time Friday to round out the Eagles’ lineup.

“We bowled our best and that’s all we could ask for,” said Holmes, who noted the team’s chemistry helps to lift everyone on the lanes. “That’s the fun of it. It’s an accomplishment because we’ve had a lot of success this season already. This is a bonus.”

“They showed up to bowl, which was nice," Smith added. "They grew over the season wonderfully. They grew from last season to this season, which was even better. They all added anywhere from six to 15 or 16 pins to their average. So when you see that improvement in their average, it’s great to know that they’re growing as athletes.”

Edison already ordered sweatshirts to commemorate winning Central Group III last week. Now, reaching the Group finals only added to the Eagles season.

“They were happy to be here,” Smith said. “They’re Red Division champions and sectional champions this year. The years get to go up on our banners in the gym which is real nice. They leave a legacy behind.”

GROUP I

1. Manasquan 914-781-879-2577; 2. Mater Dei 857-854-825-2536; 3. Westwood 858-811-851-2520; 4. Bishop Eustace 788-784-740-2312; 5. Ramsey 754-743-757-2254; 6. New Egypt 701-704-810-2215

GROUP II

1. Manchester 894-918-923-2735; 2. Academy of the Holy Angels 894-785-890-2569; 3. South Plainfield 858-833-804-2495; 4. Ocean Township 778-839-820-2437; 5. Paramus 764-757-786-2307; 6. Deptford Township 584-667-687-1938.

GROUP III

1. Brick Township 964-1010-1091-3065; 2. Warren Hills 964-918-921-2803; 3. Toms River South 849-960-903-2712; 4. Edison 860-983-843-2686; 5. Wayne Valley 803-783-933-2519; 6. Freehold Township 711-826-853-2390.

GROUP IV

1. Brick Memorial 1019-1076-1000-3095; 2. Howell 821-918-929-2668; 3. East Brunswick 962-825-858-2645; 4. Hackensack 907-785-859-2551; 5. Eastern Regional 859-834-778-2471; 6. Bergen County Technical 706-670-691-2067.