All four high school bowling teams make it to state finals

BRICK TOWNSHIP — For Township's girls bowling team, competing in the NJSIAA finals on Monday this week is nothing new. The Green Dragons made what coach Linda Sarraf said she believes is the 12th straight trip to the finals.

"I can't remember the last time the team didn't make it," said the longtime coach whose team won the state title last year.

But they have a lot of familiar company. All four teams in the township reached the finals for what the four coaches believe is the first time ever.

Along with Brick Memorial's girls also qualifying, the boys teams at Brick Township and Brick Memorial also qualified in the group championships on Saturday in Deptford. Brick Memorial finished first in Group IV South and Brick Township prevailed in Group III South to advance for the third straight year by a slim three-pin margin over Toms River South.

Sarraf took issue with the fact that the boys teams compete in different groups in bowling, as they do in the other sports, but the two girls teams in the township are in Group III.

"How can it be different," Sarraf said.

Nevertheless, she said the best part is all four teams playing on the final day.

With Brick Memorial boys missing out last year in making it a four-team sweep into the state finals, Sarraf also is savoring the four teams having a shot at glory on the final day of the season — the boys bowl on Saturday at the same Carolier Lanes in East Brunswick.

Her team carries the added prestige of winning a third straight Shore Conference Tournament championship last week in Sea Girt by a cozy 83 pins over Manchester, 2,778 to 2,695. The Nardiello sisters again carried the day as Kaitlyn opened a 658 series with a 257 game and Nicole smashing a 254 midway through her 626 series. Also from the township, Brick Memorial's Jess Abrecht in the Shore Conference individual tournament had the third-highest series of 570 off an opening high game of 195.

To galvanize the bowling community in Brick for the championship week, there is a pasta party for all four teams at the Knights of Columbus on Cedar Bridge Avenue on Thursday evening — a postchampionship event for the girls and a prechampionship gathering for the boys. "I understand about a hundred people are showing up for this," Brick Township boys coach Cara Lukosius said.

"This is the biggest thrill to see all four teams in," said Brick Memorial girl coach David Thompson.

For Kyle Murphy it is another opportunity to close off what has been a superb season for Brick Memorial, which led Shore Conference A South all season long, but sputtered in the Shore Conference Tournament last week with a 2,788 series for fifth place.

"We did not do well at all; not anything for what we are capable of what we've been doing," said Brick Memorial coach Mike Russomano. To add to it, Murphy was 10th individually in the Shore Conference tournament with a 553 series.

Both boys teams made the state finals coming from behind. Brick Memorial atoned for its Shore Conference slump by walloping a 3,163 total, 109 pins ahead of Cherokee for its first trip to the finals in five years. And Murphy led the way with a 670 series that included games of 248, 227 and 195.

"I think it's a great thing having all four teams in it. We're all friends here," said Murphy. "I felt pretty good about how we bowled. The team talked about doing better in this tournament. Now we have to finish off our spares even better."

Neither boys team had an individual qualifier for the state finals on Wednesday this week at the same house and Brick Memorial's Russomano called it an "absolute team effort."

"Everything we have done this year is a team effort whether it's good or bad," he said. "In the last few weeks, we had wrapped up our spot in the Shore Conference Tournament and the guys had a letdown [in the Shore Conference Tournament] so they talked about it and made up their minds they were going to do it and did. The lanes were flying and they made real quick adjustments moving to the left because when they got to the back end with right-handed bowlers, the ball would take a left turn."

Brick Memorial trailed Southern by 18 pins before taking a 66-pin lead after the second game and ended up rolling games of 1075, 1071 and 1017. Brandon Barboza smashed a 255 game midway through his 659 series. Dominick Romano launched his 638 series with a 224 and Domenick Luongo, who opened with a 222 game, ended with a 623 series.

Brick Township was as far back as fourth place in the second game and resigned to shooting for the second qualifying spot in the Group III until cranking out a strong finish from Mike Melon, who drilled a 277 game, John Boor, who smashed a 247 game and T.J. Contino, who rolled a 243. Boor led the team with a 681 series and Melon logged a 667. Joe Vescio and Contino followed with a 633 and a 630, respectively.

Melon said bowling in the finals last year helps prepare for this year's finale.

"It helps," he said. "Last year, I bowled a 690 [series] and it's really different there. There's a lot of pressure but we're pretty good with it. We're really good as a team and close it out at the end, even better than last year."

"They all finished pretty strong in the 10th," Lukosius said. "If one person did it, it was Matt Fenley. He came on in the eighth frame of the last game and had not bowled all day for Doug Scelfo, who was struggling, and hit a strike and then hit an eight and chopped one pin and then in the 10th struck out from there Scelfo had his moments, too, with games of 232 and 215.

Ocean Lanes over the weekend also hosted the Ocean County Junior Singles Tournament over the weekend. Lake Riviera Middle School seventh-grader Amanda Nardiello rolled a 1,597 in six games to win the scratch division, a 266 average.