The Central New Jersey Home News from New Brunswick, New Jersey • 24

Home News Tribune Keep up online Follow all the area teams online at the Home News Tribune Web site at www.thnt.com Thursday, February 24, 2005 NJSIAA BOWLING CHAMPIONSHIPS Inspire Small Ramblers earn boys championship, Woodbridge girls finish second SSOlSfSS VlCtOlf ries over 3,000. Carteret also set I 1 v. 'Zl By GREG TUFARO STAFF WRITER NORTH BRUNSWICK -After her grandmother died before last Christmas, Wood-bridge sophomore Amanda Small told teammate and confidant Marissa Jaquillard that she was dedicating the rest of the season to her grandmother. Arlene GIRLS CHAMPION Small served as an inspiration to her granddaughter, and may have provided some divine intervention from above as well, as Small won the NJSIAA Individual Tournament with a lot of skill and a little luck in a thrilling 192-190 victory over Bishop Ahr's Kat Nadzak. Small would have lost the stepladder final if she were not able to convert a one-pin spare on her second roll in the 10th frame.

Small barely grazed the four pin, hitting it just enough to fall down. She knocked eight pins down on her final roll, putting pressure on Nadzak in the bottom of the 10th frame. Nadzak picked up a spare and needed a strike on her final roll to tie the game and force a roll-off. Unfortunately for Nadzak, who won a quarterfinal and semifinal match to reach the stepladder championship, she was only able to knock down eight pins and wound up suffering a heartbreaking defeat. "Marissa was holding me so tight and I was praying because right before Christmas my grandmother passed away and I dedicated the rest of the season to her," Small said.

"The only one I told was Marissa. She was like, 'Come on. Come on. For your All day." Small said she believes her grandmother had a hand in knocking down that four pin. "I defeintely think so," she said, smiling.

One of four GMC girls bowlers to qualify for the stepladder finals, Small did so as the top seed with a six-game pinfall of 1,288. That total would have been high enough to qualify for the boys stepladder finals. East Brunswick's Dana Taureck, the fifth seed, edged Woodbridge's Nicole Caggiano, the fourth seed, 169-157. Taureck then suffered a 182-160 setback to Nadzak, the third seed. Nadzak disposed of Brick Township's Hope Buc'ci, the No.

2 seed, 168-150. Small led Woodbridge to a second-place finish in the team competition earlier in the day with a 637 series, including a 244 game that was the tournament's highest. "I felt that the team came first," Small said. "I didn't care where I qualified (for the individual tournament). Once the team (competition) was done, then I took it to the next level.

I said, 'It's my turn. This is for me now." And Nana, too. By GREG TUFARO STAFF WRITER NORTH BRUNSWICK Although his team hadn't won a tournament all season and didn't even finish first in its division, Carteret High School boys bowling coach Charlie Simon always knew his squad had the potential to be the best in the state. The Ramblers, who saved their best for last, proved Simon right, winning the school's first ever NJSIAA Championship with a three-game pinfall of 2,988 at Carolier Lanes yesterday. Russell Bennett led the way with a 731 series his fifth 700-plus series of the year while teammates Dyshon Coley (637), Jason Kurdyla (630) and Salman Hussain (527) excelled.

Danny Sardone and Justin Barron also contributed to the win. "I knew they were a special group and that they could put it together," said Simon, who starts five seniors. "We didn't shoot great. All three games were under 1,000. But it was nice and consistent.

The boys stayed together as a team and made sure they covered each other if there was a problem." Carteret was only the second school in the past seven years to win the boys title without eclipsing the mark. The Ramblers rolled games of 998, 995 and 995. They moved from fifth to third place in the second game and had to overcome Borden-town and Linden to win the team title. The Ramblers edged runner-up Bordentown by 29 pins. In the girls team tournament, Brick Township tied an NJSIAA record, winning its third straight title to match a feat accomplished by Edison from 1986-1988.

Woodbridge, with a pinfall of 2,872, finished runner-up for the second straight year, losing the team title by a mere 23 JOE McLAUGHLINStaff photographer East Brunswick's Jeremy Cimino warms up before yesterday's NJSIAA Championship at Brunswick Zone Carolier Lanes. bowled in the shadow of the school's highly successful girls program for years. "The girls have always been the stellar team at Carteret," Simon said. "The boys have always had a decent year, but never anything that they can get up and crow about. Now they've got the chance." The state title put the exclamation mark on an otherwise record-breaking year for the Ramblers, who set school marks for high game with Bennett's 290, high series with Bennett's 736 and pinfall with 11 se Confident Knopf overcomes injury UNION COUNTY BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS Tigers advance to championship a single-season school mark for victories with a 17-4-5 record.

The Ramblers finished second in the Greater Middlesex Con ference Blue Division to J.F. Kennedy. Carteret hadn't qualified for the state finals since 1987, and the Ramblers barely got in this year's tournament, qualifying as the fourth and final team from Central Jersey. The Ramblers qualified on Jan. 11, one day before Simon's 60th birthday.

At the time, Simon thanked the Ramblers for giving him such a wonder ful present. But the coach's bowlers told him they weren't done yet. "Jason (Kurdyla) looked at me and said, 'You are going to have to wait until the finals for your real Simon re called. "I swear to God, that's exactly what Jason said, and boy did they deliver today." Simon, who has coached at Carteret for 16 of the past 18 seasons, was overcome with emotion as he walked the final stat sheet to the scorer's table. At that point, many people at Carolier Lanes knew the Ram blers, who were among the last teams to finish, had won the tournament.

"I knew we had won it," said Simon, whose five bowlers each threw strikes in a tournament-clinching ninth frame. "But it was just like, 'OK. Let me see it. I just want to see it' Simon looked on the leader- board and smiled upon realiz ing that Carteret had passed Bordentown. He walked back to tell his bowlers that it was official the Ramblers were indeed state champions.

"We did this for him" Kurdyla said. "He's not only a great coach to us but he's a great friend. We figured that's the best thing we could do for him." 80YS BASKETBALL Somerset County Tournament Final at Bridgewater-Raritan U.S. Franklin vs Rutgers Prep 8 p.m. Regular Season Perth Amboy Tech at Middlesex-Belvidere at St.

Peter 6 p.m. 7 p.m. GIRLS BASKETBALL Somerset County Tournament Final at Bridgewater-Raritan H.S. Rutgers Prep vs. HillsboroughRidge 6 p.m.

Rumson 87, South Amboy 70 SOUTH AMBOY (70): Seres 8-(4)-3-31, Bartlinski 4-(1)-6-17, Dejoy 1-(3)-011, Zatkovuski 1-2-4, Beau-dry 0-0-0. Poltrteky 12, Krzyzanowski 0-(1)-2-5. Totals: 1S-(9)-13-70 RUMSON-FAIR HAVEN (87): Armstrong 2-(2)-2-f2. Conover 6-(5)-2-29. Farragher 2-0-4, Harris 1-0-2.

to-vino 7-0-14, Martell 44-12, Morris 1-2-4, Stroh 2-(1)-0-7, Carroll 02-2, Sharkey 0-1-1. Totals: 25-(8)-13-87. SOUTH AMBOY (8-15) 8 1721 24 70 RUMSON-FAIR HAVEN (8-12) 23 24 19 21 87 Old Bridge 66, South River 35 SOUTH RIVER (35): McDaniel 1-0-2, LaSala 6-5-17, Dotson 4-0-8. Kosko 0-04). Martin 01-1, Imbriano 1- 1-3.

Williams 2-04. Totals: 147-35 OLD BRIDGE (66): Bennett 4-(2)-0-14, Reyes 2- (2)-O-10. Marcus Crawford 02-2, John Zimmerlink 2-0-4, Lucas 4-0-8, Donnelly 5O-10, Totten 2-0-4, 0. Crawford 000, Vasco 3-Oo Galloway 0-0-0, Payne 2-04, Rogers 1-0-2, Cusanetli 1-02, Zimmerlink 0- 0-0. Totals: 26-5-2-66.

SOUTH RIVER (160) 11 911 4-35 OLD BRIDGE (12-12) 21 11 1915 66 Woodbridge 60, Metuchen 47 WOODBRIDGE (60): Petrick OOO, Alphonse Baja 1- (1)-49, Albert Baja 0-2-2. Adeleye 6-2-14, Graves 7-1-15, Cuozzo3-(4)-t-19. Totals 17-(5)-1O60 METUCHEN (47): Brown 4-M, Nichols 0-(1)-14, Blakery 2-04, Storrs 2-0-4. Miller 5-1-11, Thomas 0-(1)-0-3, Rush 1-(1)-0-5, LNichols 2-(1)-1-8. Totals 16-(4)-3-47.

WOODBfllDGE(ll-H) 171222 9 60 METUCHEN (148) 141511 7-47 Plainfield 62, South Amboy 29 SOUTH AMBOY (29): Charmelto 3-1-7, Scarillo 2-4-16, Dean 1-0-2, Pollack 0-(1)-1-4, Anderson 0-0-0, DeLuca 000, Septor OOO, Holovacko 000. Totals: 6-5-2-29 PLAINFIELD (62): Dumas 3-1-7. Willams 300, Hunt 2- (1)07, Owens 5-1-11, Gordon 10-2, Guy 0-1-1, Johnson 0-00, Bouldin 3-(1)0-9, Harris 204, Flores 0-(2)O-6, Lee, 204, Ransdel 1-(1)0-5, Fair OOO. Totals: 22-5-3-62. SOUTH AMBOY (8-13) 8 7 6 9-29 PLAINFIELD 0 10 20 16 18 62 SI Peter 52, Spotswood 44 (OT) ST, PETER (52): Brown 4(1)4-15, Ortuso 24-8, Dunbar 9-3-21.

Dusault 01-1, Hughes OOO, Puertas 3- 1-7. Totals: 18-(1)-13-52. SPOTSWOOD (44): Allen 204, Smyth 0-OHW, Mundorff OOO. Gabriel 30-6, Dickinson 2-(1)4-11, Gross 4-2-10, Cappetla 0-(3)-1-10. Totals: 11-(5)-744.

ST.PETERO 11 12171012 52 SPOTSWOOD (149) 11 15 5 94-44 High school schedules The Home News Tribune is seeking schedules for local high school sports teams for the spring scholastic season. We are still awaiting schedules from the following schools: Carteret, East Brunswick, Franklin, Mother Seton, New Brunswick, North Brunswick, Piscataway, Piscataway Tech, Rahway, Rutgers Prep, Cardinal McCa trick, Sayreville, South Brunswick and South River. Schedules can be mailed to Scholastic Sports Editor T.J. Fur-man at 35 Kennedy East Brunswick, NJ 08816; faxed to (732) 565-7209; or e-mailed to hnsportsthnt.com. pins.

The Barrons were done in by a tricky eighth frame of the third game during which three straight bowlers couldn't convert splits. "There's 30 pins right there," Woodbridge coach Mike Yan-nazzo said. "That made a huge difference." Woodbridge was paced by Amanda Small (637), Nicole Caggiano (600), Marissa Jaquil-lard (553), Ashley DiSilvestro (547) and Stacey Kociolek (535). The day, however, belonged to the Carteret boys, who had Henderson, a senior guard averaging over 22 points per game coming in, never did find his usual stroke, but he still finished with 25 points on 8 of 24 shooting from the floor and 6 of 11 from the line. Henderson also finished with six rebounds, all coming in the second half when Linden extended a five-point lead into a 16-point bulge late in the contest.

George Bease, a 6-3 sophomore, and Charles Miller, a 6-4 junior, turned in spirited games as they limited the Hill-toppers' front line of 6-7 Isiah Lynch and 6-8 Sean Sims to six points and seven rebounds. Bease finished with seven points and six rebounds and held Lynch to three points, 15 below his average. Miller had five points to go along with 11 rebounds. "George Bease's defensive effort was outstanding," said Linden coach Phil Colicchio. "And Michael was Michael.

He didn't have a great shooting night, but he made the shots when they counted. He played his butt off. We also got solid contributions from kids like Nicky Russo, who kept us in the game early with some three-pointers and Derrik Lampley, who had to fill in for Desmond Wade when he had fouls." With starting point guard Wade sitting with fouls in the second quarter, the Tigers were still able to outscore St. Mary's 19-9 by forcing seven turnovers. In the third quarter, the Hill-toppers were limited to one shot most trips down court and with Smith grabbing six rebounds, Linden was able to lead by 11 heading into the final quarter.

When Henderson opened the fourth quarter on a three-point play, St. Mary's could never come back. ST. MARTS (45): M. Mayes 2-4-8, Fegins 3-(3)-6-21, Joseph 1-0-2.

D. Mayes 3-2-8, Lynch 1-1-3, Sims 1-1-3. Totals 11-(3)-14-45. LINDEN (57): Henderson 5-(3)-6-25. Russo 0-(2)-M, Bease 2-3-7, Smith 1-0-2, Miller 2-1-5.

Wade 2-3-7, Bour-gouin 1-02, Lampley 0-(1)-0-3. Totals 13(61-13-57. ST. MARY'S 16 9 9 11 45 LINDEN (22-1) 11 19 15 13-57 By JOHN HALEY STAFF WRITER ELIZABETH While St. Mary's of Elizabeth was making tough shot after tough shot LINDEN ST.

MARY'S 57 45 and Linden's Michael Henderson was off the mark, the second-seeded Tigers found themselves trailing early on in the semifinals of the Union County Boys Basketball Tournament last night at the Dunn Center. But there's two things Linden can also count on its defense and Michael Henderson. Trailing 12-5 early and 16-11 after one quarter, Linden wore down the Hilltoppers (15-5) from there en route to a 57-45 victory. Linden, 22-1, will play top-seeded St. Patrick of Elizabeth in the title game, Saturday at 3 p.m.

at Dunn. aw nf I mm KBestX Buvs tetit By GREG TUFARO STAFF WRITER NORTH BRUNSWICK North Brunswick High School senior Dan Knopf bowled 15 games less than 12 hours be fore the start of yesterday's NJSIAA Individual Tournament. All of that extra practice gave Knopf the confidence he needed to BOYS CHAMPION contend for the state title, but it also caused blisters on his thumb, middle and ring fingers. Knopf over came a torn-up right hand and a bum right knee that had been giving him problems since last summer to advance to the stepladder finals. He did so as the top seed, rolling a 1,341 six-game block of qualifying.

By the time Knopf squared off against second-seeded Mike Serino of West Orange in the championship match, his hand was bleeding and his confidence was somewhat depleted. When Knopf left the first two frames open, his confidence suffered an even bigger blow. Serino spared and struck to take an early lead before fail ing to convert a split in the third frame. At that time, Knopf made a ball change, resulting in a spare, a double and a huge confidence boost. Boys Results TEAM SCORES; 1.

Carteret 2.988; 2. Bordentown 2.959; 3. Dickinson 2.952; 4. Linden 2.939; 5. East Brunswick 2,921, 6.

West Orange 2.917; 7. J.F. Kennedy 2.910: 8 Cherokee 9 Old Bridge 2 891; 10. Bergen Cathoie 11 Toms Hrver North 2,795: 12. Undenwold 2.770; 13 Butler 2 653; 14.

Leonia 2,608: 15. Passaic Tech 16. High Point 17. rjergermetd 2.418. HIGH CAME: 1 Carl Carpenter.

Technology. 26B: 2. Matt Hage, East Brunswick. 265; 3. Oale Lenner.

Old Bridge. 257. FtRST-MHM WNVIMIAl QUALIFYING: 1 Ed Pena- field, Dickinson, 687; 2. Dan Knopf. North Brunswick.

681; 3. Chris Carpenter, Technology, 680; 4. Ryan Der-nckson, Seneca. 678; 5. Mike Triano.

Bloomfield, 666; 6. James O'Hanlon, Keansburg. 657; 7. Ryan Branson. Bordentown, 656: 8.

Kyle Haughwout, Eastern, and Bnan Sesta. J.P Stevens. 655; 10. Mike Serino. West Orange.

654; 11, Drew Bernstein. Gloucester Tech, 652; 12. Dyshon Coley. Carteret, 637; 13. Charlte Hicks.

Woodbridge, 631; 14. Bob Moran, Lindenwold, 630; 15. Jon Crowder, J.F. Kennedy, 629: 16. Jason Tighe, Deprford.

627; 17. Kent Henderson, Linden, 622; 18, Timothy Frye, Hackettston, 616; 19. David Henry, uergen Latnonc, 612. SECOW-ROUM) INDIVIDUAL QUALIFYING: 1 Knopf 1341. 2.

Senno 1338 3. Hanton 1323; 4. Penafiel 1283; 5. Dernckson 1278: 6. Sesta 1272; 7.

Reiltv 1270; 8. Branson 1268; 9. Tighe 1231; 10. Carpenter 1228; urowder 1215: 12. Tnano 1181; 13.

Haughwout 1180; 14 Hicks 1179: 15. Frye 1158; 16 Henderson 1155; 17. Bernstein 1138: 18 Coley 1137. 19. Moran 1136.

STEPU00E1 FINALS: 1. Penafiel d. Dernckson 225-178; Hanlon d. Penafiel 216-156; Serino d. Hsrton 224-171.

Knopf 4 Senno 180-153. It was at that moment that Knopf knew he was well on his way to a state title. He defeated Serino 180-153, becoming the first boys bowler from North Brunswick to win an individual crown or post a high series in the NJSIAA Tournament. "I definitely didn't have a good day today," said Knopf, who was in second place after the first round of qualifying with a 681 series. "I got tired, I cut my thumb to pieces and my whole hand is just torn up.

It's just bad." Knopf, the reigning GMC Champion and incumbent Home News Tribune Bowler of the Year, has some lofty standards. The senior proved he could be mentally tough when he had to be, rebounding from a near disastrous start. "I don't remember the last time I did that, if ever," he said of leaving the first two frames open. "But once I saw him leave the (third-frame) split, I knew I was pretty safe from there on out." Knopf struck in the fourth, fifth, seventh, ninth and 10th frames the last strike sealing Serino's fate. "I came out pretty confident today," Knopf said.

"It was just a matter of was my body going to hold up." Knopf proved that when his body breaks down, his mind can remain strong. Girls Results TEAM SCORES: 1. Brick Township 2, Wood-bridge 2.872; 3, Jackson 4. Brick Memorial 2.648: 5. East Brunswick 6.

Paramus Catholic 7. Bishop Ahr 2.494; 6. Immaculate Heart Academy 9. Carteret 2.435; 10. Toms River East 11.

Shawnee 2.341; 12. County Prep 2.377; 13. Clifton 2.312; 14. Cotonia 15. NuBey 2,059.

HIGH GAME: 1. Amanda Small. Woodbridge. 244: 2. Rachel Pearce.

North Brunswick, 243; 3. Dana Taureck. East Brunswick, 242. RRST-ROUND INWY1DUAL QUALIFYING: 1. Hope Bucci, Bnck Township, 613; 2.

Amanda Small. Wood-bridge, 637; 3 Amanda DeCarlo, Bnck Memorial. 651; 4. Dana Taureck. East Brunswick and Kat Nadzak.

Bishop Ahr, 61 1 6 Nicole Caggiano. Woodbrdge, 600; 7. Ally Gomer, Morris Hills and Rachel Pearce, North Brunswick, 594; 9. Joely Carrillo, Paramus Catholic. 593; 10.

Lauren Roussin, Hammonton, 590; 11, Hotty Vaccaro. Newton, 585; 12, Karen Grygiel, Brick Memorial, 584; 13. Kelly Armstrong. Jackson, 583; 14. Pat Oahlroc, Immaculate Heart Academy, 572; 15, Karl Berkman, Wayne Valley, 570; 16 Tracey Ganjoin, Brck Township, 569; 17, Nicole Fackenthal, Toms River South, 568; 18.

Kristen Graham, Hawthorne, 565. SECOND-ROUND INDIVIDUAL QUALIFYING: 1 Small 1288; 2. Ganioin 1282; 3. Nadzak 1197; 4. Caggiano 1192: 5.

Taureck 1180; 6. Dahiroc 1166; 7. DeCarlo 1152; 9. Bucci 1148; 9. Graham 1133.

10. Gomer 1132; 11. CarnHo 1129; 12. Fackenthal 1123; 13. Vaccaro 1118; 14 Armstrong 1093; 15.

Grygiel 1092: 16. Pearce 1085. 17. Berkman 1078; 18. Roussin 1069.

STEPLADDER FINALS: Taureck d. Caggiano 169-157; Nadzak d. Taureck 162-160; Nadzak d. Bucci 168-150; Small d. Nadazak 192-190.

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