N.B. bowling teams knocking down the competition
Boys and girls have a combined record of 26-7
BY GEORGE ALBANO Staff Writer
They've been throwing a lot of strikes and picking up quite a few spares at North Brunswick High School (NBHS) this winter.

The Raiders' bowling teams are each having successful seasons with the boys team 16-2 and the girls 10-5 heading into their final regular-season match Wednesday against JFK.

In fact, theNBHS boys teamcaptured its first-ever Greater Middlesex Conference White Division championship this season andwill be seeded second and looking for the program's first league championship when the GMC Tournament begins onMonday.

"They're basically a bunch of guys who have been together for three years now and started to click this season," said head coach Paul LaMagra, now in his eighth season, said. "Both the boys and girls are having pretty good seasons."

The girls team will be seeded seventh out of 16 teams at next week's conference tournament. The Lady Raiders also have this year's GMC individual champion in senior bowler Rachel Pearce.

"She finished first out of about 200 girls in the county at the individual tournament. So that was a pretty big deal for us," LaMagra pointed out. "Rachel has been the team leader all four years of her career, and she has been one of, if not the best, girls bowler since the team began."

Jen Russo, a former North Brunswick High student, won the state individual championship in three of her four years.

"But the school didn't have a team then," LaMagra noted.

Since the girls team began, North Brunswick has had one state individual champion, Jessica DiFranco, who garnered top honors last year. Pearce hopes to add this year's state crown to her résumé and keep the title on Raider Road.

Pearce, who averages 197, is the only senior in the lineup, while the next three highest averages all belong to freshmen: Kristin Ruffe (168), Amanda Mastropolo (160) and Amanda Pearce (145). Sophomore Fran Russo and Amanda Mc- Cormick, another freshman, round out the Raiders' starting six.

"The team will really miss Rachel next year," LaMagra said, "but the rest of the team is young and improving. They will be in great shape for next year."

Maybe even this year.

"They're doing the best a girls team has done since I've been coaching," LaMagra, whose team will begin sectional play on Saturday, added. "I don't think anybody expects us to advance much beyond the first or second round at the GMC tournament, but the girls are looking to make some noise and surprise a few teams."

The only surprise for the North Brunswick boys team would be if they don't advance far into the tournament, perhaps even all the way to the finals. If the Raiders get there, Red Division champion and No. 1 seed Woodbridge could be waiting for them.

One of North Brunswick's two losses this season came against Woodbridge, which won 3-1.

"But it was a very close match," LaMagra said. "The total pin count was close."

The Raiders actually won the first game, but Woodbridge won the next two and had the edge in total pins 3,350 to 3,291.

"Woodbridge is a really good team. They have a lot of really good bowlers and have been ranked in the top five in the state all season," LaMagra, whose team has been ranked in the top 10, said. "Just to know we were competitive with them should help us. Who knows, if we met them again in the county tournament, maybe we'll get the best of them."

The Raiders certainly have the talent to do so with three bowlers averaging 200 or better and two more in the 190s. Senior Josh Brooks leads the team with an impressive 223 average, while fellow senior Chris Kolias is next at 203 and junior Matt Stasik averages an even 200.

Meanwhile,Matt Ruffe, another junior, checks in at 197, while seniors Jerome Walker (193) and Geoff Roche (187) round out a very solid starting lineup.

"Josh, Chris and Geoff have been fouryear starters," Lamagra said. "The two Matts have been three-year starters and Jerome has been a two-year starter.Amajority of the team has been together for three years and they are having their best year as a team."

Four more bowlers who have contributed to the team's success this season are seniors Dom Quagliata (175), Ray Walz (170) and Chris Moreschi (167), and freshman Mike Jacovsky (170).

The highlight of the season came in a win against St. Joe's when Walker did what every bowler dreams of:A300 game.

"It's always something special when that happens," LaMagra said. "Everybody stops and the place gets real quiet. It also builds up the pressure on the bowler. By the time you get to the end, pretty much everyone has stopped to watch."

The pressure certainly didn't seem to bother Walker as he threw strike after strike to record the first 300 game by a North Brunswick bowler since Aaron Antenello did it in 2002.

That was also the season the Raiders won their only Central Jersey sectional championship. With another 300 game in the books, LaMagra and his team hope it's an omen to win another when they take part in the Group III sectional tournament beginning a week from Saturday.

"With all the seniors graduating this year, the [White] division championship is a very good accomplishment," LaMagra said. "But they want more."