Holy Angels had a good day at the state girls bowling tournament. The Angels placed second in Group 2, finishing with a three-game total of 2,441. That left them more than 300 pins behind Group champion Manchester Township, but the margin didn’t really matter.
No North Jersey school has ever won the girls state tournament, which started in 1974. It has become a yearly chore for Sectional winners to come down to Carolier Lanes and get dominated by teams from the Central and South. Since they started crowning Group champions in 2007, only Mother Seton (Group 1) has won a Group title.
So while Holy Angels may have been a distant second, it was important for them to represent the North. They definitely did that.
The Angels shot games of 788, 797 and finished with a strong 856 to overtake Manasquan and move into second. Kelley Grippo led the way for Holy Angels with a 523 series. Morgan Buckey was one pin behind Grippo at 522.
“I’m very happy. I’m very proud of the team. We worked really hard this year,” Buckey said. “It’s pretty awesome for my senior year. I’m glad I’ve been doing it for four years. These girls are family.”
“We accomplished our goal for today, which I’m happy about,” said Grippo, who will be back on Wednesday for the state individual tournament. “We bowled well, but we didn’t bowl outstanding.”
Ridgewood had dthe highest score of any North Jersey team, but it was good for only fourth place in Group 4. The Maroons finished with a 2,482 in three games. Kelly Skettini paced Ridgewood with a 543 series. Jen Schablik shot a 536 with a 202 high game. Brick Memorial won the Group title with the high score of the day, a 3,127.
The Maroons left the building thinking they had finished third, but a scoring error was found, moving them down to fourth.
“Each game, we got better,” Ridgewood coach Dick Bennett said. “If we stay until 10 o’clock, I don’t think anyone would beat us.”
As for the other North Jersey teams at the tournament, IHA finished sixth in Group 4 with a 2,410. In Group 3, Northern Highlands was fifth witrh a 2,173 and Hackensack was sixth with a 2,151. Dumont placed sixth in Group 1 with a series of 1,878.