Both coaches happy with South Brunswick in county tournament

By: James McKeever
   The South Brunswick High bowling teams were eliminated from the GMC Team Tournament, yet each head coach walked away with a pretty good feeling about their team’s performance.
   The Vikings girls had the best time of it. Seeded 11th, they upset sixth-seeded Colonia 2-1 in the best-of-three match last Thursday. That sent the Vikings into the quarterfinals, where their season ended with a 2-0 loss to third-seeded Edison on Monday.
   "I’m really proud of them," said girls coach Tara Burniston, whose team finished the season with an 11-14-3 record. "It was nice to make it that far."
   The boys team, seeded 14th, ran into third-seeded St. Joseph’s in the first round and lost 2-1. The Vikings almost knocked down 3,000 pins in their bid for an upset, but St. Joseph’s turned in some outstanding bowling to advance.
   "You’re always disappointed in the result when you lose, but our kids did a good job," said boys coach Chris Hayston. His team had an 11-13-4 record and still has the NJSIAA Tournament to look forward to.
   South Brunswick’s girls team rolled its highest game of the season – 947 – to defeat Colonia by 124 pins in the first game of their GMCT match. Colonia responded with a 922-808 victory in game two, but South Brunswick completed the surprising win with an 869-833 showing in the decisive game.
   "It was an exciting match. Our kids were all very intense and the victory was the culmination of all that we’ve been working on this season," Burniston said. "I’m very happy to bowl as well as we did. We thought it was very important to win the first game."
   Christine Kelly finished the three games with a 541 on the strength of 201 and 203 games. Meghan Nagle recorded a 538, Yasmin Ulloa (210 game) had a 531 and Mary Lynn Olsen a 514.
   Against Edison in the quarterfinals the Vikings lost 881-834 and 922-880. Olsen’s 366 two-game set was the team high. Allison Nagle (202) scored a 351.
   "After losing the first game we thought it would be very tough to come back in the second game," said Burniston. "Then we stayed with them until the final two frames when we left too many open and that was the difference."
   Last Saturday the Vikings competed in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Sectional. Bowling in a talented 32-team field, the Vikings placed ninth with a 2396 series. The top five teams and top 15 individuals moved on to the state finals. No Vikings bowler advanced.
   South Brunswick came out strong with a 901 game, which left them tied for fifth place. But their second game produced just a 654, followed by an 841. Woodbridge won the sectional title and four other GMC teams advanced (Carteret, East Brunswick, Colonia and Bishop Ahr).
   The boys sectionals will be held Friday at Brunswick Zone Carolier Lanes in North Brunswick. Based on season performances, Rob Kohutanycz and Matt Forthun are the Vikings’ best hopes to advance. Adam Kinder and Billy Orchard are also capable of putting together a good series.
   In the GMCT loss to St. Joseph’s, Kohutanycz posted 259, 227 and 205 games in a 691 set. Forthun rolled a 614 (214, 213) while Kinder stroked a 561 (202, 218).
   The Vikings won the first game 1016-948. St. Joseph’s took game two 1046-1001 and clinched the victory with an 1107-928 advantage in the third game.
   "We bowled some of our best games of the season," Hayston said. "In the last two games they just out-bowled us. In most cases the scores we put up would be good enough to win. We just ran into a team that bowled really well. In their 1107 series they dropped a 195 score."