By: Sean Moylan
It came as no surprise that Bordentown’s Kim Limani qualified for the NJSIAA state bowling championships with her performance in Saturday’s NJSIAA South Jersey sectionals at Cherry Hill’s Playdrome. She has been a consistent and dominant bowler for the past two years. The surprise was that Limani had to compile a career-best 688 series (216,255,217) just to finish in second. Brick Memorial’s Amanda DeCarlo rolled an amazing 696 series. Limani and DeCarlo’s scores were the best in all of New Jersey and both should do well at the NJSIAA state championships at the Brunswick Zone Carolier Lanes in North Brunswick on February 20th.
"I’ve seen her (Limani) roll a 671 series, so 688 is not that far away from it," said Ron Jones, the head coach of the Bordentown Regional High School varsity bowling teams. "She rolled a 216 in her first game and her second game (255, which was the third highest game of the day) she started out with five straight strikes. She knocked nine pins in the sixth picked up the spare and then had three more strikes in a row. She only had one open frame in three games and that was in the second frame of the third game."
Melissa Jones also bowled very well for Bordentown on Saturday and posted a 477 series. But when girls are bowling over 600 it’s hard to compete.
On Monday, the Bordentown’s girls bowling team defeated Delran 3-1 in a very competitive match. "Kim (Limani) was really up to bowl against the girls from Delran (especially Stacy Parsons). Delran is no longer undefeated," said Jones.
While Parsons won the individual battle for the County’s best scoring average (she rolled a 628 series to keep her per game average above 186), Limani, who has an average of over 183 (second best in the county), rolled a 547 series (211,181,155), but enjoyed much more support from her teammates. Cathy Jones rolled a fantastic 528 series (166,174,188) while M. Jones rolled a 500 series (160,187,153) for the victors. Colleen McGonigal also contributed to the win with a 146 high game. The Scotties took the total pin count 2,348 to 2,282.
Meanwhile the Bordentown boys tied Delran 2-2.
Bordentown’s Ryan Branson, who could join Limani in the state championships with a good performance at this Saturday’s sectionals at the Maple Bowl, rolled a 660 series (198,213,249).
"It’s amazing how the pins go down," said Jones.
Meanwhile, Greg Rosen rolled a 534 series with a 225 high game and Rusty Miller rolled a 529 series with a 213 high game to support Branson’s great effort. Kyle McGonigal (a 514 series with a 191 high game) and Steve Choromanski (a 467 series with a 169 high game) also bowled for the Scotties.
Bordentown’s boys’ team is 10-0-2 in the Freedom and 15-0-2 in the county. Bordentown has lost a pair of exhibition matches to Ewing, however. Meanwhile the Bordentown girls’ team is 8-4 in the Freedom and 12-5 in Burlington County. Bordentown’s boys would like to qualify for the state tournament as a team. But it’s going to take a big effort on Saturday to do so. Bordentown was scheduled to play Northern Burlington yesterday (Wednesday) at Thunderbird Lanes.
NBC
The Northern Burlington County Regional High School boys’ varsity bowling team enjoyed one of its best wins of the season on Monday when it defeated Rancocas Valley 3-1.
While none of the Greyhounds were on fire they were very consistent as a team with Bill Moore, who rolled a 564 (181,182,201), Adam Wainwright, who rolled a 545 series (161,233,151) and Rich Mellor, who rolled a 538 series (212,178,168) all leading the way to victory with solid scores. Zach Gandy bowled a pair of games, which added up to a 357 score while Frank Capra posted a solid 478 score (166,151,161) for the winning side. NBC knocked down 2,640 total pins.
"We lost the third game," added NBC head coach Bruce Wandling, who seemed pleased with his club’s effort.
Meanwhile the NBC girls crushed Rancocas Valley 4-0.
Lindsey Webster was the big star for the Greyhounds with a 501 series (205,154,142), but Shannon Wilkins was pretty close behind with a 494 series (142,172,180) of her own. Samantha Todd (a 455 series with a 177 high game), Kylie Croshaw (a 449 series with a 162 high game) and April Savoy (a 401 series with a 160 high game) all bowled well too. While the Greyhounds didn’t have any girls advance out of this past Saturday’s NJSIAA South Jersey sectionals at the Playdrome, Wilkins did post a stellar 511 series with a high game of 181 at the event.
Last Friday NBC competed in a Scotch Doubles tournament in Cherry Hill. And while Moore and Wilkins combined to roll over 200 in their first two games, the Greyhounds did not finish amongst the leaders at the event.
Last Wednesday (February 1), both NBC squads tied their opponents from Burlington Township 2-2.
"In the third game (Brandon) Mauer, Capra and Moore all bowled over 200’s," said Wandling.
On the girls’ side, NBC’s Todd had a fine 182 score in her final game.
NBC’s boys (5-5-3) will compete in the NJSIAA South Jersey sectionals on Saturday at the Maple Bowl. NBC was scheduled to have played Bordentown yesterday (Wednesday). It is scheduled to compete against Holy Cross on Tuesday. NBC girls bowling team is 9-3-1.
