South Brunswick girls ready to take a break

By: James McKeever
   With several new faces joining the lineup, South Brunswick girls bowling coach Tara Burniston knew that her team would experience some ups and downs this season. So far that has been the case.
   This week, a victory over Old Bridge on Monday was followed by a loss to East Brunswick on Tuesday, giving the Vikings a 3-3 record going into their match today (Thursday) against South Amboy. After that, South Brunswick will take a break from competition for the holidays and won’t bowl again until Jan. 2.
   Burniston said her team, which includes three freshmen and a sophomore, could probably use a break.
   "Right now I think we’re tired, so we could use the time off to refocus and re-energize," Burniston said. "They’re mentally fatigued and haven’t shown enough energy. The overall inexperience of the team has shown. We just need to find a little more consistency. But it’s a great bunch of girls. They like to learn and they are always looking for ways to improve."
   The Vikings rolled games of 807, 850 and 727 – the bottom two scores below their average – but had enough to score a 3-1 victory over Old Bridge. The Vikings won the opening game by two pins, took game two and won overall pins. Freshman Kayleigh Kimberlin scored a team-high 547 series. Junior Allison Nagle scored a 505 and freshman Jackie Sutton had a 498.
   East Brunswick improved to 7-1 with a 4-0 sweep of the Vikings on Tuesday. South Brunswick rolled 842-802-781 for a 2,425 – 41 pins better than Monday. Suzanne Bleacher, the senior captain, scored the highest for South Brunswick with a 521 set. Nagle produced a 498 and Sutton a 491.
   "I really like the potential of this team," Burniston said. "Hopefully we can get a win (today vs. South Amboy) and take a good feeling into the break. We need to focus on the team and not individuals … keep moving forward and focus on the positives, not get bogged down by the negatives."
   The South Brunswick boys team also split its matches early this week. The Vikings, 2-4-1 heading into the South Amboy match today, lost to Old Bridge on Monday, 4-0, but defeated East Brunswick, 3-1, on Tuesday. (Old Bridge is 6-1 this season after losing to 8-0 Woodbridge in a battle of unbeatens on Tuesday).
   "Monday was a letdown. We bowled very well the first game (1,036) but still lost by quite a bit, then we bowled poorly in the second and third games," Vikings coach Brian Burniston said.
   Chris DeSouza fired off a 605 series in the loss, with a 224 high game. Matt Forthun added games of 214 and 228 in a 601. Franco Valentino produced 225 and 204 games in a 578 set.
   The Vikings bounced back on Tuesday with a 3,069 series, carrying games of 1,075, 1,006 and 988. Three bowlers broke 600, led by DeSouza’s 686 (234, 258). Forthun scored a 657 on the strength of a pair of 236 games. Matt Sichel checked in with a 630 (259 high). Valentino fired a 229 game and a 563 set.
   "That was a big win," Burniston said. "We were a team again. East Brunswick is a good team. It was good to see us come back strong after Monday’s and beat them."
   After the holiday break, both South Brunswick teams will bowl against Piscataway on Jan. 2 and J.P. Stevens on Jan. 3. The boys will face St. Joseph’s on Jan. 4.