Here are three thoughts after Week 8 of action. Don’t forget to report scores to njschoolsports.com in a timely manner.
1) Fort Lee wins the BCT title: Entering Saturday’s Bergen County Tournament, there had been 13 teams that won it all on the girls side. Fort Lee made it 14 after it won the stepladder Baker final over Indian Hills in three games, 197-170, 205-146, and 181-170. Fort Lee was the No. 4 seed after the qualifying round, yet it took down top-seeded Bergen Tech, 147-138, 151-145, the reigning champs. Fort Lee’s Michelle Kim is North Jersey’s second leading bowler with an average of 190.9, No teammate is in the top 30, yet the Bridgemen were able to get the upset victory at Bowler City. Kim threw a strike on the first ball in the 10th frame of Game 3 in the final to seal the deal of the championship. Kim carded the top series at last winter’s North Jersey, Section 1 tournament to advance to the state individual tournament. Fort Lee is 12 on the year.
2) Bright spot in Middlesex County: The Middlesex girls bowling team is just 2-13-1 on the season. However, Nicole Dunbar has been one of the best bowlers in the GMC. Dunbar won GMC Individual Tournament this past week despite having the fifth-best series average in the county for the season in dual matches. Dunbar became the school’s first individual champion as she survived the two-day gauntlet, winning 215-175 over Colonia’s Reyna Martinez in the final. Dunbar threw a 195 in the semifinals. She had the second-highest score in the Round of 8 with a 451 over two games. Dunbar beat out the likes of Sayreville’s Jamaya Mayers, Old Bridge’s Savannah Gomez, and St. Thomas Aquinas’ Alexandra Sardis and Victoria Aldridge.
3) Kingsway hitting its stride?: In the preseason, Kingsway was looked at as a team that could be vastly improved and make some serious down in South Jersey. But the Dragons lost its first match against Hammonton without a game, and then it tied Gloucester Tech, a team that graduated a couple stellar pieces a year ago. Kingsway then tied with Washington Township. A few weeks later, it tied with a good Washington Township team. Gloucester Tech is 6-1-2, Hammonton is 6-4, Washington is 6-3-1 (it was 5-0 and 6-0-1), and Kingsway is up to 5-1-3. Kingsway hasn’t straight up lost since that opener and has won three in a row and four of five with its latest wins coming against Washington, Hammonton, and Overbrook, which is 6-4-2. The Royal Division of the Tri-County Conference is shaping up to be a great finish. Tech is 3-2-1, Kingsway is 2-1-3, Washington is 2-3-1, and Hammonton is 2-4.
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Contact Chris Nalwasky at cnalwasky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisNalwasky.
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