East Islip girls make statement for '12

Syracuse - Nope, there was no coronation for the East Islip girls Saturday, bronze medals instead, as this season's run of dominance ended in the state bowling tournament. The silver lining, though: "Wait 'til next year" for the Redmen should be viewed as a serious threat rather than as a pacifier phrase.

Defending champion South Colonie totaled 5,576 pins and never trailed in winning again. Union-Endicott forced its way into the conversation of elites with a 5,350 total. What the Redmen did - scattering 5,282 pins and pulling themselves from fifth place into third late - was send a message. There's a good chance they'll be back and just as good a chance they'll be better.

South Colonie will graduate four seniors, including its best two bowlers. Union-Endicott loses five of its top six. East Islip, with only one senior and 11 underclassmen, has time on its side.

"I'm really excited for next year," sophomore Kelsey Fryer said. "As much as we'll miss [senior Tara Ernst], I'm confident we'll still be a great team."

Ernst was second on the team with a 204.3 league average and led the Redmen Saturday with a 1,147 series. But maybe more encouraging, looking ahead, was Fryer's 1,079, Nancy Baione's 1,013 and Alexa DeFazio's 217 in Game 6. Sophomore Lena Sorrentino, who was second in the county with a 210 average, totaled 995.

This wasn't a typical East Islip performance - not from the team that steamrolled the season and set a Suffolk record with its 6,428 pinfall in counties. They got off to a slow start and were in fifth place after three games. None of the girls besides Ernst, a 2008 state champ, had competed in this tournament before and they admitted nerves were a factor.

"After the fifth game," Ernst said, "I told them we have nothing to lose. And we still had a chance at a medal."

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With some pressure allayed, they rolled a 973 in Game 6 - 116 pins ahead of any team - and grabbed third.

"It showed they're not quitters," coach Harold Cooley said. It also showed what they're capable of.

"We learned we have to be more calm and focused," Fryer said. "Don't freak out, just bowl . . . That'll benefit us next year."

Next year, when their feet will be wet rather than the team being wet behind the ears.

Division takes fifth

No medal, but mettle. It was their maturity and improved mental toughness, Division attested, that allowed them to earn their first top five finish in the state tournament.

Led by Erica Schneider's tournament-best 1,216 series, the Blue Dragons dropped 5,120 pins and saw improvement over last year's ninth-place finish.

"I've never been more proud of them," an emotional coach Joanne Byrne said. Her team, which was won four of the last five Nassau titles and three in a row, will graduate all but two members.

"The difference between this year and last - all the previous years, actually - is we've gotten better at making adjustments on the lanes," said Michelle Fitzpatrick, one of the girls who presented Byrne a customized sweater with a group photo and "Thanks, Mama B" emblazoned. "We were closer, more supportive. We grew as a team."