Grant's Brugioni, Antioch roll to state berths
Grant's Brie Brugioni let her mental approach take over - and the results were outstanding.
Her mindset helped Brugioni capture the individual championship by 8 pins over Antioch's Alyssa Alvarez - 1,407 to 1,399 - at the Zion-Benton girls bowling sectional Saturday at Sunset Lanes in Waukegan.
Also advancing was last year's IHSA state champion Nicole Sanhamel of Vernon Hills.
At stake were berths in the state tournament at Cherry Bowl in Rockford on Friday and Saturday.
Antioch captured its second straight sectional championship, knocking down 6,135 pins. Warren took second place and earned a state team berth with 5,791 that included a perfect game from sophomore Casey Brown, who finished fourth.
Last week, Brugioni fell just short of winning the North Suburban Conference individual title. On Saturday, Brugioni finished her sixth and final game with a 237. She had rollled games of 245 and 243 in her afternoon series of 725.
"I knew the 10th frame was big," said Brugioni, who was down 40 pins to Alvarez entering the final game. "I didn't know I needed to strike. I knew I needed pins. Nobody actually told me. I just had to go big and finish strong.
"Because of what happened last week, I had to act differently for the last game and prepare myself differently. I had to calm myself down and finish my shots."
Brugioni, who rolled every game over 200 and posted a 682 series for the first three games, set a career high for a six-game series.
Before her final game, Sanhamel didn't believe there was a chance of qualifying. But she stayed consistent, throwing a 214, which followed games of 219 and 192 for a six-game pinfall of 1,270.
"I never thought I'd make it," Sanhamel said. "Not only is it mentally, but it's physically exhausting. I didn't think I'd make it with those scores. I'm glad to make it."
Antioch shot games of 956, 1,075 and 1,069 for a 3,101 in its first three-game block. The Sequoits followed that with games of 1,063, 998 and 973.
"We came in with the same kind of attitude," said Antioch coach Jeff Childress, whose team won the NSC title last week. "We just need to bowl against ourselves. We were able to bowl well out of the gate and kept on fire. We're just a team that keeps coming and other teams have to stay with us. I just think we're peaking at the right time."
Other Antioch contributors included Kaitlyn Trusky (1,374), Samantha Rolph (1,148), Kelsey Schreiber (867, five games), Katlyn Bain (788, four games), Rachel Gerbauer (350, two games) and Stevie Lindberg (209, one game).
Warren got a huge early morning start when Brown fired her 300 game, the first in a Lake County sectional. Vernon Hills' Alyssa Dogherty had fired a 299 two years ago.
It was the first perfect game of Brown's life.
"All I wanted to do was to keep striking," Brown said. "The last ball, I was shaking like crazy. It went Brooklyn and I thought I was going to cry."
Brown followed with games of 204 and 183 for a 687 series. She then tossed a 647 over the last three for a 1,334.
Other Warren scorers included Maria Strauss (1,309), Megan Kile (1,144), Sarah Griffis (1,013) and Kelly Morse (991).
Warren shot 1,033 in its opening game and added 965 and 1,035 for 3,033. Over their last three games, the Blue Devils shot 938, 923 and 897.
"If I would've thought we'd qualify for state (after the NSC meet), I wouldn't have believed it," said Warren coach Rick Novak. "We've been down all year. The girls just picked it up and pulled it all together. It has nothing to do with my coaching. They wanted it and they got it."
Grayslake North's Darby Shaw (1,233) will have to wait for a possible at large berth.