Colonia Standout Opens Season Averaging Over 20 Points Per Game While Vikings Go Into Holidays With Huge Road Win Over P-Way
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–With the departures of the backcourt trio of Dave Cole, Matt Wagner, and C.J. Gray at Colonia, more was expected of Jordan McDaniel, and he hasn’t shied away from the added responsibility. Instead, he has flourished. After opening the season with a 25 point performance in a 63-51 loss to St. Joseph’s, McDaniel added another 22 in a 50-35 win at Perth Amboy, and a 19 point effort in a 53-48 win over Old Bridge at home. Averaging 23 points per game over the first full week of the season, McDaniel earned GMC Hoops Player of the Week Honors.
In the victory over Amboy, McDaniel opened the game with the first eight points, and then took over for a stretch of 3:17 from the end of the third to the beginning of the fourth with 12 straight points to give the Pats a commanding 43-23 lead. McDaniel wound up with 9 field goals including three treys while adding a free throw. Through the first four weeks of this season, McDaniel has scored 20 points or more six times including a season high of 28 against Monsignor Farrell in the opening round of the Monsignor Kelly Tournament at Immaculata High School. He also grabbed 7 rebounds in that same game.
To date, McDaniel is averaging 19.4 points per game with 75 field goals including 14 threes. He has also made 30 foul shots. He along with Greg Jones, Trent Barneys, and Bleroit Thompson have led a Colonia team that is battling to stay in the thick of things in the tough GMC Red Division. Entering Thursday night’s game against Piscataway, the Patriots are 4-6 on the season. Congratulations, Jordan on a job well done, and best of luck the rest of the way this season.
South Brunswick was one of only a few teams to slow McDaniel down this year, but the Vikings have demonstrated the ability to score a lot of points themselves on occasion. For example, SBHS was able to use a solid combination of fine interior play and perimeter scoring to jump out to a 3-0 start this year including an upset of Piscataway on the road. Behind 21 points from junior forward, Chris Bourne, the Vikes were able to were able to upend the defending GMC Red co-champs and 2011 GMCT runner-up with a 66-62 victory. Bourne also had a 16 point effort in a 61-60 win over J.P. Stevens at home a couple nights earlier.
Through their first three games, the Vikings averaged just under 67 points per contest. Senior guard, Mike Green averaged 11 points per game over this first week of the season while senior forward Nick Muha averaged 14.3 points per contest. Junior Sean Keenan contributed with just under 13 points per game while Bourne averaged exactly 14 per contest. In the win over Piscataway, South Brunswick outscored the Chiefs by a margin of 18-9 from three point range, and 10-5 from the foul line to overcome a 24-19 P-Way advantage in two point field goals. The Vikes outscored 35-25 over the middle two periods to help secure the victory.
Since then, South Brunswick has suffered two defeats, and both came to top five ranked teams in the GMC Hoops Top Ten including second ranked North Brunswick in the Championship Game of the 2011 Brunswick Classic, and a double overtime thriller to East Brunswick at home on January 4th. Despite the recent losses, SBHS has made it clear not to leave them out of the running for the Red Division title this year.