Here are highlights from the action in 2nd seeded Colts Neck’s victory over 3rd seeded South Brunswick in the Central Jersey Group 4 Semifinals. For the second straight year, Colts Neck advanced to the semifinals, and hosted South Brunswick.
In a very tightly played first half, South Brunswick broke away from a 9-9 first quarter tie with threes by Mike Ugarte and Eric Savage to take a 15-10 lead, but Colts Neck rallied with a 9-2 spurt over a span of 4:47 to take a 19-17 lead with just under two minutes to go in the second period. South Brunswick wrestled the lead back with 5 of the next 8 points including a transition layup by Sean Nally for a 24-20 lead before Lloyd Daniels Jr., the son of former UNLV and NBA standout, Lloyd Daniels, connected on a three late in the first half for a 24-23 SBHS lead at the intermission.
Then, in the third quarter, Colts Neck took control of the game for good by scoring 11 of the first 15 points before Savage converted a traditional three point play to close the gap to 34-31 with 2:47 remaining in the third. The Cougars scored 5 of the last 7 points of the period for a 39-33 lead, and then scored 7 of the first 9 points of the fourth for a 46-35 advantage with 5:18 to go in the contest. South Brunswick was unable to recover as Colts Neck continued to pull away for a 67-47 victory, and a date with Shore Conference rival, Freehold Township in a rematch of last year’s CJ Group 4 semifinal, for the title on Monday night at 6:30 in Colts Neck.
Three different players scorers in double figures for the Cougars including Daniels, who finished with a game high 23 points while Kyle Gordon added 17 points and Brendan Clarke chipped in with 14. Meanwhile, the Vikings were led by Eric Savage, who scored 22 points to finish his career with 953. Mike Ugarte chipped in with 11 in a losing cause. South Brunswick outscored Colts Neck by a 21-12 margin from beyond the arc, but Colts Neck had a 23-6 advantage from the foul line, and a 32-20 margin from within the arc.
The Cougars improved to 22-4 on the season while South Brunswick concluded its year at 22-5. The 2015-16 season was the best season the Vikings had since winning CJ Group 4 and reaching the state championship in 2007.