vs.
On Sunday morning, the 2022 Greater Middlesex Conference Boys Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals will kick off with its first game between 3rd seeded Colonia and 6th seeded Edison. This will be the third meeting between these two schools this year, and the previous two were decided by single digits. Let’s take a closer look at the two teams.
No. 3 Colonia Patriots (19-3)–Coaching Staff
Jose Rodriguez | Colonia Head Coach |
Edwin Santana | Colonia Varsity Assistant/JV Head Coach |
Brian O’Lone | Colonia Freshmen Coach |
Danny Brix | Colonia Varsity Assistant |
Eric Lemberakis | Colonia JV and Varsity Assistant |
No. 3 Colonia Patriots (19-3)–Team Roster
Player Name | Jersey No. | Position | Height/Weight | Year | High School | College | Hometown |
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Saivon Pressley | 2 | Guard | 5'11/165 | Senior | |||
Demond Nelson | 3 | Guard/Forward | 6'0/180 | Senior | |||
Jaeden Jones | 4 | Guard | 5'11/165 | Sophomore | |||
Anthony Gooden | 5 | Guard | 6'1/170 | Junior | |||
Jeffrey White | 10 | Guard | 5'8/145 | Sophomore | |||
Tymihr Van Kline | 12 | Guard | 6'0/170 | Senior | |||
Matt Scherb | 13 | Guard | 5'10/165 | Senior | |||
Noah Taylor | 15 | Forward | 6'5/190 | Junior | |||
Meet Desai | 20 | Forward | 6'2/175 | Senior | |||
Billy Anderson | 21 | Forward | 6'7/200 | Senior | |||
Charles Hommel | 23 | Guard | 6'2/170 | Sophomore | |||
Justin Gordon | 24 | Guard/Forward | 6'1/170 | Senior | |||
Dylan Conklin | 30 | Forward | 6'3/175 | Junior | |||
Michael Howell | 32 | Forward | 6'5/190 | Senior | |||
Matthew McSorley | 35 | Guard/Forward | 6'2/170 | Sophomore |
No. 3 Colonia Patriots (19-3)–Season Schedule
No. 6 Edison Eagles (16-6)–Coaching Staff
Charlie Mohr | Edison Head Coach |
Mike Meagher | Edison Varsity Assistant |
Eric Breining | Edison Varsity Assistant/JV Coach |
Tyler Jackow | Edison Freshmen Coach |
No. 6 Edison Eagles (16-6)–Team Roster
Player Name | Jersey No. | Position | Height/Weight | Year | High School | College | Hometown |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brian Hobson | 0 | Guard | 5'11/170 | Senior | |||
Niko Barnes | 1 | Guard | 6'3/180 | Senior | |||
Elisha White | 3 | Forward | 6'4/190 | Senior | |||
Joseph Greer | 4 | Center | 6'5/200 | Senior | |||
Joseph Montesano | 5 | Guard | 5'10"/170 | Senior | |||
Matt Yascko | 10 | Guard | 5'10"/183 | Junior | |||
Justyn Britton | 11 | Guard | 5'10/160 | Senior | |||
Jonathan Baio | 12 | Guard | 5'10/165 | Junior | |||
Selbin Sabio | 21 | Guard | 5'9"/172 | Junior | |||
Michael Strachan | 24 | Forward | 6'2"/188 | Junior | |||
Ermin Kapo | 30 | Forward | 6'2"/175 | Junior |
No. 6 Edison Eagles (16-6)–Season Schedule
No. 3 Colonia Patriots (19-3) vs. No. 6 Edison Eagles (16-6)–Head to Head Meetings
Matchup | Time/Score | Location | |
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GMC White 47-54 |
Carteret HS Gym (Carteret, NJ) |
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GMC White 57-59 |
Frank Cangelosi Gym @ Edison HS (Edison, NJ) |
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GMC White 68-36 |
St. Thomas Aquinas HS Gym (Edison, NJ) |
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GMC White PPD |
Sayreville HS Gym (Parlin, NJ) |
Matchup | Time/Score | Location | |
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GMC White PPD |
J.F. Kennedy HS Gym (Iselin, NJ) |
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GMC White 26-67 |
North Brunswick HS Gym (North Brunswick, NJ) |
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GMC White 56-48 |
Colonia HS Gym (Colonia, NJ) |
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GMC White 72-81 4OT |
Woodbridge HS Gym (Woodbridge, NJ) |
No. 3 Colonia Patriots (19-3) vs. No. 6 Edison Eagles (16-6)–Recent History
Since the 2013-14 season, Colonia and Edison have played each other a total of 17 times with the Patriots winning 13 of the contests. In those games, Colonia has averaged 55.5 points per game while Edison has averaged 42.1 points per game. The last time Edison defeated Colonia was on January 25, 2020 at Cangelosi Gym (60-50). All of the Eagles recent wins have been at the friendly confines of the FNC.
Key Players
Colonia
- Saivon Pressley: 5’10” Sr. G with 1,295 career points, and averaging 19.0 ppg this season.
- Billy Anderson: 6’7″ Sr. F with 313 career points, and averaging 13.2 ppg this season.
Edison
- Niko Barnes: 6’3″ Sr. G with 891 career points, and averaging 21.1 ppg this season
- Elisha White: 6’5″ Sr. F with 413 career points, and averaging 16.7 ppg this season
COLONIA vs. EDISON DID YOU KNOW?
Colonia HS principal Ken Pace coached at both schools. After winning the GMCT in 1990, and an GMCT Elite Eight appearance in 1991 at J.F. Kennedy, Pace moved on to coach at EHS in the 1992-93 season. The year before Edison qualified for the 1992 GMCT as the 16th seed with a record of 8-12, and battled top seeded and eventual champion, Bishop Ahr before bowing out, 53-47 at Middlesex County College.
Unfortunately, the Eagles were only 4-15 in 1992-93. Pace then moved on to Colonia in 1993-94, where he took a Patriots team led by Gene Derkack and Chris Chiera that had lost its first 12 games of the 1992-93 season, and then won 7 of their last 8 under Jack Krieger, and guided them to back to back GMCT Final Fours in 1994 and 1995, and a Central Jersey Group 3 Championship in 1994.
Prediction:
You know the old saying that it is always tough to beat a team three times in a season. Just ask 2012-13 East Brunswick, which swept the season series with arch rival St. Joseph’s only to lose to the Falcons in a classic double-overtime thriller in the 2013 GMCT Championship.
However, so far in the 2022 GMC Tournament, that has not happened. There have been five games in the previous rounds of the tourney where the teams have played twice before, and one team won both contests. Each of those five games have been won by the team that won the previous two:
- Perth Amboy Tech 52–Calvary Christian 38–GMCT Play-In Round
- North Brunswick 60–J.F. Kennedy 45–GMCT Play-In Round
- South River 59–Highland Park 42–GMCT Preliminary Round
- Colonia 86–Sayreville 53–GMCT First Round
- Monroe 64–Old Bridge 54–GMCT First Round
Both of the previous contests between the two teams have been decided by single digits. Colonia is not as big nor as deep as they were a year ago when it defeated St. Thomas Aquinas to win the Karl Anthony-Jay Williams Pod, and the de-facto GMC Championship.
Edison can match-up well since the Eagles have two solid bigs of their own in White and Joe Greer. However, the Patriots are still deeper than the Eagles, which lost junior guard Adam Schonberger to injury during the summer. This will be another close, knock-down, drag out fight, but in the end, Colonia will prevail.
Final Score: Colonia 58–Edison 53