On Thursday afternoon, Colonia’s fine post-season run came to an end when the Patriots lost to Linden in the Championship Game. However, there are some positives to draw from for the upcoming season. This was a Colonia team that had struggled through the regular season according to parents. During the playoffs though, CHS built their confidence, and you could see it through the way they played Linden. After a somewhat tentative start that helped the Tigers gain a 20-7 lead, Colonia battled back, and got to within two points at the end before losing by four. Linden had dominated Paterson Kennedy in the semifinals, and the Knights were no pushovers as Bridgewater, Cardinal McCarrick, and Immaculata could attest.
On top of that, Colonia gave up a lot of size to Linden, especially on the interior, but the Pats hung tough, especially on the boards. They were much more competitive on the glass than Paterson Kennedy was. Although C.J. Gray had an off game, Matt Wagner picked up some of the slack by giving some scoring punch from the perimeter. Gray can be an explosive player. His 14 points in the final 2:40 of the fourth quarter against Hillsborough in the semifinals proved that. With Gray, Wagner, and Dave Cole, the Pats have several players that can handle the ball well, and can shoot. In the loss to Linden, CHS made 8 of 19 three point shots, which helped overcome its size disadvantage down low. Interior players such as Aubrey McLaughlin scrapped for rebounds as the entire team didn’t back down.
Each time GMC Hoops saw Colonia play, it saw a solid performance. Even the loss to Linden was a good effort by the Pats, which limited the Tigers to 17 points in the final two quarters. Against Hillsborough, the Patriots pulled away from a 51-51 tie with three minutes left with a 14-4 spurt thanks to the efforts of Gray, who has a knack for making big plays. Just ask Scotch Plains, which Colonia defeated at the buzzer on a score by Gray in its home opener this past season. Colonia did lose a lot of key talent the past two seasons. The graduations of Brandon Hall, J.J. D’Amico, Nnamdi Usuwa, and Mike Nweme left the Patriots with out size and leadership, but this group has some similarities to the 2005-06 Patriots, which lost the likes of Nick Smith and Zach Rosen the year before, but still managed to win the 2006 GMCT and reach the North Jersey Section 2 Group III Semifinals before losing to Newark Westside. Whether or not it translates into the same kind of success remains to be seen.
Monroe appears to be the early favorite in the GMC White with the only significant loss to graduation being Steve Blish while the Purple Birds experienced success at all three levels in 2008-09. The Falcons also enjoyed a great deal of success during the summer season. Cardinal McCarrick has a solid junior class returning this year along with the likes of Craig Thomas, Mo Isaac, Rob Olivieri, and Edison transfer Will Thomas. North Brunswick has Tait Pirkle, Dion Rogers, and Dillon Salva coming back next season, and New Brunswick looks to be much improved with Simuel Williams and Jaquan Cook leading a squad that looked very good for much of the summer at Bound Brook. South Plainfield has the likes of Nick Lewis, Troy McNair, and Carlos Ruiz coming back from last year’s team while Carteret will look to get back into contention after a below .500 season in 2008-09. Colonia’s solid finish this summer at Linden makes them a contender again in the White Division for 2009-10.