COLONIA, NJ–Recently, GMC Hoops had posted a poll on teams that had surprising starts in 2010-11. One of the teams listed was Colonia, which had gotten off to a tough start for the second straight year. The Patriots, which had moved up to the GMC Red Division this season, got out of the gate with four straight losses before defeating Monsignor Farrell in the Monsignor Kelly Christmas Tournament at Immaculata.
Even after getting that first victory, the Pats continued to struggle with two more losses before winning four its last six including three in a row. The recent victories have come over J.P. Stevens (37-27), Woodbridge (61-52), St. Joseph’s (62-56), and Phillipsburg (62-38). Of the eight losses that the Patriots have had this season, six of them have come by eight points or less including five that were by three points or less. Two of those defeats were one point losses on the road to GMC Hoops Top Ten teams Piscataway (52-51) and South Brunswick (44-43). Speaking of polls, Colonia was ranked sixth in the GMC Hoops Pre-Season Top Ten.
The Patriots are led by C.J. Gray, who has turned in some stellar performances. In a loss to Immaculata over the holidays, Gray scored 24 points including 20 in the first half. The Pats also sport another sharpshooter in Matt Wagner as well as playmaker Dave Cole. Colonia had a similar resurgence last season that helped it qualify for the North Jersey Section 2 Group III state tournament. The Pats didn’t disappoint in the tourney either taking eventual state champion and Tournament of Champions quarterfinalist, Mendham down to the wire before losing in the opening round.
Colonia’s resurgence just adds to the overall strength of an already very competitive GMC Red Division with the likes of East Brunswick (11-2), St. Joseph’s (11-2), South Brunswick (7-3), Piscataway (9-5), and Perth Amboy (8-7). As of yesterday, four teams were within a game of each other in the division standings while the Red has played well against non-conference competition and versus teams in other GMC divisions so far this season.