Third Quarter Spree Lifts Colonia Past Wardlaw, 56-32
COLONIA, NJ–After pulling off one of the big surprises in the early rounds of the 2013 Â GMCT, 30th seeded Wardlaw was looking to continue the magic against 14th seeded Colonia on Senior Night at CHS. Â For the Rams to do that, they would have to play 32 minutes of solid basketball. Â
In three of the four periods in this contest, Wardlaw played competitvely, only trailing by four points in those periods including a 13-9 showing in the final period. Â Unfortunately, by then, the game was already out of reach as Colonia blitzed the Rams with a 24-4 showing in the pivotal third frame that broke open a 23-15 game at half for a 47-19 lead en route to a 56-32 victory, and a date with third seeded North Brunswick at NBTHS on Friday afternoon at 4:00 PM.
One of the big keys in the game was three point shooting. Â The Patriots shot a blistering 8 of 13 from beyond the arc for 62 percent, and outscored the Rams by a 24-0 margin. Â Overall, Colonia shot 18 of 38 for 47 percent while Wardlaw shot 12 of 28 for 43 percent. Â At the foul line, the Patriots went 12 of 17 for 71 percent while Wardlaw shot 8 of 14 for 57 percent. Â Leading the way in victory for Colonia was freshman guard, Chase Barneys, who scored 14 points including 3 of 5 from three point land, and 5 of 8 from the foul line. Â Jodrell Thompson was 4 of 5 from the floor including 2 of 3 from long distance for 12 points. Â Trent Barneys chipped in with 11 points on 5 of 12 shooting.
Justen Davis led Wardlaw in a losing cause with 14 points as he connected on 6 of 10 shots from the floor, and made 2 of 3 at the  line.  Sophomore Mike Newman chipped in with 8 points on 3 of 4 shooting from the floor, and 2 of 4 from the foul line.  The Rams got off to a good start as they got the first points of the game on a bucket by Davis, and then went on a 5-0 run that turned a 6-4 deficit into a 9-6 lead.  Davis, who scored 7 points in the period, sparked the burst with a three point play, and then Newman capped it with a steal for a layup that forced Colonia to call timeout, and the Wardlaw bench to let out some emotion.
Following the timeout, Colonia took control for good by scoring the next 12 points from the end of the first to the middle of the second. Â Trent Barneys and Bleriot Thompson each got scores to end the period for a 10-9 Patriots lead, and then the Pats opened the second with the first eight points including a basket by Trent Barneys, a score by Dan Zalink, two free throws by Bleriot Thompson, and then a bucket by Chris Siletti for a 18-9 lead. Â Wardlaw finished the quarter with a 6-5 edge to narrow the deficit to eight at 23-15 going into the intermission, but would never get closer after that. Â Colonia exploded with its 24-4 surge in the third as the Pats connected on five threes including two by Chase Barneys.
From there, Colonia coasted to the easy win. Â Wardlaw did show some fight, especially in the first half, but turnovers proved costly as well as a lack of production from beyond the arc. Â The Rams also limited Colonia big man, Bleriot Thompson to just 7 points. Â In the three other Colonia games covered by GMC Hoops, the senior Patriot forward, has been a solid contributor by putting up either 16 or 18 points. Â After starting the season at 1-9, Colonia has won 7 of its last 12. Â The Pats are now 8-14 on the season while Wardlaw fell to 5-16 on the season.