Colonia’s Isaiah Barber goes up for a score in the first half against St. Thomas Aquinas in the 2023 East Brunswick/GMC JV Boys Championship at East Brunswick High School on Saturday afternoon.
MVP Chiera Fires in Game High 22 to Lead JV Patriots to Title
EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ – After two thrilling semifinal games on Thursday night, second seeded Colonia took on top seeded St. Thomas Aquinas in the 2023 East Brunswick/GMC JV Tournament Championship Game on Saturday afternoon at East Brunswick High School. Aquinas, the defending champion, won last year’s final over St. Joseph’s in dominant fashion. This time, it wouldn’t be that easy for the JV Trojans as the JV Patriots gave them all they could handle, and then some.
Led by the play of freshman Dylan Chiera, who connected on 9 total field goals including four three pointers for a game high 22 points, Colonia rallied from a 27-19 halftime deficit to knock off Aquinas, 54-48 to win its 2nd JV title in the past four years. Sophomore RJ Wortmann chipped in with 17 points on 7 field goals and 3 of 4 from the foul line. Isaiah Barber chipped in with 8 points on four field goals while Nygel Hill (5 points) and Basheek Austin (2 points) rounded out the JV Patriots scoring.
Charlie Joyce led the way for St. Thomas Aquinas in a losing cause with 15 points on 4 field goals and 7 of 8 from the foul line. Teammate Jayden Escobar added 10 points on two field goals, a three pointer, and a perfect 3 of 3 from the line. Zacai Manigo scored 8 points on three field goals and 2 of 2 from the line. Kiian Kirkwood chipped in with 7 points on two field goals and a three while Gavin Sansone contributed with 6 points on three field goals. Seth McGee rounded out the JV Trojans scoring with 2 points.
For the game, Colonia connected on 23 total field goals including five threes and made just 3 of 4 from the line. Aquinas connected on 17 total field goals including two treys and made 12 of 13 from the line. The JV Patriots outscored Aquinas from within the arc (36-30) and long distance (15-6) while the JV Trojans enjoyed a 12-3 advantage from the foul line. Colonia shot 75 percent from the line while St. Thomas Aquinas sank 92 percent of its free throw attempts.
The JV Trojans committed 14 team fouls while the JV Patriots had 13. Six different Aquinas players scored in the contest while five scored for Colonia. Each team had two players score in double figures. The difference was the combination of Chiera and Wortmann combined for 39 of the JV Patriots 54 points, or 72 percent of their team’s scoring. Both players along with Nygel Hill were selected to the All Tournament Team with Chiera earning MVP honors.
Chiera netted three of his four treys in the first half en route to 11 of his team’s 19 points. He added another 11 over the final two periods including 8 in the fourth quarter while Wortman scored 13 points on 6 field goals including an and one in the fourth. The Junior Patriots outscored Aquinas by a margin of 35-21 including a 20-6 surge in the third quarter for a 39-33 lead. Wortmann and Barber each scored 6 points while Hill scored all 5 of his points and Chiera netted his final trey of the game.
Wortmann scored with 1:04 left in the third for a 35-33 lead while Barber connected on a buzzer beater for the 6 point lead. Defensively, Colonia limited Aquinas to just two field goals in the third quarter. Joyce scored 4 of the 6 points in the frame for the JV Trojans, and scored all 15 of his points over the final three periods including 7 in the second quarter. Escobar scored his only bucket of the frame gave Aquinas a 20-12 lead with 5:23 to go in the first half.
Sansone scored all 6 of his points in the first half including two buckets in the first quarter when St. Thomas Aquinas jumped out to a 12-9 lead. Escobar chipped in with three points on a traditional three point play. Kirkwood netted his only three of the contest in the opening quarter while Manigo netted two from the line. Chiera countered by scoring 8 of Colonia’s points with three total field goals including a three from the left corner, and a trey from the top of the key.
Colonia managed to stay within single digits as Wortmann got his only field goal of the first half when he drove to the hoop from in front of his team’s bench at the other end of the floor for a right handed layup. The JV Patriots then opened up the second half by scoring 10 of the first 14 points to pull within two before Sansone scored his final points of the game for a 33-29 lead with 6:08 remaining in the third period.
After scoring the final 10 points of the third including Wortmann’s bucket with a little over a minute left, and Barber’s score in the closing the seconds, Colonia took a six point lead into the fourth. The JV Trojans managed to close the gap to one at 49-48 on a layup by Manigo with 1:30 to play despite a jumper and layup by Chiera. Colonia got some much needed breathing room when Chiera scored on an and one with about a minute to go.
The JV Patriots put the game away when it inbounded the ball from in front of Aquinas’ bench downcourt to Wortmann, who scored a layup as he was fouled with four seconds to play. Wortman then finished off the traditional three point play by making a free throw for the 54-48 victory. With the win, Colonia concluded its season at 19-5 overall. Aquinas, which entered the game undefeated, finished its season at 22-1.
St. Thomas Aquinas and Colonia played each other three times this season with Aquinas winning the first two games. All three games were decided by 6 points or less. The JV Trojans defeated the JV Patriots, 63-57 in North Edison on January 12th. Aquinas then won the second game at Colonia (46-44) on February 2nd. In the three contests, Aquinas averaged 52.3 points per game while Colonia averaged 51.7. Joyce and McGee were also selected to the All Tournament Team.