Colonia sophomore guard, Zach Smith follows through on the last of his four threes to give the Patriots a 23-21 lead with 3:50 left in the 2nd quarter against top seeded South Plainfield in the 2023 NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 sectional semifinals on Friday afternoon at Cotoia Gymnasium in South Plainfield. Smith scored all 12 of his points during a decisive 30-2 surge that lifted the Patriots past the Tigers, 64-45.
Sophomore Guard Sinks Four First Half Threes to Lead Colonia Surge
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ – For the second straight year, Colonia and South Plainfield met in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 State Tournament. Last year, the two schools met at Colonia High School in an epic overtime game that the then top seeded Patriots won for its second sectional title in four years. This time, the top seeded Tigers played host to the 4th seeded Patriots at Cotoia Gymnasium on Friday afternoon.
Both teams overcame tough challenges in the previous round with Colonia rallying to defeat 5th seeded Chatham while South Plainfield came from behind to defeat 8th seeded Summit. Both teams had been eliminated in the GMCT Elite Eight with the then 2nd seeded Patriots falling to 7th seeded and eventual finalist, South Brunswick (63-43) while the 5th seeded Tigers lost to 4th seeded St. Joseph’s for the third time in the last 12 months (60-42).
Buoyed by a near capacity crowd, the Tigers came out strong by sinking four straight threes for a 12-0 lead. The treys came courtesy of four different players: Ikenna Ibeku, Mike Mendez, Brandon Dean, and Tareak Williams. Dean added another score for a 14-2 lead after Colonia got on the board with a score by Anthony Gooden. Williams then added a bucket, and Dean made two free throws as South Plainfield went up 19-6 in the closing seconds of the first quarter.
Colonia sophomore Zach Smith, who entered the game moments earlier sank a triple with under 10 seconds to play in the frame to close the gap to 19-9 entering the second. Little did anyone in the gym know that Smith’s try would ignite a 26-2 explosion by the Patriots to end the first half for a 32-21 lead. Smith sank four threes: Two from the left corner, one from the right corner, and another from the right wing for all 12 of his points during the onslaught.
The only points for South Plainfield during that stretch was an and one by Williams at the 4:23 mark of the second for the Tigers last lead of the game at 21-20. On Colonia’s ensuing possession, Smith sank his final three of the game for a 23-21 Patriots edge at the 3:50 mark. Colonia even began the second half with the first four points of the third for a 30-2 surge over about a 10:30 span to take a commanding 36-21 lead.
Dean tried to give the Tigers some life with two buckets during a 10-8 rally to end the third, but Colonia led 44-31 heading into the fourth, and never looked back en route to a 64-45 victory to punch a ticket to the sectional finals for the fourth time in the last five years. Junior guard and football standout, Jaeden Jones led the way for the victors with a team high 16 points, 6 assists, 2 steals, a rebound, and a block.
Junior forward, James Curet was another one of five Colonia players to score in double figures with 14 points along with 3 rebounds and 2 blocks. Curet helped put the game away in the second half by finishing several Patriot possessions with layups. Anthony Gooden and Aiden Derkack each chipped in with 11 points. Gooden also added 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks, and a steal while Derkack picked up with 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Senior forward, Noah Taylor didn’t score, but was still a huge factor on the glass with 10 rebounds and a block. Dylan Conklin (a rebound) and Matthew McSorley (a rebound) also saw in the contest for the winners. Leading the way in defeat for South Plainfield was senior guard Williams with a game high 17 points along with 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. Classmate and four year varsity player Dean added 15 points, 2 steals, a rebound, and assist in his final game for the Tigers.
Dean finished his career in 2nd place on the SPHS all time scoring list with 1,414 points. Mendez sank another trey in the fourth quarter to finish with 6 points and a rebound in his final game. Steven Moench (4 points and a rebound) and junior forward Ibeku (3 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals) rounded out the South Plainfield scoring. Football standout, Jason Greer (team high 5 rebounds, an assist, and a steal), Matt Nigro (3 rebounds and 2 assists), Jordan Jones (2 rebounds), Matt Kuzma (a rebound), Abdul Adebule (a rebound), Jaden Lloyd, and Zayd Abdul-Hakim also saw action in the contest for the Tigers.
After being outscored by a baker’s dozen in the opening period, Colonia outscored South Plainfield in each of the final three periods. While both teams were even in points scored from long distance (12-12), and Colonia only had a 13-12 edge in points scored from the foul line, the real difference in the game was inside the arc. Colonia outscored South Plainfield, 40-16 in points from two point field goals. The Pats overall size, length, and athleticism proved to be too much in the end for the Tigers.
The Patriots also controlled the glass with a 27-19 edge in rebounding and a 7-0 advantage in blocked shots. Colonia also had more assists (15-8). South Plainfield had a 5-4 edge in steals. Both teams only had five different players score in the contest, but all five of Colonia’s players scored in double figures versus only two for South Plainfield. With the victory, Colonia improves to 21-8 overall, and advances to the North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 Championship Game, and will host Snyder of Jersey City at home on Monday, February 27th at 6:00 PM.
Sixth seeded Snyder punched its ticket to the Championship Game by virtue of a 76-62 victory over 7th seeded Payne Tech of Newark in the other sectional semifinal. The Tigers edged 3rd seeded Mendham in the sectional quarterfinals on Wednesday (56-53) while Payne Tech knocked off 2nd seeded West Morris (69-59) in another quarterfinal round game. Snyder gave South Plainfield some trouble in the opening round of last year’s state tourney as the 15th seed.
Meanwhile, South Plainfield concluded its season at 23-6 overall. During Dean’s four year career at SPHS, the Tigers compiled an overall record of 71-30 including a divisional mark of 40-9 with three division titles (2020-21 GMC Blue crown doesn’t officially count due to COVID), two GMCT Elite Eight appearances, two sectional semifinal berths, and a sectional final appearance. Over the past two seasons, South Plainfield was 46-13. Only Marquis Jones (2001-05) scored more points for the Tigers with 1,436.