Colonia boys’ basketball coach Jose Rodriguez. (File Photo by Mike Pavlichko)
The “Big Three” likely in the GMC Red Division this year are widely considered to be – in alphabetical order – Colonia, St. Joseph-Metuchen and St. Thomas Aquinas.
But on Tuesday night in Metuchen, the Big Three might have been the three extra periods of basketball St. Joe’s and Colonia played.
Or, it could have been the huge three-pointer Jaeden Jones hit to send the game to a third overtime with just five-seconds to go in the second extra period.
Either way, the opening salvo among the three teams was fired, as the Patriots got on the bus ride back home with an 83-78 triple-OT win over the Falcons.
It wasn’t looking good for Colonia late in the third-quarter, but they made a run to cut a double-digit deficit down to a couple of possessions. St. Joe’s extended the lead to more than ten again in the fourth quarter, but Colonia – which was dealing with some foul trouble – chipped away again, and this time sent the game to OT tied at 65.
Oddly enough, perhaps with an inkling of how long this game could have gone on, both teams took the air out of the ball after a quick basket by Colonia and an answer from St. Joe’s. Those were the only two buckets made in the first OT, with numerous misses for both sides, and they went to a second extra period tied 67-all.
In the second OT, Jones came up big. He had a key steal on an inbound late, then tied it with a triple with five-seconds left to send it to yet another extra four-minute period.
It was there the Patriots hit some shots, got a lead, made the Falcons miss, and hit their free-throws down the stretch.
Colonia improves to 3-0, 2-0 in the GMC Red. St. Joe’s suffered its first loss to drop to 2-1, 1-1 in the division.
Jones finished the night with 29 points, a career high. He tied for game high honors with St. Joseph’s Josh Ingram, who also set a new personal career high.
Click below to hear Mike Pavlichko talk with an exhausted Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez after a thrilling 3 OT win at St. Joseph-Metuchen:
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