St. Thomas Aquinas head coach Bob Turco talks to his team during a time out against Colonia on February 3, 2022. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Nearly every game between the two teams – whoever wins them – has been an all-out battle.
Whether it was St. Thomas Aquinas winning all three matchups last year, including the GMC Tournament final, or the Trojans beating Colonia in their only regular season meeting of the COVID-shortened 2021 season, only to have the Patriots beat them on their home court in the GMC top pod title game, they have all been bitter battles.
Add to that the implications of Thursday night’s game between top-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas (11-1) and No. 3 Colonia (10-0), and it should be a good one in North Edison.
You can hear the game, of course, on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with Mike Pavlichko and Justin Sontupe calling all the action. Pre-game starts at approximately 6:35, with tip-off at 7:00. Click here to listen to the live broadcast for free.
The implications for GMC Tournament seeding and the all-important Red Division title are this: since only one round of games through the division count, under a one-year pilot program approved last spring by the GMC, should Colonia beat St. Thomas, the Patriots would be the outright Red Division champs, by virtue of being 2-0 against Aquinas and St. Joseph of Metuchen, which they beat in triple overtime back on January 20th.
Should Aquinas win, both the Trojans and Patriots would have one win each, and Tuesday’s matchup of Aquinas at St. Joe’s becomes huge. A win there for STA would give them the division outright, as they would have two wins and Colonia one.
A win for the Falcons would force a three-way tie, and all three would be Co-Champions. To break the tie at the GMC seeding meeting in February, the second round of games between the three schools would have to be considered since they’re head-to-head matchups. Then, all three teams would be back in play to come out of the Red first, and likely earn the top-seed.
But there’s a big game to be played in North Edison first on Thursday night before we get to all that.
Click below to hear St. Thomas Aquinas head coach Bob Turco talk about his team’s 11-1 start, and Thursday’s matchup with Colonia: