Colonia’s Aiden Derkack – shown here in the 2024 GMCT final against St. Thomas Aquinas – scored 21 Saturday evening to beat St. Peter’s Prep. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
After falling behind early – down 16-7 after one quarter – Colonia rallied to win its 2024-25 season opener Saturday evening, downing St. Peter’s Prep out of Jersey City, 46-40, at the Tip-Off Showcase at Montgomery High School.
The win was a big one over a Marauder team that went 26-3 last year, with their only losses to College Achieve, St. Benedict’s, and then Dylan Harper and Don Bosco Prep in the Non-Public North A sectional final.
The game was tight down to the wire, and a low-scoring affair, knotted at 38-all with 4:44 to play. Junior Aiden Derkack’s 21 points helped carry the team to victory. He’s now just 30 points shy of breaking the 1,000-point milestone, with the Patriots off until next Thursday.
That’s when they’ll visit Piscataway with multiple storylines in play. In addition to Derkack nearing that scoring milestone, it’ll be the first meeting between head coaches Jose Rodriguez of Colonia and Bob Turco, who left St. Thomas Aquinas after last season to become the head man for the Chiefs.
Turco was an assistant under his brother Dave when the two were at Carteret, and Rodriguez played for the Ramblers. Rodriguez then later worked under Dave Turco at St. Joseph-Metuchen during the Karl-Anthony Towns era.
Click below to hear Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez talk with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko about the Patriots’ season-opening win:
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