Colonia senior Zach Smith dribbles against St. Thomas Aquinas freshman Zymere Weaver in the second quarter of a GMC Red Division game at Colonia on January 23, 2025. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
Stellar defense – particularly in their full court press after taking a double-digit lead – and 31 points from Aiden Derkack helped No. 1 Colonia to a 69-53 home win over St. Thomas Aquinas Thursday night, in a GMC Red Division game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
Derkack scored 29 of those points in the final three quarters, while Zach Smith – the team’s lone senior – added 14 on Senior Night, with junior R.J. Wortman adding 12.
The victory clinched the GMC Red outright for the Patriots, who are 8-0 in divisional play, virtually assuring them the top seed in the county tournament, which will be seeded in two weeks.
It was their first outright division title since Colonia was in the GMC White, and won it in 2019. The Patriots improved to 14-1 overall, and have now won eleven straight.
St. Thomas Aquinas (9-5, 5-4 in the Red) took the early lead, and ended the first eight minutes up 15-10. But Colonia went on a 20-7 run in the second quarter, taking a lead they would never relinquish, going into the break with a 30-22 lead.
Sophomores Dan Jennings and Albion Ahmetaj led St. Thomas with ten points apiece.
The win was also the 140th for seventh-year Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez, who is now 140-40 with the Patriots.
Click below for postgame reaction from Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez and junior Aiden Derkack, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
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