Repeat, repeat, repeat! Colonia grabs GMC Tournament title for a second straight year, holding off Piscataway in county final, 70-63

By the time the final horn sounded, there were so many parallels between last season’s GMC Tournament title game and this year’s.

First, the obvious: top-seed Colonia won its second straight GMC title – and seventh overall – with a 70-63 victory over second-seed Piscataway in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, presented by the George Street Playhouse in downtown New Brunswick.

Then, a few minutes after the final horn, junior Aiden Derkack was named the finals MVP. That’s another repeat.

And of course, it was a rematch of last year’s final, not in the teams, but in the coaching matchup. Jose Rodriguez, the Colonia head coach and student – who won his 200th game, combining his wins at Carteret and with the Patriots – against Bob Turco, who coached “J-Rod” as an assistant with the Ramblers under his brother, Dave Turco, who was the head coach.

And again, the battle went to Rodriguez.

While Derkack – who finished with 21 points – was the MVP, it easily also could have gone to R.J. Wortman. The junior scored a career high 23 points in the win, with 13 of those coming after halftime.

Colonia slowly built a lead early in the game, ahead by as many as seven in the first quarter, and ten in the second, before going into halftime up 37-29. They would get out to as big as a 16-point lead in the third quarter, but Piscataway kept battling back.

Problem was, they could never quite get over the hump. And Colonia couldn’t quite put them away until the very end.

Colonia coach Jose Rodriguez was surprised by his team with a banner marking his 200th career win. The early ones came at Carteret, but the bulk of them – 148 – have come with the Patriots.. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

The Patriots will head into the state tournament as the top-seed in North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 – where they are three-time defending champions – with a record of 23-4. They’ll open at home against 16-seed Cranford next Wednesday.

Piscataway – also in the states – fall to 22-5, and will be the fourth-seed in North 2, Group 4, where they’ll open at home against 13-seed Bridgewater-Raritan in the first round next Thursday.

Click below for postgame reaction from two-time GMCT Finals MVP Aiden Derkack and head coach Jose Rodriguez, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen: