Four-peat!!!! Colonia’s late run vs. Mendham gives Patriots another North 2, Group 3 title

If you were on the fence before, get off the fence now. Colonia officially has a dynasty.

Sure, last year, the Patriots won their third straight sectional title, and ninth overall, along with a GMC Tournament championship.

But they won the GMC again this season, and Friday night they won their fourth straight state ‘chip – the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 title – as the top-seeded Patriots beat second-seed Mendham, 62-43, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

R.J. Wortman led the way with 15 points, while Aiden Derkack added 14 and Jayce Rodriguez had 12, including two huge fourth-quarter threes to help bury the Minutemen.

It was a tight, back-and-forth affair for three quarters. Other than a short-lived eight-point lead in the second quarter, the game saw ten lead changes, and only three ties. The last of those came in the third, at 31-all, but Colonia finished the period on an 11-6 run, and pulled away even more in the fourth.

Those Rodriguez threes came up huge. Derkack went 3-of-4 from the line in the fourth, after going 2-for-6 before that.

And, as per usual with this Colonia team, all that was fueled by getting defensive stops on the other end.

The Patriots did a good job holding top scorers Kevin King in check in the first half. The junior – also a nearly-thousand-yard rusher for the football team, and Morris County Player of the Year – was held to just four points on two second quarter field goals before halftime. But he got his points in the third, 13 of them to be exact, and finished with a game high 23.

Even bigger though was limiting Cole Capuzzi, the senior who led the team with 53 treys coming in. It was nearly impossible for him to find good looks, thanks to Colonia’s perimeter defense, and he finished with one three, which came in the first quarter, giving Mendham its first lead of the night at 5-3, and had only one other field goal for a five-point night.

The win makes Colonia 29-5 in postseason play – GMC and states – since the 2021 COVID-shortened season, in which they also won the GMC’s top playoff pod.

So if you’re doing the math at home, that’s one pod championship, two GMC Tournament titles, and four straight North 2, Group 3 trophies.

That’s a dynasty.

We’ll have a full game story shortly, but for now, click below for postgame reaction, presented by the Sportsplex at Metuchen:

Colonia – now 27-4, a school record for wins, by the way, according to head coach Jose Rodriguez – will continue state tournament play Tuesday night at 7:00 at Elizabeth’s Dunn Center, when they take on North 1, Group 3 winner Ramapo for a fourth straight season in the Group 3 semifinals.

They beat Demarest 41-37 Friday night to win their sectional title. The Raiders have ended the Patriots’ season in the semis each of the last three seasons.