Sophomore Jayce Rodriguez is Colonia’s leading scorer, but the Patriots will need a team effort to keep a 23-game win streak going against 6-1 and No. 8 South Plainfield Tuesday night. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
They say “You are what your record is.”
But this is one of those cases where that statement both does and doesn’t apply.
The South Plainfield boys’ basketball team is 6-1, and the old adage fits there. But Colonia is 2-5, and, well, not quite so much there.
Sure, the wins haven’t come, but to say they are “struggling ” wouldn’t quite be accurate.
They’ve played an immensely difficult schedule, including their opener against St. Peter’s Prep in the NJBCA Tip-Off Classic in Montgomery. They took Piscataway to double overtime, but lost by two just before Christmas.
And a trip to Maryland over the break for some national competition also ended with a pair of losses.
But there is still plenty of talent that will be on display Thursday night when Colonia makes the much shorter trip to No. 8 South Plainfield for a GMC crossover game at 7 pm that can be heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio as part of a doubleheader. It will immediately follow the Tiger girls’ game against JP Stevens at 5:30. Mike Pavlichko and Dylan Allen will be on the call for both games; click here to listen.
Meanwhile, things have gone quite swimmingly so far for South Plainfield, whose only loss has come to East Brunswick (7-1), which sits in first place in the new GMC Red American Division. (Colonia is in the Red National.) And the Tigers just beat their next best divisional competitor, Sayreville, on Saturday, knocking the Bombers from the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten, then taking their spot.
Historically, however, South hasn’t had much recent success against Colonia. They haven’t played every year, and some years they’ve played three times, but the Patriots have won the last 23 in the series, going all the way back to 2005. That includes the last four, which have all been in postseason play, either in the GMCT or the state tournament, with a 2022 matchup coming in the North 2, Group 3 championship game.
Last year, Colonia ended South Plainfield’s GMCT run in the semifinals, en route to a second straight county championship.
Click below to hear pregame interview from both head coaches:
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