Jordan Barnes of St. Thomas Aquinas goes up for a layup against Colonia in the GMC Tournament semifinals at Monroe Twp. High School on February 17, 2026. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)
The Colonia girls’ basketball team didn’t win 19 games heading into Tuesday night’s GMC Tournament semifinal by accident.
They have had a really nice bounceback year in Year Two under head coach Jill Bachonski, coming off a 7-20 season with many of the same players.
But when you run into St. Thomas Aquinas, the six-time defending GMC Tourney champion juggernaut, few have success. And that was the case again, as the top-seeded Trojans (21-5) came up 76-56 winners over fourth-seed Colonia, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.
They’ll face East Brunswick in Friday night’s 6 pm final back in Monroe.
For a while, Colonia (19-3) kept it close enough that they could make a run, with the Trojans’ lead bouncing back and forth between seven and eleven points late in the first quarter and early in the second. But in the last few minutes before halftime, STA went on a run, and ended the half with a 36-21 lead, despite an outstanding first half from Nashaleah Hooker, who had 12 points, as her teammates found her with some nifty looks down low, despite a significant height disadvantage.
In the second half, the scoring opened up for both teams, but Colonia couldn’t get enough stops to make a run, as the lead bounced back and forth between 18 and 22 most of the rest of the night.
But the Aquinas group that has been together for a while now – seniors Jordan Barnes and Trista Whitney and juniors Lauryn Downing and Leah Kearney were just too good, as they have been their entire careers. Downing finished with 22 – one shy of a career high – though she did net a career high six triples in the game. Jordna Barnes added 18, while Trista Whitney scored 17.
Colonia had four players – Hailey Conklin, Nashaleah Hooker, Ariana Sosa and Samantha Howell, each finish with 12 points.
St. Thomas’ last GMC loss to any team, regular season or post, came four years ago here in Monroe to the Falcons in the 2022 regular season. But since then, they have won 79 straight against GMC competition, including the post-season, where they have won 27 straight in the GMC Tournament as well. They are now 21-5.
Friday night, they will play for a seventh straight title – and the school’s eighth overall – when they face second-seed East Brunswick, a 52-38 winner in the first semifinal over Piscataway. The Bears are in the final for the first time since 2016, when they beat Monroe to take the championship.
Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dylan Allen with St. Thomas Aquinas junior Lauryn Downing and head coach Tim Corrigan, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:
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