The score at the end of the first eight minutes essentially told the entire story.
17-1.
Colonia was held without a field goal by No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas for the first eight minutes of the game, and then again for the first 1:06 of the second quarter. But by that time, most of the damage had been done.
STA built onto the lead, steadily but surely the entire game, with the only mystery whether they would or would not score their biggest margin of victory in the series.
Spoiler alert: they did not eclipse the 54-point win they had in 2018 over the Patriots, but did win 83-33 in a game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio Thursday night.
Aquinas will get the top seed in the GMC Tournament when the seeds are announced Friday morning. The Red Division Champions have now won 24 straight divisional games, and 43 straight on their home floor, dating back to 2018. They have also won 71 of their last 84 divisional games overall since 2017-18.
Junior guard Amaraillis Shubik had game-high honors with 21 points, four shy of a career-high 25 she set Tuesday night in a narrow two-point loss to Saddle River Day, one of the state’s best programs.
Sophomore Leah Crosby chipped in 18, fellow soph Adrianna Summerset added a career-high 12, all in the second half, and senior Albany Commit Jessica Cooper chipped in ten points.
As impressive as the scoring was, the defense was even more, holding Colonia’s Taylor Derkack and Mattison Chiera – averaging about 36 points per game combined – to just eight in the first half, and 13 through the first three quarters Derkack finished with 12, while Chiera chipped in 11.
Click below for postgame reaction brought to you by the Sportsplex at Metuchen:
