Tag: Jose Rodriguez

by Mike Pavlichko

Ramapo third-quarter run dooms Colonia in Group 3 semis, as Patriots fall 52-46

It’s uncanny at this point.

For four years in a row now, Colonia has won the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 title. And all four years, their season has come to an end in the Group 3 semifinals, all at the hands of Ramapo.

The Green Raiders – the North 1, Group 3 champs – topped the Patriots Tuesday night at the Dunn Center in Elizabeth, 52-46, as heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Colonia actually led by three at the half, 25-22, with the first 16 minutes as tight as could be, no one leading by more than a single possession.

But in the third quarter Ramapo hit their shots, and Colonia went cold, getting outscored 12-2. Aiden Derkack also picked up his third foul in the quarter, hampering him from being able to play the type of defense he’s used to.

For a Ramapo team that graduated its top three starters, the impact player was freshman A.J. Grieg, the team’s leading scorer coming in at 12.7 per game. Tuesday night, he finished two shy of a career high with 24, while hitting four threes, including two big ones in what turned out to be the decisiove fourth quarter.

Derkack led Colonia with 19, as the Patriots’ season ends at 29-6.

Ramapo (19-10) moves on the Group 3 state final Saturday at 6 pm at Jersey Mike’s arena at Rutgers, where they’ll play Central 4 champion Colts Neck, who rallied to beat South 4 champion Ocean City, 47-45.

Click below for postgame reaction from Colonia Coach Jose Rodriguez, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Colonia battles Mendham Friday night seeking unprecedented fourth straight sectional title

Never before has Colonia boys’ basketball had the string of success they’ve had under the tutelage of head coach Jose Rodriguez.

A winner of over 200 games – not all at Colonia – the Patriots have won three straight sectional titles in the state tournament, and two GMC Tournament titles during his tenure, all in the last three seasons, with no signs of slowing down.

Out of nine titles all-time, “J-Rod” has a third.

Friday night, top-seeded Colonia takes on second-seed Mendham in the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 title game, and you can hear it live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel will have the call, with pregame at 5:45 pm, tip-off at six. Click here to listen.

The Patriots come in at 26-4, winners of eight straight, predating the GMC Tournament. And their postseason record has been stellar. They have won seven straight, counting the GMC Tournament, and are 28-5 overall in the last four postseasons.

Top-scorer Aiden Derkack is averaging 24 points a game in the state tournament, a shade over a point below his season average of 24. But it’s been others like R.J. Wortman who have been critical to the team’s success.

One player can never do it alone, and Wortman – averaging 12.3 points per game on the year – is scoring almost 16 per in the states. He was the leading scorer against Cranford in the opening round, with 24, and when he “only” had eight against Chatham in the semifinals, he also had six assists and four steals, both team bests.

Mendham, meanwhile, is 24-5, and was 10-2 in the NJAC American Division, co-champs with Delbarton. They got knocked out of the Morris County Tournament in the second round by Chatham, the same team Colonia beat in the semis to get to the finals.

Kevin King leads a senior-laded team with 19 points per game, almost 20 in the state tournament, while fellow senior Cole Capuzzi has connected a team-best 53 times from downtown.

Click below for pregame interviews with both head coaches:

Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez
Mendham head coach Bill Connolly
by Mike Pavlichko

Colonia lone CJSR-area team to advance in states Tuesday; Manville boys, Somerville, Middlesex, Bound Brook girls all fall

Only one area team – three-time defending North 2, Group 3 champion Colonia – won Tuesday night in sectional semifinal action in the NJSIAA basketball playoffs, as the top-seeded Patriots topped fourth-seed Chatham, 57-54, at home.

On the boys’ side, Manville lost at Thrive Charter in Trenton, while on the girls’ side, Somerville, Middlesex and Bound Brook all were eliminated.

That leaves just four public schools from the Central Jersey Sports Radio coverage area alive on the boys side, the others being North Brunswick, Montgomery and Ridge. On the girls’ side, just Franklin, Hillsborough, Monroe and Bernards remain. All are back in action in sectional semifinals Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Gill St. Bernard’s and Rutgers Prep boys and girls also are alive, and play sectional semis on Thursday.

Here’s a roundup of Tuesday’s action, and you can scroll down to find the upcoming schedule of games in sections where local teams remain.

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 – Boys’ Semifinals: Top-seed Colonia built a big lead, but withstood a late run by the fourth-seeded Cougars in the win. The Patriots (26-4) led 39-20 at the half, but Chatham cut the lead to 14 heading into the fourth, where they outscored Colonia 18-7 but fell just short. In fact, Chatham had a chance to win down by one, but junior Aiden Derkack – who just became the school’s all-time leading scorer in a quarterfinal win over Cliffside Park – poked the ball away, and found R.J. Wortman on the break, who dunked it to seal the win.

Derkack scored 24 in the victory, a game-high, and also had five rebounds. Dylan Chiera added nine, while R.J. Wortman had eight. Colonia moves on to host the North 2, Group 3 final Friday night at 6 pm against Mendham, which edged Payne Tech, 57-56, withstanding a Lions inbound with 13 to go that led to a baseline runner that missed, as well as a putback just before time expired.

Listen to Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez talk about the Patriots’ win over Chatham, and Friday’s title game against Mendham.

Central Jersey Group 1 – Boys’ Semifinals: Fourth-seed Manville fell at top-seed Thrive Charter, 53-37, ending their season at 19-9.

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 – Girls’ Semifinals: In a game that had runs on both sides, a late third quarter run by sixth-seed Cranford helped put the Cougars in front, and an early fourth-quarter run by Somerville got them to within three at 42-39. But Cranford went on another mini run and held Somerville at bay – which had to foul late as was in foul trouble – as the Cougars topped the Pioneers, 52-46, in Somerville. Junior Kaylee Lauber led the Pioneers in defeat with 20 points, while Amaya Miller added 17. But Cranford senior Bella Curanovic came up big, scoring 24 – all but 22 of which came after the first quarter, which saw Somerville end with a 14-8 lead – for game-high honors. The Pioneers’ season ends at 23-6.

Listen to Cranford head coach Allison Skrec talk about the Cougars’ win.

Central Jersey Group 1 – Girls’ Semifinals: Third-seed Bound Brook fell 63-30 to second-seed Thrive Charter in Trenton, ending its season at 19-7, while fourth-seed Middlesex – which was looking for its third straight trip to the CJ2 final – was eliminated at top-seed New Providence, 64-58. Senior Jess Devine ended her stellar high school career with 30 points, including four treys, and finishes with 2,135 career points, the all-time leading scorer at the school, boys or girls. The teams were tied 31-all at the half, but New Providence took a seven point lead into the fourth quarter and hung on for the win. The Blue Jays finish.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY

Central Jersey Group 4 – Boys’ Semifinals
(12) North Brunswick at (1) Montgomery, 6 pm
(10) Freehold Twp. at (3) West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 6pm

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 – Boys’ Semifinals
(5) Westfield at (1) Plainfield, 7 pm
(3) Ridge at (2) Elizabeth, 7 pm

Central Jersey Group 4 – Girls’ Semifinals
(5) Franklin at (1) Hillsborough, 5:30 pm
(3) Hightstown at (2) Monroe, 5 pm

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 2 – Girls’ Semifinals
(4) Bernards at (1) Caldwell, 6 pm
(3) Rutherford at (2) Madison, 4:30 pm

THURSDAY

Non-Public North B – Boys’ Semifinals
(4) Morristown-Beard at (1) Gill St. Bernard’s, 7 pm
(3) Morris Catholic at (2) Roselle Catholic, 7 pm

Non-Public South B – Boys’ Semifinals
(5) St. Joseph-Hammonton at (1) St. Rose, 6:30 pm
(3) Rutgers Prep at (2) Holy Cross Prep, 6 pm

Non-Public North B – Girls’ Semifinals
(4) Hudson Catholic at (1) Gill St. Bernard’s, 5:30 pm
(3) Saddle River Day at (2) Montclair-Immaculate, 4:30 pm (at Mount St. Dominic)

Non-Public South B – Girls’ Semifinals
(4) Ranney at (1) Gloucester Catholic, 5 pm
(3) Wildwood Catholic at (2) Rutgers Prep, 6 pm

FRIDAY

North Jersey, Section 2, Group 3 – Boys’ Final
(2) Mendham at (1) Colonia, 6 pm (CJSR)

by Mike Pavlichko

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:

by Mike Pavlichko

Defending champ Colonia roars past Aquinas in semifinals, will take on Piscataway Friday for GMC Tournament title

All year long, Colonia has been the team to beat in the Greater Middlesex Conference.

And that will be the case one more time Friday night, as the top-seeded Patriots will defend their 2024 title when they take on second-seed Piscataway in another student-mentor battle between head coaches Jose Rodriguez of Colonia and Bob Turco of the Chiefs.

The two met in last year’s final – when Turco was at St. Thomas for the last of a six-year run there – and they’ll meet again this year. Colonia held up its end of the bargain with an 83-53 win in the second semifinal Wednesday night at Monroe High School, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, presented by the George Street Playhouse in downtown New Brunswick. It’ll be their third title game appearance in the last four years.

But as both coaches will tell you, it’s not about them, it’s about the players. Plenty of time to talk about that later.

It wasn’t a rout from the start. The teams were tied at six before Colonia went on an 8-2 run to close the quarter, up 14-8. They built a 13-point lead at the half – not insurmountable – but Aquinas went cold from the floor in the second half, and the Patriots got the ball in the paint, drawing fouls, and sending Aiden Derkack alone to the foul line ten times for a total of 20 soul shots.

In the process, St. Thomas – which only had a limited number of players on the bench – had five guys foul out, and finished the last 1:37 of the game down two players, with Colonia essential having a 5-on-3 advantage for the remainder, most of which the Patriots essentially dribbled out.

Derkack – last year’s GMC finals MVP – finished with 28 points for Colonia (22-4), half from the charity stripe, and is scoring 26.3 points per game in the GMC Tournament, a shade above his season average. He had three monstrous second-quarter dunks. R.J. Wortman added 20, more than six points above his GMCT average through the first two games, and almost nine above his season average.

Aiden Ur finished with 17 for Aquinas (15-10), their only double-digit scorer.

Colonia and Piscataway (22-4) will square off at 8 pm Friday for the GMC Tournament title, following the 6 pm girls’ title tilt between top-seed and five-time defending champion St. Thomas Aquinas. Both games can be heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio. And we’ll have full previews of both games with interviews, stats, notes and championship history out Friday morning at cjsportsradio.com.

The boys’ final will be the first meeting of two public schools in the GMC title game since 2006, when Colonia – the No. 2 seed that year – beat top-seed Metuchen.

Click below for postgame reaction presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen with Colonia junior Aiden Derkack and head coach Jose Rodriguez:

by Mike Pavlichko

Colonia and St. Thomas Aquinas to get together for another likely epic battle, this time with GMCT finals berth on the line

For the past several years, Colonia and St. Thomas Aquinas have been the hot ticket in the GMC.

Both have been fantastic in recent years, Trojans’ coach Bob Turco coached Patriots’ coach Jose Rodriguez when the latter was playing at Carteret, and they always seem to meet in a big game.

Turco may be in Piscataway, but the rivalry is still there. Their two games this year – both of which went Colonia’s way – were decided by eight and 16 points.

So, when the top-seeded Patriots and fourth-seeded Trojans meet Tuesday night at 7, in the second game of a GMC Tournament doubleheader at Monroe High School, everyone can’t wait to see what kind of fireworks ensure.

You can hear the doubleheader exclusively on Central Jersey Sports Radio, with the Colonia-Aquinas game immediately following the 5 pm game between second-seed Piscataway and third-seed Sayreville. Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel will call all the action. Click here to listen.

St. Thomas is past all the distractions of the early season, and they’ve managed to navigate the choppy waters remarkably well, going 15-9 with head coach Victor Verdecia, a former standout at Perth Amboy who played for Colonia assistant Edwin Santana when he was with the Panthers – there’s the mentor-student storyline again! – leading the way.

Aiden Ur has been the scoring leader all year, at 16.1 points a game. Aidan Carter – at 14.5 points per game – only joined the team less than a month ago, making his season debut in a 69-53 loss at Colonia on January 23rd, heard here on Central Jersey Sports Radio. Junior Dan Jennings – a St. Joe’s transfer – is scoring 10.9 points per game.

Colonia – the defending champion at 21-4 – is looking to get back to the title game for the third time in four season, and has eyes on a repeat. They can do it with one of the best players in the league in junior Aiden Derkack, who’s going for 25.4 points a game, and has 1,584 career points. He’s also the team’s top rebounder at 8.6 per game, and has a club best 21 blocks and 46 steals.

But R.J. Wortman can score, too. He’s second on the team at 11.2 points per game, along with 8.6 rebounds. And then there’s the coach’s son, Jayce Rodriguez, who’s hit more threes (45) than anyone else in blue and gold.

Click below for preview interviews with both head coaches with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel:

Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez
St. Thomas Aquinas head coach Victor Verdecia
by Mike Pavlichko

No. 1 Colonia rides defense, 31 from Derkack to top No. 7 St. Thomas Aquinas and clinch GMC Red Division title

Stellar defense – particularly in their full court press after taking a double-digit lead – and 31 points from Aiden Derkack helped No. 1 Colonia to a 69-53 home win over St. Thomas Aquinas Thursday night, in a GMC Red Division game heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

Derkack scored 29 of those points in the final three quarters, while Zach Smith – the team’s lone senior – added 14 on Senior Night, with junior R.J. Wortman adding 12.

The victory clinched the GMC Red outright for the Patriots, who are 8-0 in divisional play, virtually assuring them the top seed in the county tournament, which will be seeded in two weeks.

It was their first outright division title since Colonia was in the GMC White, and won it in 2019. The Patriots improved to 14-1 overall, and have now won eleven straight.

St. Thomas Aquinas (9-5, 5-4 in the Red) took the early lead, and ended the first eight minutes up 15-10. But Colonia went on a 20-7 run in the second quarter, taking a lead they would never relinquish, going into the break with a 30-22 lead.

Sophomores Dan Jennings and Albion Ahmetaj led St. Thomas with ten points apiece.

The win was also the 140th for seventh-year Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez, who is now 140-40 with the Patriots.

Click below for postgame reaction from Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez and junior Aiden Derkack, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Mike Pavlichko

Top Ten matchup on tap Thursday night as No. 1 Colonia hosts No. 7 St. Thomas Aquinas

The first game was a double-overtime thriller that saw Colonia double up St. Thomas Aquinas in the decisive second overtime.

What will the next one bring?

There have been some great games in the last half-decade plus between the Patriots and Trojans, and much of the same is likely Thursday night when No. 1 Colonia (13-1, 7-0 GMC Red, 1st place) hosts No. 7 St. Thomas Aquinas (9-4, 5-3 GMC Red, 6th place) in a huge, later-season game which can be heard live on Central Jersey Sports Radio.

It tips off at 7 pm, with pregame starting at 6:45 with Mike Pavlichko and Vin Ebenau. Click here to listen.

The Patriots will be the top seed in the GMC Tournament this winter, clinching it if they can beat Aquinas Thursday night, having already beaten second place Piscataway – both their division losses – twice this season. They’ve won ten in a row since suffering their only loss of the season, 53-47 to Westfield in the opener of their own LeGrand Holiday Jubilee round-robin tournament.

Junior Aiden Derkack – the only double-figure scorer returning – is doing his thing, leading the team in scoring at 24 points per game, along with rebounds (7.8 per game), blocks (13) and steals (34).

But new threats have emerged as well after the graduation of key players. Junior RJ Wortman is at 11.9 points per game, while freshman Jayce Rodriguez gives the Pats a three-point threat; he’s hit 25 triples to lead Colonia.

St. Thomas Aquinas has successfully tuned out the noise and distractions surrounding the eight-game NJSIAA suspension served by Austin Whitehurst for improper contact with a player from another school. Whitehurst remains sidelined while the school works out other issues with the NJSIAA, but believes he could return later this year.

With assistant Victor Verdecia, the Trojans have done well, winning five straight before a 76-72 setback Tuesday at Piscataway, whose coach Bob Turco left Aquinas after last season. Returning senior Aiden Ur leads the charge with 15.3 points per game, second on the team with triples with 14. Junior Dan Jennings – a transfer in the off-season from St. Joseph-Metuchen, who didn’t have to sit because it was his first transfer – is averaging a hair under 10 points per game, with a team-best 17 treys.

Click below to hear previews of Thursday’s game with both head coaches:

Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez with Vin Ebenau
St. Thomas Aquinas assistant coach Victor Verdecia with Mike Pavlichko

by Mike Pavlichko

Derkack joins 1,000-point club, scores 32 to power No. 1 Colonia past Piscataway

Coming into this season, Colonia was well aware it would have a target on its back.

Three-time North 2, Group 3 champions, last year’s GMC Tournament champions, and a star in junior Aiden Derkack.

So, naturally, Piscataway jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead over the Patriots, and while No. 1 Colonia eventually took the lead – and never gave it away again – it was still a ten-point game at halftime, and well within reach.

Derkack had 22 of his team’s 36 halftime points, but after the break, his surrounding cast upped its play, and Colonia won going away, 80-61, as heard on Central Jersey Sports Radio, to improve to 2-0.

It was the season opener for Piscataway and new coach Bob Turco, who came over from St. Thomas Aquinas in the spring; the Chiefs fell to 0-1.

Derkack finished with 32, and during a timeout in the third quarter, a short while after he passed 1,000 on a two-pointer (he needed 28 to get there, and the basket gave him 29), he was recognized over the PA, drawing a hand not only from the large Colonia contingent on hand, but also the Piscataway side.

Watch as Piscataway recognizes Colonia’s Aiden Derkack on scoring his 1,000th career point.

And there were some big names on the Colonia side, too, including Rutgers’ Jordan Derkack, Aiden’s older brother, who transferred from Merrimack to join the Scarlet Knights. Madison Chiera – Colonia’s all-time leading scorer for a brief while, until she was passed be her friend and former teammate Taylor Derkack the next season- was on hand, as was former Rutgers star and fan favorite, Geo Baker, with whom Aiden has been training. (Taylor, Aiden’s sister, is still up at UMass, though she’s out for the season with an ACL tear.)

Jayce Rodriguez – coach Jose Rodriguez’s son, a freshman – finished with 13, including a trio of treys, while Dylan Chiera scored 11, also including three triples.

Click below for postgame reaction with Colonia junior Aiden Derkack and head coach Jose Rodriguez, presented by Sportsplex at Metuchen:

by Alec Crouthamel

Colonia looking to build off huge win over St. Peter’s when Patriots visit Piscataway in another battle of mentor vs. student

For Colonia, a long basketball season began on a high Saturday evening, taking down St. Peter’s Prep in an upset win at the New Jersey Basketball Coaches Tip-off Showcase in Montgomery. The 46-40 victory came after a slow start that saw the Patriots trail 16-7 after a quarter, only to tie it up at halftime.

Colonia doesn’t get much of a break in Game Two, however, as they travel up Route 287 to face off against a Piscataway team under new leadership at 5:30 pm. You can hear that game on Central Jersey Sports Radio with Mike Pavlichko and Alec Crouthamel on the call. Pregame starts at 5:15; click here to listen.

While Chiefs head coach Bob Turco is new to the school, Patriots head coach Jose Rodriguez is all too familiar with matching up against him.

Rodriguez played in high school at Carteret, where Turco was an assistant coach and his brother Dave was the head coach. Dave is now in his fifth season as the head coach at Kean University, where he looks for his fourth consecutive winning campaign.

Bob took over at Piscataway after six seasons at St. Thomas Aquinas, where Turco and Rodriguez faced off several times. That includes three games last season – all Patriots wins – punctuated by a 55-45 win in the GMC Tournament final to snap the Trojans’ streak of three consecutive titles.

While Turco may have a new home, the intensity remains unchanged. Colonia looks to move forward with several returning pieces from last year’s team, which won its first GMC Tournament since 2015, but its third straight North 2, Group 4 state sectional title.

The group includes star junior wing Aiden Derkack, who scored a game-high 23 points against the Marauders, but are without mainstay point guard Jaeden Jones, now playing football at Monmouth.

Derkack is just 28 points away from cracking the 1,000-point milestone.

Rodriguez says it has been a team effort to replace Jones, noting that multiple players have taken on roles that Jones would fill. That includes returning guards Dylan Chiera and RJ Wortman, as well as senior forward Zach Smith, as all three started against St. Peter’s Prep.

The main scoring load falls on Derkack’s shoulders, and he came through game in and game out last season and early on this season. Already receiving offers from high-major programs such as Miami (FL), TCU, Villanova, Providence, and Rutgers – where his older brother Jordan plays – the 6-foot-6 guard is the engine of Colonia’s offense with his athleticism and shooting prowess.

The Patriots will look to continue their strong start ahead of a pivotal season, with a familiar rival in a new place up next.

Click below to hear Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez talk about the team’s upset win over St. Peter’s Prep, and Thursday’s road matchup against Piscataway, with Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel: