Tag: Taylor Derkack

by Mike Pavlichko

Derkack’s stellar season continues family legacy, earns Colonia star CJSR Girls’ Player of the Year

The Derkack name was already well-known in Colonia, but it’s undergoing a renaissance, so-to-speak.

Gene, who played in the early-/mid-’90s for the Patriots, made his mark thirty years ago. Now, it’s his kids’ turn.

Son Jordan is tearing it up at Merrimack. His younger son, Aiden, is a star for the boys’ program, but the rest of his story is yet to be written. This moment belongs to Taylor Derkack, who just capped a memorable career for the Colonia girls’ squad and ,for her efforts this season, is the Central Jersey Sports Radio Player of the Year for 2023-24.

There are few better than Taylor Derkack, who next heads to UMass, and graduates with 2,062 points scored. She’s the all-time leading scorer in Colonia basketball history, girls or boys. That’s quite the feat, when you look at the names on both lists. She’s also just the ninth player in Middlesex County girls’ hoops history to surpass the 2,000-point mark.

Interestingly, the player she passed this year was Matti Chiera, with whom Taylor has played on the hardwood since they were ten years old. That dynamic duo led the Patriots two seasons ago to their first-ever divisional title – in the GMC White – and their first ever GMC Tournament finals berth last year.

With Chiera gone – now at William Paterson – there could have easily been a dropoff. But Taylor carried the team on her back many nights this year, the target of every opposing team’s defensive game plan. Few were able to much against her, which made her efforts this year even more impressive, more than any other single player in the GMC or Skyland Conference.

Taylor Derkack (left) as a freshman and Matti Chiera as a sophomore for Colonia girls’ basketball. The pair played together since they were ten years old. (Source: @ctowngirlshoops on Twitter)

Others may be as talented, or maybe more so. But the Player of the Year isn’t just about talent. It’s about leadership, on and off the court, making others around you better, the will to win, and actually getting it done. And Taylor Derkack did that better than anyone this year, leading the Patriots – who finished 22-9, their second 20-win campaign in three seasons – to a second straight GMC Tournament finals appearance, as well as a berth in the North 2, Group 3 final.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Mike Pavlichko talk with 2023-24 Player of the Year Taylor Derkack of Colonia:

by Alec Crouthamel

Taylor Derkack leads Colonia to GMCT Semifinal victory, ends Middlesex’s Cinderella run

When second-seeded Colonia felt some pressure in the second half, they leaned on one of the program’s all-time players to a 56-40 victory over Middlesex, the Greater Middlesex County Tournament’s 14-seed on a Cinderella run.

Taylor Derkack, the school’s all-time leading scorer, put up a game-high 27 points and contributed in almost every possible way to help bring the Patriots to its second consecutive GMC Tournament final. She racked up numerous rebounds, blocks, and steals to stifle the Blue Jays’ resurgent offense and build a wire-to-wire lead throughout the entire game.

Colonia (19-7) will look to avenge its 49-42 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas in last year’s GMC Tournament final, and will have a chance to do so depending on if the Trojans take down Monroe in the other semifinal game. The Patriots played their best basketball in the first half, opening up a 36-15 lead at halftime. Freshman Hailey Conklin was the Patriots’ other double-digit scorer, putting up 15 points.

For Middlesex (15-12), star junior Jess Devine led the way with 21 points, including scoring all 16 of the Blue Jays’ points in the third quarter. Their season ends in the semifinals after a huge tournament run in head coach Stew Lester’s first season.

Click below for postgame reaction from Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Alec Crouthamel with Colonia head coach Sandi Chiera and senior Taylor Derkack:

by Mike Pavlichko

Rutgers Prep’s Blakes earns back-to-back CJSR Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year Honors

It’s rare for a sophomore to be named a Player of the Year in high school basketball, and that’s just what Mikayla Blakes of Rutgers Prep did last year. Which, of course, begs the question, “What do you do for an encore?”

Answer: You do it again.

Blakes – now a junior – had another fantastic season for Rutgers Prep, the clear leader of the ballclub. As she went, Prep went. And they “went” to the tune of a 25-5 record, third straight Somerset County Tournament title, second straight Non-Public South B sectional title, and a clean sweep of the Bellamy & Son Paving Top Ten’s No. 1 ranking all year, making it 28 straight weeks over three seasons.

Individually, Blakes scored 660 points on the season, by far and away not only the team’s leader, averaging 22 per game, but also the top-scorer in the CJSR area. She also led the Lady Argonauts in threes (75), free throws made (131, shooting a cool 85-percent from the line), assists (99) and steals (97).

Rutgers Prep junior Mikayla Blakes runs the point against Wildwood Catholic in the Non-Public South B Final at Seneca High School in Medford Lakes on March 1, 2023. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Not only did she score in double figures every game – now on a 34-game streak including her last four postseason games last year – but she scored 20 or more in 21 out of 30 games this season, and topped 30 three times, with a career-high 35 at against Gill St. Bernard’s on January fifth.

But many seem to gloss over Blakes’ defensive prowess. She always seems to be in a passing lane, or forcing a bad pass into the hands of one of her teammates. That’s what makes her an all-around player, and the 2023 Central Jersey Sports Radio Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year.

We also have some honorable mentions. Scroll down to read more.

Click below to hear Central Jersey Sports Radio’s Dom Savino talk with our Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year, Rutgers Prep junior guard Mikayla Blakes:

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Jessica Cooper, St. Thomas Aquinas: You could pick from a lot of great players on the Trojans – including Leah Crosby, who’s won GMCT MVP two years running as a sophomore – but the senior forward gets the nod here. She not only led the team in scoring this year at 12.6 points per game, and rebounding at ten per game, but was a model of consistency, nearly a double-double every night out. In fact, she had 18 in 29 games this season, and a stretch of nine that spanned from mid-January into early February. Cooper will be attending Albany next year on scholarship.

St. Thomas Aquinas forward Jessica Cooper takes a baseline jumper against East Brunswick in the 2022 GMC Tournament semis. (Photo: Dom Savino)

Neysa Aguilar, Middlesex: All due respect to the rest of her Blue Jay teammates, Middlesex doesn’t reach the Central Jersey Group 1 title game without Aguilar. The senior brought it every night, scoring 577 points on the year – an average of 19.9 a game – both good for second best in the GMC. She was also their top rebounder at 7.3 a game while racking up 95 steals, impressive enough except that sophomore Jessica Devine – who’ll take the wheel next year – had a whopping 172.

Middlesex senior Neysa Aguilar gets set to step into a three – one of a career-best seven she hit en route to a career-high 30 point night on Senior Night against North Plainfield on January 31, 2023. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Taylor Derkack, Colonia: The Patriots didn’t have the team year they wanted in 2022-23, after a program year a season ago, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort by the junior who wears No. 4 on her back, but finished No. 1 in Middlesex County in scoring, with 603 points, an average of 21.5 per game. She blew past the 1,000-point mark this year, and should pass graduating dynamic duo teammate Matti Chiera’s all-time school mark of 1,514 next year. She’s just 179 points behind, and 665 away from 2,000. After scoring 603 this year, that could be within reach.

Colonia’s Taylor Derkack holds the ball in the GMC Tournament Girls’ Championship Game against St. Thomas Aquinas on February 18, 2023 at Monroe Township High School. The Patriots won their opening round state playoff game Monday night. (Photo: Mike Pavlichko)

Casey Miller, Bound Brook: Miller capped a great career with the Crusaders with a 520-point season, to put here in the 1,000-point club, finishing her four-year varsity career with 1,126 points. Even as the Crusaders slumped to an 11-14 campaign, she was out there night after night putting up big numbers, trying to will her team to a win. She averaged 20.8 points a game – second only to Prep’s Blakes – scoring in double figures in all but two games, but topping 30 four times, scoring a career-high 34 in a late January road win against a ranked North Plainfield club.

Casey Miller of Bound Brook (Source: Assistant Coach Lacey Meyer @laceymeyer on Twitter)
by Mike Pavlichko

Colonia girls are already the best in program history, and soon they’ll have a banner to prove it

In just her third season in Colonia – though her ties go deeper than that – Sandi Chiera has transformed Patriots girls’ basketball.

At 18-2, with their only coming losses out of conference, Colonia is on the verge of sweeping the White Division, earning a title that has eluded the program since its inception.

The stellar season – which continues tonight when they face JFK, but likely will go deep into the Greater Middlesex Conference and state tournaments – was made possible by Chiera, a core group of seniors, and two younger players who lead the team in scoring and get a lot of attention, even if there should be plenty to go around.

Sophomore Taylor Derkack leads the team in scoring with 17.4 per game, nearly nine rebounds, and four-plus assists per game, not to mention a team-leading and whopping 88 steals. Junior Mattison Chiera – yes, the coach’s daughter – is averaging 16.4 points per game, and nearly seven rebounds, also leading the team with 42 treys.

Colonia’s Taylor Derkack (l) and Mattison Chiera (submitted photo)

All that has combined with great “D” – and seniors Kennedy Goncalves, Anaissa Ruiz and Francesca Rosario – to make Colonia the basketball program it is today: 18-2 with more greatness to come.

Click below for an audio story on Colonia’s 2021-22 season, and prospects for the future: