| Date/Time: |
|
| Location: |
Higher seed hosts
|
| Score: |
66-34
|
| Winner: |
Colonia |
A team's first state-tournament game after it wins a county championship can be a character test.
It can come out brimming with confidence, or it can suffer a
letdown against an unfamiliar opponent.
For Colonia, No. 19 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, the answer
was obvious after one quarter.
With junior guard Justin Chiera scoring 21 points and
handing out six mostly spectacular assists, the Greater
Middlesex Conference champion turned in three
exceptional quarters of superb shooting, dominant
rebounding and smothering defense to come away with a
66-34 victory over North Hunterdon in the quarterfinal round
of the NJSIAA/First Union Central Jersey, Group 3
tournament last night in Colonia.
Colonia (20-4) shot 56.6 percent from the floor, hitting
better than half of its shots in every quarter, held North
Hunterdon (17-7) to 26-percent shooting and outrebounded
North Hunterdon, 39-22. Piana Lukabu finished with 12
rebounds and Chinedu Ibeh collected nine rebounds and
blocked five shots in the victory.
"We got off to a slow start," Chiera said of Colonia's 14-13
deficit after a quarter, "but it was just a matter of executing
plays and staying under control. We knew we could run
with them."
Chiera, the MVP of the recently concluded GMC
Tournament, connected on nine of 14 field-goal attempts
and only once missed as many as two shots in a row.
Will Beasley finished with 12 points for North Hunterdon,
the runner-up to Phillipsburg in the Hunterdon/Warren
Tournament.
"They banged us around in the early minutes of this
game," Colonia coach Ken Pace said of North Hunterdon,
a big, physical team. "Once we brought ourselves to that
level, we were fine."
For an extended stretch spanning from midway through the
second quarter until midway through the fourth, Colonia
outscored North Hunterdon, 37-7. Colonia led, 19-17, in the
second quarter when a layup by Lukabu triggered a 10-0
run that stretched into the second half. Rahameen Gartrell
followed in a miss, Chiera ended the first half with a difficult
driving bucket along the baseline, Derek DuBois drove for
two and Ibeh hit a layup for a 29-17 lead. Each of Colonia's
five starters had a basket in the run.
"I tried to get everyone involved for us," Chiera said.
"Everyone played well for us. I was finding guys open and
trying to keep everyone happy."
The defensive intensity and rebounding pleased Pace.
"The defense was very good," Pace said. "There were a lot
of one-and-dones, we had guys getting in the passing
lanes and getting on the boards. We contested the outside
shots well, too."
COLONIA (66): Gartrell 4-0-0-8, Ibeh 4-0-0-8, DuBois 3-0-0-
6, Lukabu 4-0-0-8, Chiera 8-1-2-21, Totin 0-1-2-5, Morgan
3-0-0-6, Wagner 0-0-0-0, Stoner 1-0-0-2, Ramnarai 1-0-0-2.
Totals: 28-2-4-66.
NORTH HUNTERDON (34): Mandelberg 0-0-0-0, Hegstron
2-0-1-5, Townsend 0-0-0-0, Farrow 0-0-0-0, Dilts 3-0-3-9,
Beasley 4-1-1-12, Roznowski 0-0-0- 0, Irwin 2-0-0-4, Ricco
1-0-0-2, Duh 0-0-2-2. Totals: 12-1-7-34.
Colonia (20-4)13 12 20 21 -- 66
North Hunterdon (17-7)14 3 5 12 -- 34 |
|
| Name: |
North Hunterdon
|
| Seed: |
6
|
(no notes entered)
|
