Patriots prepare for their toughest test yet
BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer

COLONIA - The Colonia High School basketball team is ready for a tall order this week in its yearly meeting with state powerhouse Voorhees.

The two teams will square off at 1 p.m. Saturday in Voorhees.

"We play them every year just before the county tournament, and it's a good warm-up game for both teams," Colonia head coach Tom Chmiel said. "They are a very good team with unbelievable depth. They're super-quick and they have everything. It should be a good test for us and a good game to get us tournament-ready."

Prior to the trip south to Voorhees, the Patriots opened the week with a road game in Monroe on Tuesday. After Tuesday's match-up, Colonia is back in town for its final home game to celebrate Senior Night in a 7 p.m. meeting with South Plainfield tomorrow.

The Patriots enter this week's action currently 12-5 on the season. The team picked up wins last week over Middlesex, JFK and Sayreville to stretch its winning streak to four games.

After the 53-41 win over Middlesex, Colonia got 26 points from First Team All Conference and All Division selection Tiffany McDaniel to defeat JFK, 50-34. JFK's Jessica Lopes dumped in 22 points in the loss.

The team ended the week with an impressive win over Sayreville by a 50-46 score. Once again, McDaniel held the hot hand and finished with 20 points. The scoring machine's high-mark this season was a 30-point performance.

Brittany Morgan was also pivotal in the team's win with a 12-point performance.

"Brittany was hot from the corners and knocked down some big shots in the first half," Chmiel said. "She really got us going offensively."

The Patriots came out on fire to build a 29-16 half-time lead, but the second-half performance from Sayreville proved the contest was far from over after just two quarters of basketball.

"We started off very well," Chmiel said. "Sayreville's team is well coached and they stayed in the game. They started making all kinds of shots in the second half and they outplayed us in the second half, but we were able to hang on."

Sayreville's Holly Miara led the team with 17 points in the loss as Sayreville fell to 8-10 on the season.

"Miara got hot and had a dozen points in the third quarter," Chmiel said. "Sayreville stayed hot in the fourth quarter, with Erica Latz knocking down a couple of threes for them."

Fortunately for Colonia, senior Rosalyn Martin scored seven points in the final quarter to help hold off a surging Sayreville team. Martin and sophomore point guard Sasha Hall were named to the Second Team All Division lineup earlier this week by area coaches.

"Sasha doesn't score a lot of points, but we count on her to set everybody up and she does a nice job," Chmiel said. "Our other younger players, Simone Smith and Nicole Aquila, are also having nice seasons. Simone is a good rebounder and she can block shots for us, while Nicole helps out a great deal as the first player off the bench. They will be very good players as they gain more experience."