On Thursday, January 5th, the Colonia boys varsity basketball team faced the New Brunswick Zebras on a night to remember with a final score of 47-42 in favor of the Patriots.
With a record of 2-3, the Colonia boys came in determined to bring home a win as they were to face New Brunswick who, with a record of 1-4, were looking for a major turnaround in their season. With back to back turnovers and dedicated fans, the Patriots managed to get away with a close win as the Zebras closed in to tie the game 42-42 in the late quarter. In spite of their come back, the Zebras allowed mindless mistakes that costed them the game.
New Brunswick’s Senior point guard, Curtis Revan, practically carried the team on his back, and averaged a total of 17 points in the game. Although the Zebras had significant key players such as the impressive freshman, Ahyan Brown-Miller, it was not enough to take down the Patriots. “We had a good practice and we knew New Brunswick was a good team. We had a good shoot around coming in Wednesday and went over everything. We knew what we had to do with our match ups and everything else,” Junior, Frankie Lehman, spoke out after an impressive outcome.
The Patriots lead three out of four quarters with the Zebras on their backs through every minute of the game. Lehman, the starting point guard, impressively stood out as every shot or play he managed to make, almost certainly turned into a point in favor of Colonia. “I felt good,” Lehman explained, “I felt like we could’ve definitely put them away earlier, but I’m happy we actually came out with the win,” Lehman finished saying. Junior, Timmy Carroll, the highest scorer in the game, averaged 16 points in the game as Junior, Kristian Chapman, amazing agility and will to score ticked off the Zebras and undoubtedly made a difference in the game.
Junior, Kristian Chapman, gets ready to walk up to the line of free throws after being fouled by the New Brunswick Zebras.
The fans most definitely got in the heads of most players as it constantly motivated Colonia, but teared down New Brunswick with every chant. In spite of the fact that the Zebras lead the Patriots in the second quarter, Colonia came back strong in the third quarter, leading by nearly 10 points. The Zebras would not let down as they managed to tie in the fourth quarter and silence the crowd with five minutes left. “It was concerning, we had a chance to put them away. It wasn’t our plan (to let the Zebras catch up) but we still came out with the win,” Lehman added. New Brunswick’s fire would soon extinguished with a foul against them that would allow Carroll a free throw to get ahead with only one point.
The crowd blow the stage off as the Zebras got the ball back with only a minute left in the game. knowing they only needed a two pointer to win, they took their time, but a mistake by a Zebra caused a turnover as he accidentally steps out of bounds. Colonia got the ball back but desperate New Brunswick needed to make point with only seconds left, and managed to foul once again, allowing Lehman to finish the game, or as they say, put the icing on the cake with two free throws. Colonia proudly defeats resilient New Brunswick and withstand their fire enough to put them out for a win in the books.
