Sophomore Aiden Derkack had a monster game for Colonia, which played in honor of assistant coach Danny Brix in a 72-33 victory over Fort Lee.

COLONIA – After winning the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament, Colonia shifted its focus toward winning a state section title. For the Patriot players, their focus was solely on basketball until an incredibly unfortunate tragedy struck. Assistant coach Danny Brix suddenly passed away on Wednesday at the age of 30, sending shockwaves through the program and the community. To say it has been a trying time amongst the halls of Colonia High School is an understatement.

After postponing their state tournament game against Fort Lee on Thursday, the Patriots knew the only way to honor Brix, a former star at St. Joseph’s (Metuchen) and Stonehill College, was to play the way he would have wanted them to. Playing with passion, toughness, and for one another, their star tandem led the way.

Two steals by senior captain Jaeden Jones led to two dunks by talented 6-foot-6 sophomore Aiden Derkack during a 24-1 run that broke the game wide open as third-seeded Colonia cruised to a 72-33 victory over No. 14 seed Fort Lee at Colonia High School.

“Coach Brix would have wanted us to play together and play the game the right way,” said Derkack. “We wanted to win this game and we want to win this section for him.”

It was a three-point game midway through the first quarter before a fadeaway jumper by Derkack was followed by a 3-pointer by Dylan Chiera to bump the lead up to eight. Fort Lee’s Devin Jang scored on a drive to the basket to open the second quarter, but the Patriots responded emphatically.

Devin Jang finished with a game-high 12 points for Fort Lee.

“It understandably took some time for us to deal with the emotion of the past few days and for us to get settled,” said Colonia head coach Jose Rodriguez. “Once we settled in, we started flying around and getting deflections. It’s a great credit to our kids, especially Aiden and Jaeden. Those two got a bunch of steals at the top of the press and had the ball in their hands most of the time on offense. We did a great job today of playing the passing lanes and making the right decisions when we ran our offense.”

They went to a 1-2-2 full-court press that absolutely smothered the Bridgemen. With his length, Derkack caused havoc at the top of the press with Jones being the beneficiary by getting one weak-side steal after another. It often led to layups or dunks by Derkack, who had 14 points in the second quarter alone as Colonia was in full control by halftime, 40-12.

“It was really hard at the start of the game considering the circumstances, but we had to start forcing the tempo in the second quarter,” added Derkack. “We got some turnovers that led to baskets and we played well in the half-court too. Passing up good shots for great shots is what our coaching staff always preaches. Fort Lee had no similar opponents to us. It was a good thing though because we had to focus on what we do. We knew if we came out with energy and played together that we’d play well.”

Dylan Chiera and Colonia will host Mendham in the quarterfinals.

Derkack finished with game-highs of 22 points along with career-highs of 16 rebounds and six assists along with four steals for Colonia (19-8). Jones finished with 17 points along with a game-high six steals, four of which came during the 24-1 second-quarter run. Zachary Smith added 10 points and Chiera had six for the Patriots. Jang led the way for Fort Lee (10-15) with 12 points.

Playing with heavy hearts, Colonia will take the court again in the North 2, Group 3 quarterfinals on Tuesday against the No. 6 seed Mendham. With the inspiration of playing for the beloved Brix on their collective minds, the Patriots are determined to finish their season with at least section title.

“We want to keep this going for (Brix) as far as we can go,” said Rodriguez. “We’ve played a really hard schedule and that is to prepare us for runs in the counties and states. This team has been exposed to so many different styles of play that at this point in the season, you may see different things from different teams but you’re not going to see anything new. You’re familiar with what you’re going to see out there, and you must adapt to it.”

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