Colonials achieved their season goals
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
For a basketball program trying to find its way, just making the postseason can be enough.

Coming off a 6-17 campaign the year before, Freehold Borough's boys couldn't be blamed if being .500 at the cutoff date for the NJSIAAstate playoffs amounted to success. But, it wasn't.

"We can't be satisfied playing in the Shore Conference and state tournaments," said Colonial head coach Ben DiBiase.

The Colonials wanted to do more than just play in the postseason, they wanted to make an impact, and that's exactly what they did.

They were one of the stories of the Shore Conference Tournament (SCT). They won two games to advance to the SCT quarterfinals. The Colonials took out Red Bank Catholic, 60-53, in their preliminary round game at home.ChristianGarcia (14) andAndrewGerbehy (13) combined for 27 points in the win.

Next, the Colonials knocked off their crosstown rivals, the defending champion andNo. 3 seed, Freehold Township Patriots, in a thriller, 63-61.

Lance McKenzie's quick hands were the difference as he snatched victory in the final two seconds.He stole the ball under the Pats' basket and scored on a layup as the buzzer sounded, sending theColonials quarterfinals at Brookdale Community College (BCC) and the Pats' home.

Garcia led a balanced Colonial attack with 15.McKenzie had 13 (all in the second half) and Gerbehy had 12 and Brandon Carter had 10.

The run ended at the hands of Colts Neck, 58-45, of Feb. 17 at BCC.

"We had two nice wins," said DiBiase. "It was a great experience for us and our program. We're moving in the right direction.

"We very disappointed we lost, but, we played very well," he added.

Freehold Borough carried that SCT experience over to theCentral JerseyGroup III tournament where the Colonials beat Hopewell Valley, 52-43, in the first round.

The young Colonials (only one senior in the rotation) have established home-court dominance this season and used it to hold off Hopewell Valley.

McKenzie came upwith a career-high 23 points to pace the Colonials. The sophomore seemed to make every big shot when Hopewell Valley was threatening.

Garcia, also a sophomore, chipped in with 11 as the Colonialsmoved on to a quarterfinal date atMiddletown South on Thursday night.

The Eagles used a 17-7 third quarter to break the game open and went on to post a 50-33 win over the Colonials.

While the 19-6 Eagles went to the semifinals, the Colonials (16-12) were left to reflect on how much progress they made this winter. Theywent froma six-win teamto 16 wins. They achieved all their goals including more than just showing up for the postseason. The Colonials are set for more postseason play with Garcia and McKenzie just sophomores. As DiBiase pointed out, Freehold Borough "is headed in the right direction."