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Unlikely Heroes: Colts Neck Wins 1st Title Since 2016

Matt Manley|March 7, 2025|Last Updated March 7, 2025

COLTS NECK — All of the elements that have defined the best version of this year’s Colts Neck boys basketball team were on display Friday in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III championship game against Ewing: disciplined defense, ball security, unselfish play on offense, composure and 32 minutes of all-out effort.

When a championship is on the line, however, it also helps to have a secret weapon. After waiting for an opportunity to make an impact throughout his senior season, Nolan Duddy finally saw his chance to shine and didn’t miss the opportunity.

With Colts Neck’s starting five on top of its game and freshman Nate Sloane making an impact as the sixth man, Duddy delivered the offensive hammer in the form of four three-pointers for a game-high 12 points, helping the Cougars — the No. 4 seed in the Central Jersey Group III section — overwhelm No. 6 Ewing, 52-43, to give Colts Neck its first sectional title in nine years.

“These kids are unbelievable,” third-year Colts Neck head coach Steve Jannarone said. “They are a class act in the classroom, on the court — especially the four seniors who start. They do everything you ask.

“They live in the moment. They play for the moment, possession-for-possession. It’s every coach’s dream to have kids like this.”

Duddy played just two minutes in Colts Neck’s sectional semifinal win over Freehold Boro on Tuesday and his season high in a single game heading into Friday was five points. Duddy set a new career-high by halftime, hitting his first three-point attempt immediately after coming off the bench and drilling another to put the Cougars ahead, 22-14, in the second quarter.

“Once I hit one, then I hit two, I just get confidence and it translates to the game,” Duddy said. “After I hit that first one, I was just yelling and screaming. I was just feeling the moment, feeling the environment, because this is once-in-a-lifetime.”

“Nolan could always shoot it,” Jannarone said. “He had some health problems early in the year and had trouble finding his rhythm. But the last two days in practice, he was just stroking it. So, we played a hunch.

“He’s a senior, he’s been a part of this, the playing time wasn’t there, he stuck with it and when his number was called and he needed the opportunity, he delivered. This day and age, it is so unusual for a kid to have that character to stay with it and be ready when you need to be ready.”

Duddy’s hot-shooting did not cool off in the halftime locker room. The senior guard drained his third three to put Colts Neck up 37-25 in the final minute of the third quarter and capped his big night with a long three that put Colts Neck ahead, 40-31, after Ewing had pulled to within 37-31 during the first three minutes of the fourth quarter.

“At the beginning of the season, my body language was bad when I wasn’t getting the opportunity and these guys just kept telling me to stay ready because you never know when your time is going to come,” Duddy said. “It’s a great group of guys and I just kept telling myself to stay ready for when the team needs me.

“I can sometimes be the punching bag for the guys in practice, but I know that they love me and I know that have confidence in me. We have been playing for four years together, we trust each other, so it was great to have this moment. I wouldn’t want to do it with any other group of guys.”

Duddy came in as a shooting threat and stayed in while leading scorer Lukas Sloane battled foul trouble, giving Colts Neck production while its top offensive option had to ride out the foul trouble.

“I never had a doubt in my heart that anybody on that bench would come in and do their thing,” Sloane said. “In practice, he is always hitting it, so I knew he would come in and never take his foot off the gas.

“After he hit his second or third one, the middle was wide open, so we just kept working through that. So him hitting those shots and making them get extended, I think that literally won us the game.”

Four of the eight three-pointers in the game by both teams came off the finger tips of Duddy, whose pinpoint, 4-for-6 shooting night from beyond the arc helped Colts Neck keep Ewing’s defense on its heels. The Blue Devils featured a heavy zone look, and with Jannarone and his team ready to combat that defense, they knew Duddy could be their ace in the hole off the bench to shoot over top of Ewing’s defense.

“This is the first team all year that has played us with more than only a couple minutes of zone,” Jannarone said. “Nolan and our other guy, Jimmy (Novak) are our zone-busters, so we have been waiting all year for somebody to play zone. So, when we were watching film and they are playing a lot of 1-2-2, both of their eyes lit up. If Nolan wasn’t stroking it like he was, then Jimmy was going to get the shot and I have no doubt he would have hit some too.”

“We’ve talked about it all year,” Duddy said. “‘When they are in a zone, Duddy, be ready.’ That’s what (the coaches) tell me all the time. They went into a zone, I was ready, we delivered and I just punched it home.”

Even before Duddy saw the floor, Colts Neck got quality looks early on against Ewing’s defense — both in the paint and on the perimeter. Senior Dan Buoncore jump-started the Cougars with a steal and a layup to open the scoring, then drained the first three-ball of the game to give Colts Neck an 8-6 lead — one it would not give back.

The rest of the first quarter belonged to Lukas Sloane, who was coming off a 27-point performance vs. Freehold Boro on Tuesday night. Sloane scored eight points in the first quarter — all of which came in the paint against Ewing’s imposing senior front-line of senior Joel Cineus (6-foot6) and Leslie Summiel (6-4). With Sloane and Buoncore sparking the offense, Colts Neck led Ewing, 14-10 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second, it was Duddy and the defense that shared the spotlight. While Duddy’s two three-pointers accounted for most of the scoring by the Cougars in the second quarter, Colts Neck’s defense confounded Ewing, with the Cougars coming out in an aggressive man-to-man defense to start and also featuring a swarming 2-3 zone in each half.

By halftime, Colts Neck led the Blue Devils, 24-16, and the offensive numbers for Ewing were not pretty: 31 percent shooting (8-for-26) from the field, 0-for-9 from three-point range, 0-for-8 from the free-throw line and eight turnovers. For the game, Colts Neck held Ewing to 33 percent shooting for the game (18-for-54), 2-for-16 from beyond the three-point arc and forced 16 turnovers. Ewing also aided Colts Neck by finishing 5-for-21 from the foul line and, at one point, was 2-for-18 before hitting its last three.

“It all starts with our defense,” junior point guard Dillon Younger said. “Hopewell didn’t score in the entire fourth quarter against us (in the sectional quarterfinals). We have been locking teams up in the fourth and I think it’s because everyone wants it, everyone is playing as hard as they can.”

Colts Neck celebrates its Central Jersey NJSIAA Group III championship. (Photo: Matt Manley) - Colts Neck CJ 3 Champs

Colts Neck celebrates its Central Jersey NJSIAA Group III championship. (Photo: Matt Manley)

Colts Neck was in control of the game heading into the fourth quarter, at which point Ewing showed its first signs of life since jumping out to a 6-2 lead to open the game. The Blue Devils scored the first six points of the quarter to cut Colts Neck’s lead to 37-31, and it could have been cut to five, but junior guard Terrance Traylor missed a free throw while attempting to complete a three-point play.

Duddy answered with his fourth three-pointer to make it 40-31, but Ewing clawed back to within five on another basket by Traylor as he was fouled. Traylor once again missed the free throw and Ewing remained down, 40-35, while boasting a horrific 2-for-17 performance from the free-throw line to that point.

With Ewing inching closer, Colts Neck settled down and executed on offense. Younger handled Ewing’s pressure defense and found senior Jack Freid for a layup to push the lead back to 42-35. Cineus answered with another second-chance layup for Ewing, which was the last basket Cineus made before fouling out. The 6-6 senior entered the game averaging 15.3 points and 9.4 rebounds to lead the Blue Devils and finished Friday’s game with nine points, five rebounds and three blocked shots while dealing with foul trouble for almost all of the second half. Cineus picked up his fourth foul with 26 seconds left in the third quarter and was in and out of the lineup in the fourth before fouling out with 1:28 left and his team trailing, 44-37.

Colts Neck got to 44 on the scoreboard when Sloane hit Freid for another layup and Cineus’s fifth foul began the march to the free-throw line over the final 1:28. During those final 88 seconds of game clock, Colts Neck went 8-for-14 from the line, which was enough to keep the Blue Devils at arm’s length.

“We knew we were undersized, we knew they were going come at us and press us,” Younger said. “The game plan was to just stay poised. We have always been poised. The last couple of games, we have been poised in the fourth quarter. We’re a tough team and people are finding that out.”

Sloane finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists to lead Colts Neck’s starters, while Buoncore poured in 10 points. Freid scored all four of his points in the fourth quarter and senior Bryce Belcher had a quiet offensive game with four points, but was huge again on defense. The 6-3 senior battled Ewing’s big men all game long and took three charges to go with five rebounds and a blocked shot.

“We prepared for their pressure in practice,” Lukas Sloane said. “They run that 2-2-1 and the 1-3-1 and we just went over it in practice until we felt comfortable and that made a huge difference.”

Younger, meanwhile, was once again a steady presence at point guard for the Cougars against a defense with a reputation for forcing turnovers with its press. He was also instrumental on the glass, leading Colts Neck’s five-man rebounding effort that countered Ewing’s front-court size advantage with a heavy rebounding effort from the Cougars guards. Younger finished with six points, 11 rebounds and three assists.

“We knew we had to box out that team,” Younger said. “They are big, they have six-four, six-five, six-six. We were giving up some height but we have five guys who all find a man, box out and go after the ball.”

While Younger has not put up robust scoring numbers in the postseason, Colts Neck might not be celebrating a championship without Younger’s scoring, never mind his point-guard play. In Colts Neck’s 40-38 quarterfinal win over Hopewell Valley, Younger grabbed an offensive rebound in the final seconds and scored on the putback as time expired to give his team the win and keep the season alive for his senior teammates.

“He is the most underrated player in the Shore,” Jannarone said of Younger. “The way he controls the game — he made two mistakes all game — against all that pressure, he is just as cool as a cucumber. It all starts with him. If you can’t handle the pressure, this is a 40-point (loss). That’s pressure.”

Traylor led Ewing with 10 points, while junior Kris Thomas matched Cineus with nine points for the Blue Devils, who were seeking their first sectional title since 2017.

Colts Neck advances to the Group III semifinals Tuesday at Deptford High School, where the Cougars will face South Jersey champion Ocean City with a spot in the Group III final on the line. Colts Neck has never played in a group championship game.

“We have a long time until Tuesday,” Lukas Sloane said. “We’re going to celebrate this one for a little bit and we’ll make sure we’re ready.

 

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