The Shore Conference Tournament is going to pick up stream today. Tonight there’s going to be real excitement across the Shore Conference. This is when teams and players start to separate themselves from the crowd. This is when all the talk ends and the playing settles all scores and disagreements. This is when the best shine the brightest. This is when everyone starts taking stock and talking about who the best players are playing in the SCT. Your going to hear all about Madison St. Rose and Zoe Brooks. Your going to hear people talking about when Justine Pissott will return. You’ll hear about all the great freshman left in the event. You’ll hear about all the great coaches remaining in the event. But I doubt you will hear very much about one of the best players in the event. I doubt you will hear about the player who has been clutch all year. I doubt you will hear much about the player who may have had more to do with her teams turn around than any player in the entire state of New Jersey. That’s because GRACE COLUCCI has never gotten her due this year. But make no mistake she has been as good as it gets this season.
When Grace Colucci dropped 20 points on Middletown South in the 2nd game of the season this year. It didn’t get much notice. There were no belles and whistles that went off. When RFH was struggling early in the season. Many believed their season was quickly going down the tubes. When they lost to Ranney and Trinity everyone thought the season was a wrap. But you know what nobody was paying attention too. Doing those hard times Grace Colucci was playing well. In fact she was just getting started. She was just setting the table for one of the best runs in the shore conference by a shooting guard. You see folks love to label players these days. There love calling players things like superstars and role players. Many have tried to call Grace Colucci a role player this year. Well Grace Colucci is a lot of things folks but one of them is not a role player. That’s because these days Grace Colucci is a prime time player. One of the best lacing them up in the Shore Conference.
The term stepping up is used the moment a kid has a good game these days. So if that’s the case what do we call what Grace Colucci is doing this year? One giant step for mankind… the ultimate step? The biggest step. Maybe we can just call the “the greatest step” because what Grace Colucci has done this year has saved RFH’s season and there is no other way to put it. That’s because it’s been Grace Colucci who has been sensational during RFH’s return to glory. She has been a gift from the heavens. Not because she dropped 20 in the biggest showcase of the year vs St. Thomas Aquinas, not because she went off vs Trinity Hall when RFH got revenge after losing earlier in the season. She got rid of Trinity Hall early by banging out jumpers like it was her birth right. She has 18 on the night and she made it look easy. When she stuffed the box score vs then Top 20 Holmdel with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 dimes and 3 steals. It was just another days work at the office for Colucci, she just makes it look so easy and makes it so easy for her teammates. When she went to work on St Rose with another double figures scoring game. Just for laughs she went to work on the St. Rose guards defensively as well. You see these are just some of the stats and numbers she is putting up night after night. But the real story is that she has elevated her teammates. She has made her teammates believe. She has given her teammates a comfort blanket, something they game lean on every night…. AND THAT IS #3 IN YOUR PROGRAM AND #1 IN YOUR BULLDOG HEART…..GRACE COLUCCI.
The talk around the Shore is about other players not Grace. Heck, she isn’t even the star of her own team. That crown belongs to Julia Cosentino these days. But Grace Colucci has been playing in the shadows since her freshman year. It’s just now she has become of the best players in the Shore Conference. She’s just not getting her due. But she no longer cares, that’s because she has never gotten her due. This is nothing new to Grace Colucci. She has lots of practice when it come to getting overlooked. But it’s really hard to overlook her what she is doing this season. It seems the bigger the game this year and the more of a impact she has had. If you really want to know the key to her success turn on a RFH video one day. Watch the pride in which she plays both sides of the ball with. Watch and appreciate that there are still great shooters who are unselfish. Watch the way she communicates with her teammates. Notice the leadership, confidence and competitive nature. Yeah, Grace Collucci doesn’t get her due but at this point does it really matter? What matter is that she knows her impact, her teammates know her impact and her coaches know her impact….EVERYONE ELSE CAN GO KICK ROCKS!
Tonight Ranney and RFH are going to due battle again. Everyone is going to talking about stepping up, Grace Colucci has already done that a long time ago… she will be thinking about something else…WINNING. Tonight Grace Colucci will do whatever it takes to win. It may be shooting, defense, rebounding or passing. You see Grace Colucci is on a mission. She knows that everyone counted she and her teammates out a month ago. Now she wants to end her final SCT on a high note. Then she wants to win a Group 2 state title. If she does all this, she knows she still may not get her due. But my gut tells me Grace Colucci, can care less about those things that’s because…..SHE’S USED TO US TURNING OUR BACK TO HER GREATNESS.
THIS IS WHERE EVERY KID SHOULD BE THIS WEEKEND…