Wells, Obertan, and Coleman Lift Mustangs Past Chargers
| J.F. Kennedy’s Kobie Wells led the way with a game high 20 points as the Mustangs knocked off ninth ranked Spotswood in a GMC Blue Clash on Friday evening. |
SPOTSWOOD, NJ–Like many teams in the GMC Blue and Gold Divisions, the J.F. Kennedy Mustangs had to rebuild a bit with young talent after losing key players to graduation from the year before. It showed early on in the season as the Mustangs lost 6 of their first 7 games including a 12 point loss at home to Spotswood, where the Chargers jumped out to a 26-10 first quarter lead. Kennedy made sure that Spotswood didn’t have any such outburst in the opening period this time.
Led by junior big man, Pete Obertan, who scored 16 of JFK’s 20 points on five field goals and two threes, the Mustangs only trailed by only two points after one. Then, despite Obertan suffering an injury in the second period, the Mustangs put together a 9-2 run at the start of the second capped by a Tamaj Coleman three for a 32-29 lead at the 5:30 mark. From there, Kennedy would either stay within striking distance, or have the lead for the rest of the game as fellow junior, Kobie Wells scored 20 points and Tamaj Coleman added 14 to lead the Mustangs to a 70-65 upset of the 9th ranked Chargers at The SAC.
Senior forward Kush Patel stepped up in Obertan’s absence by scoring 9 points, and junior Kyle Heaney added 6 off the bench. Eric Dadika led Spotswood in a losing cause by equaling Wells for game high with 20 points while Marlon Hart came within a point of 1,000 for his career with a 16 point effort. J.T. Vento and Andrew Fuzesi also scored in double figures for the Chargers with 12 and 10 points respectively. Spotswood only had six players get into the books though as Vinny Guardiola contributed with 5 while Dan Newton added a field goal for two points. Kennedy had seven different players score as Christian Pincon chipped in with 4 and Sears added two. JFK’s bench outscored Spotswood by a 10-6 margin.
The Mustangs and Chargers each had five threes, but Kennedy outscored Spotswood by a 18-16 margin from the line. JFK went 18 of 25 from the charity stripe while Spotswood went 16 of 20. Wells was 10 of 13 by himself from the line including 9 of 11 in the fourth while Dadika and Hart accounted for all of the Chargers’ foul shots. Kennedy also enjoyed a 38-34 edge in points scored inside the arc. Another key difference in the second half was the team fouls in the second half with Spotswood having 14 while J.F. Kennedy had 8. After being outscored in the opening period, the Mustangs outscored the Chargers in each of the last three quarters.
The first period, Spotswood and J.F. Kennedy combined for 42 points with the Chargers taking a 22-20 lead into the second. Spotswood had four field goals, three treys, and made all five of its free throws while Kennedy had seven field goals and two threes. Andrew Fuzesi and Eric Dadika each scored 6 points for the Chargers while Obertan had a monster first period with 80 percent of the Mustangs. Wells and Patel had the two other field goals for the visitors in the first. After putting together a pivotal 9-2 spurt to take the lead, Kennedy added four of the next five points including a layup by Carlton Sears to finish off a 16-8 spurt for a 36-30 lead midway through the second.
Spotswood would draw to within a point at the half, and took the lead to start the third, but the Mustangs answered with 9 unanswered points for a 47-38 lead. Following a timeout by the Chargers, they rallied by scoring 7 of the last 9 points of the period including two field goals by Vento, a bucket by Fuzesi, and one of two from the foul line by Hart to pull within three at 49-46 heading into the fourth. J.F. Kennedy opened the fourth on a 6-2 spurt including two scores by Patel for a 55-48 lead before calling a timeout with 5:10 remaining. The Chargers narrowed the deficit to five at 57-52 by scoring four of the next six including a layup by Vento at the 4:24 mark. Spotswood couldn’t get any closer though as JFK scored 6 of the next 7 including a traditional three point play by Wells for his only field goal of the fourth and a 62-53 lead with 3:11 to go.
Led by Eric Labella, who scored a layup off a slick cross court pass by Dadika at the 2:23 mark, and connected on a three from the left corner with 29.5 seconds left, the Chargers closed within two possessions again at 68-62. J.F. Kennedy were never threatened though as it went on to win, 70-65. With the victory, the Mustangs improved to 6-8 overall and pulled within a game of Spotswood at 5-2 in the GMC Blue. Meanwhile, the Chargers, which hadn’t played for a stretch of a week and a half before defeating Carteret on Wednesday, dropped to 14-2 overall and 6-1 in divisional play. Both teams return to action next week with Spotswood hosting South River on Monday evening while J.F. Kennedy hosts Hightstown on Tuesday evening.