Huge 2nd Quarter Spurs Barrons Past Kennedy
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| Woodbridge’s Quran Robinson fires up the first of his six treys on the night in the first quarter of the Barrons 83-42 victory over J.F. Kennedy on Thursday night. Robinson finished with a game high 22 points. |
WOODBRIDGE, NJ–While its rivals in the Greater Middlesex Conference’s White Division have been fighting amongst themselves, Woodbridge has managed to stay above the frey by winning its first six games prior to its contest versus crosstown rival J.F. Kennedy on Thursday night.
Make that seven straight wins now. After a back and forth first quarter that saw both the Barrons and Mustangs have answer for the other’s run or score, Woodbridge turned a 22-20 early second quarter deficit into a 14 point halftime lead with a 22-6 tear, and outscored JFK by a 41-14 margin over the final two periods for an 83-42 win.
Senior guard, Quran Robinson scored 17 of his game high 22 points, and connected on five of his six three pointers in the first half. Robinson led five different Barrons players in double figures as Hura Blaine chipped in with 14 points, Keshaun Henry added 13, and Kemari Persol and Rutkowski contributed with 12 and 11 points respectively. Benji Pierre led Kennedy with 16 points while Pete Obertan chipped in for the Mustangs in a losing cause with 10.
The Barrons dominated the scorebook with a 48-28 edge in points scored inside the arc, and a 27-6 edge in points scored from long distance. Both teams had more comparable success at the free throw line with Kennedy having a slight edge by going 8 of 12 from the charity stripe while Woodbridge went 8 of 13. Woodbridge had 14 team fouls while JFK had 13.
Kennedy jumped out to a 7-0 lead over the game’s first minute or so, and outscored the Barrons by a 22-20 margin in the first, but then Woodbridge won each of the last three periods by a combined margin of 63-20 as its zone press caused fits for the Mustangs completely taking them out of their offensive rhythm while forcing numerous turnovers. The game started out very competitively.
After JFK scored the first seven points to open the game, Woodbridge battled back by scoring nine unanswered points sparked by a Persol layup, highlighted by a Robinson three, and capped by a Henry score for a 9-7 lead. The game would go back and forth after that with six more lead changes before Kennedy ended the period by scoring 6 of the last 9 points for a two point lead.
Following Henry’s score for a 9-7 Woodbridge lead, Pierre converted his second traditional three point play of the period for a 10-9 lead at the 4:15 mark. After a Rutkowski score for an 11-10 lead, the Mustangs scored the next four including two free throws by Pierre, and then a putback by Carlton Sears (5 points) for a 14-11 lead with 3:13 to play in the opening stanza.
The Barrons scored 5 of the next 7 points to take 15-14 and 17-16 leads, but Kennedy responded again with a 6-3 run to end the period. Highlighting the run was a three pointer by Kobie Wells at about the two minute mark, and one of two from the line by Pierre at the end of the frame for a 22-20 lead. The second quarter started slowly with both teams suddenly struggling to find a rhythm.
A little more then two minutes into the period, the only points that had been scored were on free throws by Woodbridge to tie the game at 22-22. Then, the game suddenly turned on its ear. The Barrons scored eight more unanswered points including a three by Robinson, two free throws by Persol, and a three by Curtis Nesbit (8 points) from well beyond the arc on the right wing for a 30-22 lead at the 4:22 mark of the second.
Woodbridge didn’t stop there either. Instead the Barrons reeled off 12 of the last 18 points of the half highlighted by a Robinson three from well beyond the top of the key for a 42-28 halftime lead. Robinson had 6 points in the first period and 11 in the second to lead the Barrons in the first half. Pierre scored 14 of his points in the first half including 11 in the opening period.
Opening the third quarter by scoring 16 of the first 21 points, Woodbridge continued to put its foot on the gas. Highlighting the third period onslaught was a putback by Henry at the 5:41 mark, a basket by Rutkowski at the 4:59 mark, and a putback by Persol with 3:43 remaining in the frame for a commanding 58-33 Barrrons lead. Woodbridge then closed the stanza with 10 of the last 15 points including a Rutkowski three with about a minute to go in the period for a 68-38 lead.
The home team finished off the win by scoring 15 of the 19 points scored in the fourth. Henry scored on a follow off a missed shot by Persol for a 74-40 lead at the 5:32 mark, and after the reserves came in for the Barrons midway through the fourth, Nesbit connected on his second and final three of the game on a shot from well beyond the arc on the left wing for a 79-42 lead with 2:53 remaining. The Barrons scored the last four points of the game for the 41 point win.
With the victory, Woodbridge improved to 7-0 overall, 6-0 in the GMC, and 6-0 in the White Division. Meanwhile, J.F. Kennedy dropped to 1-6 overall on the season, and 1-5 in both conference and divisional play. The Mustangs return to action on Saturday afternoon with a road game at 10th ranked East Brunswick at 1:00 PM. Meanwhile, the Barrons’ next game is on Saturday morning at Queen of Peace in North Arlington at 11:00 AM.
BARRONS NOTES: GMC Hoops spoke briefly with Woodbridge’s Quassim Glover before the start of the Barrons game against Kennedy on Thursday night. Glover has been out of the lineup recently due to a quad injury. He suffered the injury initially in a pre-season scrimmage against Perth Amboy when he was kneed in the quad.
Glover tried to play through it during Woodbridge’s first few games, but the quad tightened up again. Glover, who currently has 742 points for his career, hopes to return for the key White Division showdown versus Sayreville on January 12th. Teammate Keshaun Henry now has 635 points for his career after scoring his 13 points versus J.F. Kennedy on Thursday night.