Mustangs Have Talent And Experience; Just Need To Be More Consistent To Finish The Year Strong
METUCHEN, NJ–Following J.F. Kennedy’s win over his Metuchen Bulldogs on Friday night, first year MHS head coach, Jon Korellis stated what I have felt since the summer. Kennedy is too good a team to be 6-12 at this juncture of the season. After upsetting third seeded North Brunswick to reach the quarterfinals of the 2011 GMCT, and nearly making a monumental comeback against Scotch Plains in the opening round of the 2011 North Jersey Section 2 Group III State Tournament, the Mustangs lost key players Daishon Robinson, A.J. Pichalski, Jordan Toczynski, and A.J. Williams to graduation.
However, JFK still had a solid group coming back including Steve Alvarez, Josh Kamenas, Vik Pawar, and Shabas Clarke. Add to that, the duo of baseball standout Zach Buchholz and Kyle Alvarez, and there were ingredients for another good season under the direction of head coach, Chris Banos. Instead, the Mustangs have struggled with consistency and offensive production, and against a more difficult schedule this season, it has hurt. Kennedy has had to contend with a Holmdel team from the Shore Conference that has only lost a handful of games, Carteret three times, Bishop Ahr, Point Pleasant Boro, Woodbridge, and Colonia.
True there were those two surprising losses at the hands of Middlesex. Throw those two games in with a victory over Carteret in the Championship of the Gene Haley Tournament, and you would have a Mustang squad that was at .500. Kennedy seemed to be righting the ship around mid-season with a four game winning streak that included an upset of Point Boro, which is usually one of the top teams in Ocean County year in and year out. Unfortunately, a second tough loss at Middlesex set the Mustangs back. Losses mounted after that in a five game losing streak, and JFK is in a position it didn’t think it would be in at this point in the season.
Banos is still optimistic about his squad. He feels that if his Mustangs can get on a roll now, they could pull a surprise in the upcoming GMCT. There is a good nucleus there. Steve Alvarez has the ability to take over from the perimeter. Kamenas is a solid player, who made nice passes and drew charges as well as scored against Metuchen on Friday night. He and Vik Pawar played a nice two man game by not only scoring 73 percent of JFK’s points, but also finding each other for scores. Shabas Clarke is athletic, can rebound, block shots, and score in the paint. Kyle Alvarez looks to be a nice playmaker while Darrin Perez provides some help off the bench.
Prior to the win over Metuchen, Kennedy did show signs of coming out of its slump. The Mustangs only lost by five at Spotswood last Friday night, and lost by a dozen to Bishop Ahr on Wednesday night. The Mustangs have played the Trojans tough both teams that they have faced each other. Putting together a few wins before the tourney, and riding that momentum through the first two rounds could be all Kennedy needs to put itself in a position to surprise again this year.