New Kent takes early control, tops CC 91-37

By taking out their frustration on Charles City’s visiting Panthers, New Kent’s Trojans erased some of the sting incurred the night before in a 21-point loss that dropped them from the ranks of the unbeaten.

The host Trojans forced 10 first quarter steals Saturday night, converting seven into points to race away from the Panthers in the early going. In an outcome virtually decided in the first five minutes, New Kent got back on the winning track with a 91-37 triumph.

“I thought defensively we played pretty well,” Trojan coach Ed Allen said in the understatement of the season thus far.

“I thought that after last night, we’d be a little tired and [Charles City] wouldn’t be since they didn’t play last night,” he said. “But we did a good job pressing and trapping them in our man-to-man, and I think that’s what bothered them the most.”

Justin Williams’ lay-in off a steal opened the scoring. Carter Gilland and Steven Allen both dropped in threes off another pair of steals to create an 8-0 lead.

Michael Jefferson’s free throw got Charles City on the scoreboard, but the Trojans pumped in 10 unanswered points to mount an 18-1 advantage less than five minutes into the game.

Charles City’s coaching staff scouted New Kent the night before and employed the same defensive tactic that had worked for Tabb.

“We saw the box-and-one could work and we shut down Allen, but other people hurt us,” Panther coach Sharone Bailey said.

Playing without rebounding specialist Vannie Spruill (illness) limited his team’s effectiveness on the board, giving New Kent too many second and third shot opportunities, Bailey said.

“And we looked tight and we looked nervous,” he said. “This is a rivalry game, and I felt the hype made us freeze and we got a little tired. One we fell down, it was too much to come back from.”

Allen, meanwhile discounted the rivalry aspect, noting the contest was non-district with no bearing on league standings.

“It’s a rivalry game, but it’s a game not to worry about and you can get everybody in,” he said. “You need a game like that.”

All 14 players on the Trojan roster cracked the scoring column.

“Everybody got to play and everybody scored. You don’t get that too often,” Allen said.

Kevin Chavis and Kaleb Lamb led New Kent, now 4-1, with 13 points apiece while Allen and Darrell Fenton tossed in 11 each. Adam Otey finished with nine followed by seven apiece from Dorrein Akrie and Paul Kearney, Alex Burton’s five, four from Williams and Everett Christian, three from Gilland and Neko Burson, and two from Paul Robinson and E.J. Gray.

Trevor Jones’ 12 points topped Charles City, now 3-2. Rodger Williams tossed in eight while Jefferson and Welton Smith each scored five and Kevin Wallace and Wendell Jones each added four.

In the preliminary, Charles City trailed by two late in the game and missed two close range shots in the final six seconds as New Kent’s JV held on for a 64-62 win.

Justin Parsley’s 10 points led New Kent. Alandre Washington ended with nine followed by Zach Jacobs’ eight, Cory Dunn’s seven, Jared Dickerson’s four, three each from Aaron Logan, Tanner Luck, and Eric Salmon, and T.J. James’ two.

Dominic Jones led Charles City with 24 points. Joshua New tossed in 14 and Dominick Harris had 11 followed by Dominique Williams’ five, three each from Je’von Johnson and Chris Hill, and Wilbert Waller’s two.