Balanced, but inconsistent Trojans bring down Falcons
New Kent’s Trojans maintained control, never allowing their Bay Rivers District basketball clash with York’s invading Falcons to get out of hand. But they never quite managed to administer a knockout blow.
New Kent led wire-to-wire in the Dec. 8 meeting, threatening on several occasions to put away the Falcons. Even though that didn’t happen, the hosts still secured a comfortable 71-61 triumph to up their record to 2-1.
“We weren’t consistent, and a lot of times we did things that didn’t make sense,” said Trojan coach Ed Allen, pointing to frequent turnovers and deviation from team play that took the wind out of potential runs.
“We played pretty well at times,” he said. “We let [York] get back in the game by not running our offense, but at times we ran our offense to perfection.”
Rebounding at the defensive end also ranked as an Allen concern, prompting the coach to add, “A lot of times we were in position, but didn’t get our arms up. I think we got tired and maybe we’re not in good shape yet.”
But the Trojans quickly bolted out of the gate as guard Josh Brown scored off the opening tip. Brown followed with a three and a pair of free throws to stake his team to a 7-0 advantage before York could score. He pumped in New Kent’s initial 10 points and never scored again, but no matter.
Teammates, including guard Kaleb Lamb who scored all of his game-high 19 points in the second and third quarters, picked up the slack. Three more Trojans also hit double figures. Forward Alandre Washington recorded a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) while forward Matt Fultz just missed duplicating the feat with 10 points and nine boards. Point guard Zach Jacobs finished with 11 points.
A Jacobs trey opened an 18-5 lead, forcing York to regroup with a time out at the first quarter’s 3:30 mark. New Kent’s lead hovered between eight and 13 points for the rest of the half and into the third quarter. The hosts spurted to a 54-38 advantage late in the third, and play became ragged the rest of the way.
Three points each from Dylan Walton and Justin Parsley and two apiece from Tanner Luck and Travis Claytor completed New Kent’s scoring. Taylor Kinney’s 12 points topped York.
Missing from the New Kent lineup was starting guard Anthony Snipes who suffered a concussion and broken nose during a practice mishap. His return, for now, is a question mark.
“We miss him,” Allen said. “He comes to play and plays hard and gives us a lot of energy, especially at the defensive end.”
In the preliminary, New Kent’s JV rallied from 17 points down to overcome York 79-78.
New Kent caught the Falcons at 70-70 on a Marvin Allen lay-in with 2:46 to go. York pulled ahead 75-72, but Gunnar Gilland wiped out the deficit with a three at the 1:30 mark. A Gilland free throw seconds later followed by another Allen lay-in staked the hosts to a three-point lead.
A York trey with 30 seconds left created the final deadlock before Michael Carpenter sank the second of two free throws with 13 seconds left to provide the win. A last second York shot missed the mark.
Jeremy Parnell and Blake Kelly led New Kent with 20 and 17 points, respectively. Allen tossed in 15, all in the second half. Gilland finished with nine followed by Chase Dunn’s six, Joseph Nash’s five, Clay Simpson’s four, and Carpenter’s three.