Cold shooting, turnovers thwart New Kent bid to hold lead, Tabb prevails 71-58

New Kent's Kenneth Woodley eyes the basket as he penetrates into the lane past Tabb's Jalin Jordan.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Midway through the third quarter, New Kent’s host Trojans staged an 11-0 run and sank five of six free throws awarded for three Tabb technical fouls (two leading to ejection of Tiger head coach Doug Baggett) to mount a 46-34 advantage over the visitors. Game over, right?

Wrong.

The Tigers roared back with 18 unanswered points, using their quickness to pull away for a 71-58 Friday night basketball win and hand New Kent (1-1) its first loss of the young season. Over the game’s final 12 minutes, the Trojans sank just one of 16 shots from the floor while turning the ball over on 11 occasions.

“We didn’t knock down shots,” said Trojan head coach Ronnie Cox. “If the shots had gone down, I think we’d been okay. It was just one of those games.”

Strange twists highlighted the contest, which also featured 54 fouls (33 by New Kent, 21 for Tabb) not counting the technicals. Both teams shot poorly in the first quarter — New Kent 3-for-13 (23 percent), Tabb 1-for-11 (9 percent) — with the result being an 8-8 tie after eight minutes. Both reversed course in the second — New Kent 6-for-9 (67 percent), Tabb 6-for-8 (75 percent) — for a 30-30 deadlock at the break.

Two quick Tabb baskets opened the second half, but New Kent responded with Kyle Claytor and Justin Cox combining for a trio of threes. Moments later, a Michael Amadeo shot put the hosts up 41-34.

With 4:14 showing on the clock in the third period, Tabb’s Nick Hunter drew a technical foul for voicing something inappropriate within earshot of a referee. Baggett vehemently objected, leading to a pair of technicals plus the coach’s ejection.

Jared Lugg sank one of two technical free throws followed by Claytor dropping in four straight for a 46-34 lead. New Kent then owned the ball out of bounds with a chance to increase the advantage, but a steal and lay-in by Tabb’s K.B. Brown (22 points) launched the Tigers’ decisive run.

Heading into the final quarter, the Tigers had closed the gap to 46-44. Less than a minute into the fourth, Tabb had taken command 52-46.

“I thought we’d start knocking shots down,” coach Cox said, explaining his decision not to call one of four times out available at the time in an effort to halt the Tiger surge.

“I thought we’d get better looks,” he added. “I knew the game would be close so I wanted to use them at the end, but nothing materialized.”

Claytor buried a three, New Kent’s lone field goal over the final 12 minutes, to pull the hosts back within five at 56-51 with six minutes to go. The Trojans, however, never drew closer.

Claytor tossed in a game-high 23 points. C.J. Reeders finished with eight while Amari Brown added seven followed by four each from Darren McCaughan and Cameron Downer, three apiece from Ryan Curle, Justin Cox, and Ethan Ashford, Amadeo’s two, and Lugg’s one.