New Kent comes up short in bid for first basketball win

New Kent's Tessa Gray (left) and Brynne Jones trap West Point's Brooke South along the baseline after South grabbed a defensive rebound.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Wiping out most of a 12-point fourth quarter deficit, New Kent’s Lady Trojans appeared on the verge of posting their first basketball win of the season. As the clock ticked down under two minutes to go, the hosts were within a field goal of West Point’s visiting Pointers.

Unfortunately, New Kent could not add to the scoreboard the rest of the way. West Point finished with eight unanswered points to post a 58-48 Saturday night win, dropping the Lady Trojans to 0-12 on the year.

“As frustrating as it is, we did make progress since we lost to them by 25 last time,” said Lady Trojan coach Vann Baker.

“We have to focus on making progress,” she said. “Our field goal percentage was higher this game than in the last.”

But 23 percent (17-for-73) from the floor wasn’t enough to clench that elusive first victory.

New Kent dominated in the early going, taking a 7-2 lead thanks to five-of-six accuracy at the foul stripe. West Point benefited from a pair of Taylor Atkinson baskets to get back in the game (7-6), but New Kent led 11-10 after one quarter.

Another Atkinson basket caught the Lady Trojans at 15-15. Moments later, she struck again to hand the visitors the lead. New Kent forged ties (17-17 and 19-19) but never moved back in front.

West Point forged ahead 27-21 by halftime before extending the advantage to 10 after the break. Nearing five minutes to go in the game, the visitors owned a seemingly comfortable 48-36 lead.

Brynne Jones’ stuck back a teammate’s miss to launch the Lady Trojan comeback. Over the next two minutes, Kayla Davis and Deysha Goodlet combined for six of eight free throws, to offset a Pointer field goal and close the gap to 50-44.

Following a missed West Point shot, Jones scored in the paint off a Peyton Slater assist to cut the deficit to four. Davis then stole the ball in front court and drove the length for a lay-in. With 1:52 to go, the scoreboard read 50-48.

But a pair of New Kent possessions moments later ended in turnovers. Then behind a furious press, Davis appeared to have another steal, but the Pointers were granted a time out just before the ball changed hands. On the ensuing inbounds play, New Kent’s defense lost track of Atkinson who drove for an easy basket to spur the 8-0 game-ending run.

Atkinson proved to be a thorn in New Kent’s side all night, finishing with a game-high 28 points. Goodlet’s 15 and Davis’ 11 led New Kent. Jones’ eight, four each from Nakesha Glover and Tessa Gray, and two apiece from Slater and Kelsey Yates completed the hosts’ point production.