Lady Trojans notch third win, toppling West Point 53-39

New Kent's Kayla Tirrado hustles ahead of West Point's Destini Taliaferro to track down a loose ball.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Seeking a spark to ignite a sometimes sluggish offense, New Kent’s Lady Trojans needed to look no further than center Brynne Jones operating in the low post. And if Jones was not available, guard Kayla Tirrado became the logical alternative.

The duo combined for 33 points Saturday night to highlight New Kent’s 53-39 basketball victory over West Point’s visiting Pointers. After enduring no-win campaigns the past two years, the Lady Trojans now have three wins under their belts and are 3-5 this season.

“Effort,” New Kent coach Neko Burson said, keyed the latest win. “At times there was sloppy play on both sides, but we stuck with it and kept up the effort.”

A pair of Tirrado free throws finished off the opening quarter for a 12-9 New Kent lead. Then Jones went to work in the second, pumping in eight points including back-to-back baskets in the paint off respective Tirrado and Sierra Locklear assists that stretched the advantage to 17-9.

After a Jones stick-back made it 17-11, Tirrado converted a steal into a lay-in for the hosts’ first double digit lead (21-11). New Kent shot 50 percent from the floor (7-for-14) in the second quarter.

“We’ll take that,” Burson said concerning the accuracy mark. “That’s definitely better than what we’ve been doing.”

New Kent led by nine at the half, but just over three minutes into the third quarter, West Point had crept back within three (29-26) thanks to pressure on the defensive end.

“When they switched to that man-to-man, we got too keyed up trying to make passes so I had to call time out,’ Burson said. “We’ve got to do a better job recognizing defensive switches.”

West Point remained close, hovering within five until Jones scored in the paint and Tirrado followed with a perimeter shot to bump the lead back to nine (39-30). Then in the fourth, the visitors closed the gap to six, but Jones banked in a shot off a steal before sinking two free throws moments later to create a 10-point bulge (48-38) with 2:26 left to play.

Burson, meanwhile, said his players need to work the ball inside the lane more often to set up Jones.

“I tell them to look inside, and that we want to play inside-out,” he added. “We’ll get better the more we play and watch film to see how dominant she was down there.”

On defense, Burson noted, his team got a lot of mileage out of a 1-3-1 zone.

“Our aim in the 1-3-1 is to stretch the floor out a bit, keep up with rotation, and make them take difficult shots,” he said.

Jones totaled 17 points while Tirrado tossed in 16. Haley Hyndshaw finished with six followed by Peyton Slater’s five, Kyah Otey’s four, Caitlyn Via’s three, and one each from Locklear and Jada Hooker.