Lady Trojans conquer York for first win

Lady Trojan Brittany LaPrade reaches in to slap the ball away from a York player and record a steal.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Weathering an early York run, New Kent’s Lady Trojans overtook their guests and seized control in the second quarter on the way to a 40-27 Bay Rivers District basketball triumph. More importantly, the Dec. 13 outcome marked the Lady Trojans’ first win of the season, reversing a 0-5 start.

“There’s an old saying that winning isn’t everything,” said New Kent coach John Scorsone. “But that’s not true. Winning makes the players happy, the coaches happy, and everybody happy.

“York started with a 5-0 lead, but then we got into it and got a little more confidence,” he said. “We tied it, got the lead in the second, and went on from there.”

New Kent capitalized on its press, forcing Falcon turnovers including 22 steals. By contrast, the hosts turned the ball over a mere six times.

Adrienne Goodlet, who led the first half surge with nine of her 13 points, registered six steals while Karley Allen came up with a game-high nine thefts. Allen also grabbed 14 rebounds.

“Our press worked well,” Scorsone said. “We’re trying to execute off turnovers and we’ve still got to do a little better job with that.”

New Kent led 21-13 at the break. York managed to trim the lead to seven early in the third quarter, but Goodlet provided a cushion, first with a basket off penetration and then with a steal and lay-in to bump the lead to 11 at 27-16. The Falcons could not reduce the margin below double figures the rest of the way.

“Our defense has been great defense,” Scorsone said. “All our offense needs to do is mature.”

Anna Mathis and Paige Simpson each finished with seven points for the victors, 1-5 in the district, followed by Mariya Whitesides’ five, Brittany LaPrade’s four, and two apiece from Allen and Becky Anderson.

“If we can get our team functioning on all eight cylinders,” Scorsone said, “we could be really tough and compete with anybody.”