New Kent tops Charles City with fourth quarter run, free throws

Charles City's Jaquane Wyatt (center) does everything in his power to prevent New Kent's Ryan Lugg (32) shot attempt as teammate Tyler Allen rushes to his aid.

Andre' Jones photos

As with most rivalry games, the team that has more desire to win along with the ability to execute fundamental skills usually comes out as the victor. In the latest installment of the Charles City-New Kent rivalry, the game came down to those factors.

New Kent’s Trojans broke a deadlock at 50-50 in the early phases of the fourth quarter, mounting a 22-3 run to put away the host Panthers 72-53 in Saturday night’s contest. And while the visitors exited the gym with a win, undoubtedly Charles City’s appalling night at the free throw line kept New Kent in the game.

From the opening tip, both teams traded baskets and hustle plays, with Charles City holding an 11-10 lead after the first quarter. Trojan forward Jason Whitlow assisted teammate Justin Cox on an easy basket before following his own miss to return the lead to the Trojans (15-11). The Panthers returned the favor, rallying behind sophomore Kyle Jones who scored six points in the second quarter, giving Charles City a 20-19 lead with two minutes remaining until the break.

Tempers began to flare, as New Kent’s Jared Lugg received a technical foul after disproving of a personal foul called against teammate Austin Pierce. However, the Panthers would only convert one of four shots from the charity stripe, eventually leading to the hosts shooting 2-16 from the free throw line in the first half. Making matters worse was Panther leading scorer Noah Ragland having to sit on the bench after registering his third foul on the night before halftime. Whitlow’s jumper bestowed a 23-21 lead for the guests at the intermission.

Third quarter action saw both teams continue to counter score for score. The frame saw the four ties between the team and nine lead changes, with New Kent grabbing the final one at 47-46.

Charles City’s Jaquane Wyatt converted on a lay-up at the 6:01 mark in the fourth quarter to knot the game up at 50 apiece. That score, however, would be the Panthers last field goal of the game.

Ryan Lugg converted a free throw and subsequently stole an errant Ragland pass and contributed two more points for New Kent. Whitlow’s aggressiveness on the boards paid off, as he found himself the recipient of easy baskets, scoring 12 of his career high 28 points during the final five minutes of the game. His follow of a teammate’s miss gave the Trojans their first double digit lead of the game (63-52) as the team embarked on a final 9-1 run to seal the win.

After the game, New Kent head coach Ronnie Cox praised his team’s execution of the offense when Charles City opted for a man-to-man defense.

“When Charles City went to man, we went to our flex offense and wanted to get good looks,” said the victorious coach. “We were able to execute and tonight, some of our three’s dropped and that helped us out.

“On the defensive end, we got stops down the stretch and that played a key role,” Cox added. “Jason [Whitlow] did an outstanding job when he got second chance opportunities and converted lay-ups and free throws. Overall, the team did a great job controlling the boards tonight on the offensive end.”

By contrast, Charles City head coach Cullen Jenkins couldn’t be thrilled with his team’s performance at the charity stripe. The Panthers converted only 9 of 41 free throw attempts, roughly a 22 percent ratio that the head coach couldn’t explain. By contrast, New Kent converted 25 of 42 attempts from the charity stripe.

“We did exactly what we wanted to do by driving to the basket and getting to the rim,” said the befuddled Jenkins. “We got to the free throw line but we couldn’t convert on our opportunities.

“We have had so many games the last few days that we have had light practices,” the coach continued. “We spend about 30 minutes a day on free throws but to see this, it was atrocious. There really isn’t much you can say except you can’t expect a win shooting like that from the line.”

Following Whitlow’s career high in scoring, New Kent (2-4) received double figures from Justin Cox (14), Lugg (11), and Trey Cox (10). Ryan Curle added five, Ethan Ashford scored three, and Tyler Jenkins chipped in one for the victors.

Jones’ 13 points led Charles City (1-5) in scoring. Jestin Harris scored nine, while Wyatt and Walter Gordon contributed eight apiece, Michael Grubbs pumped in five, Ragland and Thomas Kelly added four apiece, and Tyler Allen scored two.

Charles City’s Tyler Allen receives a double dose of defense from New Kent’s Justin Cox (20) and Trey Cox (45).