New shoes plus threes instrumental in 77-59 New Kent win over Poquoson

New Kent's Jason Whitlow eyes the basket before sticking back his own miss for two of his 17 points in the win over Poquoson.

Alan Chamberlain photo

For New Kent’s Jason Whitlow, Thursday’s first half against Poquoson fell into the nightmare category. The Trojans’ number one scoring threat in the paint missed every shot from the floor, some from near point-blank range, and all four of his free throws.

But in the second half, he poured in 17 points to help the hosts break open a close game on the way to a 77-59 basketball win over the Islanders. The reason for the turnaround — new shoes.

“His parents had just bought him a brand new pair of basketball shoes,” said his coach, Ronnie Cox. “But he’d left them in the locker room and had on these old, ratty shoes from two years ago that had no traction. Once he switched shoes at halftime, he started hitting shots.”

And to accompany Whitlow’s regained footing, his teammates drained threes on a regular basis. Trey Cox sank five shots from three-point range, finishing with a game-high 20 points. Ethan Ashford, meanwhile, scored all nine of his points from behind the arc.

“We started knocking down threes, and that was a key for us,” coach Cox said, looking back at a game in which the Islanders hung around in the first half and beyond, despite sinking just one of 19 shots from the floor in the opening quarter.

New Kent’s penchant for fouling aided the Islander cause. The visitors sank 10 of 15 from the free throw stripe to offset 19 percent shooting from the floor in the first half. They trailed 30-24 at the break.

Midway through the third quarter, Poquoson remained within striking distance at 38-34. Whitlow, however, stuck back his own miss and followed the effort with a basket off an inbounds play to up the advantage to eight. Justin Cox then answered a Poquoson basket, scoring off penetration before a steal led to a pair of Ryan Lugg free throws and the hosts’ first double digit lead (46-36).

Threes from Trey Cox and Ashford helped the Trojans mount a 55-40 advantage heading into the final quarter. Cox’s fifth and final trey put the contest out of reach at 60-40 with 6:50 to go.

Justin Cox joined his brother in double figures with 15 points while Lugg tossed in 14. Tyler Jenkins and Austin Pierce contributed one apiece.

“It was a good night,” coach Cox said.

The win is the first of the season at the expense of 3A Conference 25 competition and gives the Trojans a 3-5 record heading into the holiday break.

In the preliminary, New Kent’s JV thrilled the home crowd in a down-to-the-wire affair. Maurice Bey sank a three-point shot with five seconds remaining to lift New Kent to a 47-46 victory.