Warhill early third quarter run sinks New Kent

By Alan Chamberlain | January 9, 2015 10:17 pm

A battle for a rebound featuring (l to r) New Kent's Ryan Lugg and Jason Whitlow and Warhill's Holden Lipscomb ends with the ball sailing out of bounds.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Despite shooting a paltry 20 percent from the floor, New Kent’s Trojans found themselves down to Warhill’s visiting Lions by only nine points at halftime of Friday’s basketball clash.

“I thought that maybe coming back, we’d get a few defensive stops and stick some shots back in, but it didn’t happen,” said New Kent coach Ronnie Cox.

After the break, New Kent’s shooting only got worse. The hosts sank just one field goal (Ethan Ashford’s three) in the third quarter. Warhill, meanwhile, opened the period with a 14-0 run on the way to a 69-45 victory.

“We couldn’t knock anything down,” said Cox. “We’ve got to do some soul-searching and hopefully come back tomorrow night and turn things around.”

The Trojans, now 3-8, entertain Charles City Saturday night in the second installment of the two schools’ traditional home-and-home basketball rivalry. New Kent won the first 72-53 at Charles City in December.

Against the Lions, New Kent fell behind by 10 heading into the second period. But Jason Whitlow’s basket off penetration into the lane reduced the deficit to single digits. Trey Cox’s three and a Kyle Claytor free throw narrowed the gap to seven at 25-18.

Warhill bumped the advantage back to 13 with six unanswered points, but a Whitlow basket in the paint followed by Ashford’s two of three free throws with one second to go closed the gap to 31-22 at intermission.

Coach Cox’s vision of a comeback quickly evaporated after play resumed as his team missed five straight shots from the floor. The Lions’ Keyon Dedmon and Ra’Shawn Cook, meanwhile, buried back-to-back threes, both from the right corner, to trigger the visitors’ game-changing 14-0 run.

Whitlow and Claytor led New Kent with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Ashford finished with seven and Trey Cox added six while Darren McCaughan, Ryan Lugg, Tyler Jenkins, and Austin Pierce each scored two and Ryan Curle contributed one.

Marquez Belle led a trio of Lions in double figures with 14 points.

“We’ll just regroup,” coach Cox said. “I know we’re young and I know we’re inexperienced, but I’ll just have to be patient. Maybe things will start clicking, but I know it’s still a work in progress.”