New Kent 79-71 win sweeps series with Charles City

New Kent's Justin Cox (with ball) is pressured in the lane by Charles City's Tyler Allen and Thomas Kelly while teammate Jason Whitlow (42) can do little to help.

Alan Chamberlain photos

Head coaches for both New Kent’s Trojans and Charles City’s Panthers pointed to their respective teams’ “Achilles heel” following Saturday night’s basketball battle. For New Kent, it’s field goal shooting said coach Ronnie Cox, and that helped Charles City stay in the game. And for Charles City, it’s free throw shooting said coach Cullen Jenkins, and that helped New Kent win the game.

Behind 29-for-40 accuracy at the charity stripe compared to Charles City’s 14-for-37, the host Trojans held on for a 79-71 win. New Kent accomplished the feat despite shooting 19 percent from the floor in the first half. Remarkably, the hosts led almost wire-to-wire, trailing only once at 3-2 in the game’s early moments.

“That’s crazy,” Cox said when told about the conflicting field goal and free throw shooting percentages.

“Go figure,” he added.

The Trojans held a 20-11 lead after one quarter, but 11 second quarter turnovers prevented the hosts from expanding the advantage, which remained at nine (33-24) at intermission. The Trojans, however, put together an 11-1 run capped by a Kyle Claytor three to lead 44-25 nearing the third quarter’s midpoint.

With the contest seemingly under control, New Kent opted to press the Panthers, a ploy that played into the visitors’ hands.

“New Kent’s been the only team to play man-to-man against us, and that’s really to our advantage,” said Jenkins. “We were getting past their first defender and getting into the lane. We just didn’t make our free throws.”

Spurred by guards Noah Ragland and Kyle Jones, the Panthers scored often off transition, whittling New Kent’s 19-point advantage to nine (52-43) heading into the final quarter. With Ragland pouring in 12 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, the visitors remained within striking distance. Then with 1:32 to go, Jones buried a trey to pull his team within six at 75-69.

“Charles City has improved a lot since the first time we played them,” said Cox. “We had a really hard time covering them off the dribble. They put down some threes and really gave us trouble.”

The Panthers, however, could not capitalize on opportunities to draw closer. Over the next 30 seconds, the visitors missed three straight free throws and committed a lane violation on a fourth. New Kent then put away the contest on a pair Jason Whitlow free throws and a Claytor basket off penetration.

Whitlow, Claytor, and Trey Cox provided a three-pronged scoring punch for the victors, combined for 68 points. Whitlow did most of his damage in the paint, muscling in 23 points. Cox also tossed in 23, including four treys. Claytor, too, sank four from behind the arc to finish with 22.

“New Kent has a great team, they have a great coach, and 42 [Whitlow] is a great player,” said Jenkins.

“We had a great effort, and I couldn’t be more proud,” he added. “Last night [against Middlesex] and tonight we showed we’re coming together and playing for one another. Seventy-one points is the most we’ve scored this year.”

Jones totaled a game-high 27 points for the Panthers, now 1-11. Jestin Harris finished with nine and Michael Grubbs added seven followed by three each from Brian Hicks and Michael Callahan and Jaquane Wyatt’s one.

For New Kent, now 4-8, Ryan Lugg scored eight while Ethan Ashford, Justin Cox, and Tyler Jenkins chipped in one apiece.

“I told our guys we’re getting ready for the second half of our schedule,” coach Cox said. “We’re getting better, so we’ve got to continue getting better and see that we don’t self-destruct.”

Charles City’s Jaquane Wyatt tries to protect the ball and escape from New Kent’s Ryan Lugg.

Charles City’s Kyle Jones drives to the hoop past New Kent’s Tyler Jenkins (35) and Ethan Ashford (5) for two of his 27 points.