Dominant second quarter not enough for New Kent to overcome Grafton

Driving to the basket, New Kent's C.J. Reeders has the ball stripped away by Grafton's Kiran Durant.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Finding the range from behind the three-point arc, New Kent’s Trojans erased a double-digit Grafton lead to forge ahead in the second quarter of Thursday night’s basketball encounter. Not to be outdone, the visiting Clippers also struck from three-point land, sinking five third quarter threes to pull away for a 69-57 win.

The Clippers (13-3) owned the early minutes against the Trojans (6-9), appearing on the verge of a rout with a 21-8 lead late in the opening period. New Kent, however, started to heat up from long range, benefiting from a pair of threes courtesy of Jared Lugg and another launched by Amari Brown to highlight an 18-4 run.

Lugg’s second trey closed the gap to 25-21 with 4:34 left before halftime. Seconds later, Brown’s three moved the hosts within one. With 3:12 to go, Brown drove the baseline to put New Kent in front (26-25) for the first time since it was 1-0.

Sustaining momentum, though, proved troublesome for the hosts. And the Clippers, plagued by frequently missed high percentage shots in the lane, began to solve their scoring dilemma.

Grafton’s Kiran Durant completed a conventional three-point play to put his team back on top. Seven unanswered points in all handed the visitors a 32-26 lead at the break. Then, back-to-back Durant threes soon after play resumed stretched the advantage into double figures.

Afterward, New Kent coach Ronnie Cox praised his team’s second quarter effort, saying, “We did some things we hadn’t done against a high-quality team this year, and that was real impressive.”

Cox, meanwhile, credited Grafton’s defense as a key factor in the outcome.

“They’re so strong defensively,” he said. “They really lock you down so you really have to work hard to get some shots. That’s why our second quarter was so impressive.”

Kyle Claytor’s 13 points and 11 from Brown topped scoring for the hosts. Lugg finished with nine followed by Darren McCaughan’s seven, C.J. Reeders’ six, Justin Cox’s five, Cameron Downer’s four, and Michael Amadeo’s two. Durant led all scorers with 19.

“We’re now in the grueling phase of our schedule,” coach Cox said, pointing to a loss the night before against Bruton, the Grafton contest, and upcoming games with highly touted Jamestown and Smithfield. “Hopefully, we can keep getting better.”