Unselfish Trojans use passing to trounce Charles City 90-65

Charles City's Kyle Jones (20) is forced to put on the brakes after being pushed back defensively by New Kent's Kyle Claytor (10) and C.J. Reeders.

Andre' Jones photos

In taking to the hardwood in the first match-up of their annual rivalry game featuring New Kent’s Trojans and Charles City’s Panthers, the concept of teamwork was emphasized by both coaches as keys to success. And for the visiting Trojans, unselfish play combined with scoring on second chance opportunities resulted in victory.

Courtesy of huge scoring nights from Kyle Claytor and Justin Cox along with 27 team assists, New Kent rolled to a 90-65 victory over the host Panthers on Jan. 30. Both teams are scheduled to do battle again this upcoming Saturday.

Charles City took the lead even before the clock ticked off a second thanks to a pregame technical foul committed by the Trojans for dunking. That lead, however, was short-lived.

Cox’s consecutive lay-ups plus an added free throw tied the game at five apiece. From there, Claytor nailed an elbow jumper and a wing three-pointer before finding teammate Amari Brown underneath the rim. Those efforts amounted to an 18-2 Trojan run to give the visitors a 22-7 advantage and ended the first quarter with a 24-10 lead.

New Kent tacked on six more points to start the second stanza and opened up a 20-point differential (30-10) before Charles City’s Kyle Jones sank a free throw to stop the streak. Panther guard Conner Robbins accounted for the hosts’ next six points while teammate Mason Jefferson’s two conversions from the charity stripe halved New Kent’s lead (35-19). The Trojans managed to control the clock at the end of the quarter, forging a 38-24 margin at halftime.

Third quarter action saw a scoring duel between New Kent’s Claytor and Charles City’s Jones. After Jones’ lay-in started the quarter, Claytor scored off an inbounds play for the guests. Jones sank a free throw the next trip down, but Claytor responded with a lay-in on his own and found teammate Kenny Woodley on a backdoor cut for an additional basket. And while the two battled, the deficit for the Panthers remained in the teens. The Trojan run was highlighted by consecutive easy scores for Claytor, who scored 12 of his game high 29 in the third that helped maintain the Trojans’ lead at 15 (62-47).

The hosts made a surge at the beginning of the fourth, as Panther forward Michael Callahan found guard Noah Ragland streaking down the center of the lane for an easy lay-in. Robbins’ free throws for Charles City brought the Panthers within 11 in the early stages of the quarter, the closest they had been since the 3:02 mark in the first frame.

But the Trojans had more fuel left to burn. A Cox follow-up on an offensive miss was accompanied by Claytor’s conventional three-point play to return the lead to 16 (67-51). After a Brian Hicks free throw for the Panthers, Claytor and teammate Jared Lugg combined on back-to-back trifectas to return the 20-point advantage (73-53) to the guests. Charles City failed to get any closer as both teams exchanged scores for the remainder of the game.

Victorious New Kent head coach Ronnie Cox commented about the tenacity of the Panthers.

“It definitely wasn’t easy,” he said. “They were feisty and they kept it within that 14-15 point range throughout most of the game. Every time we tried to pull away they made a run to get back into it.”

The New Kent head coach also commented about the efforts of Justin Cox, who went scoreless the night before against Jamestown.

“He (Justin) got off to a good start tonight,” the coach said. “The team did a good job moving the ball around. Another advantage is that we played a very tough schedule up to this point and that helped us against their aggressive style tonight.”

For Charles City, interim head coach Avery Jones pointed straight to the stat sheet after the contest as keys to the disappointing performance from the Panthers.

“We had four assists on 65 points,” he said. “That’s just selfish basketball.

“We also shot 50 percent from the free throw line,” Jones continued, pointing to 24 makes on 48 attempts from the charity stripe. “What this team needs to understand is that when we play it is about us as a team and not what the other team is able to do.

“When we share the ball and hit free throws, we’re a good team,” he added. “We’ve got to check ourselves and find out who we are. That starts from the coaching staff and works it way down to the players.”

New Kent (7-10) received a game high 29 from Claytor, with 19 coming in the second half while Cox (21) and Brown (13) also finished in double figures for the victors. Ryan Lugg pumped in seven, C.J. Reeders tossed in six, Ryan Curle and Ethan Ashford contributed five apiece, and Woodley and Cameron Downer finished with two points each.

Charles City (0-13) received a game high 22 points from Kyle Jones. Robbins and Ragland also finished in double figures for the Panthers with 12 and 11, respectively. Hicks contributed eight in the defeat, Mason Jefferson scored seven, Ray Crump tossed in three, and Tyler Allen chipped in with two to round out the scoring.

New Kent’s Kyle Claytor (10) leaves a number of Charles City defenders behind on his way to an easy basket.