Lady Trojans snap 50-game losing streak, dominating York in second half for 35-23 victory

New Kent's bench begins to celebrate as the final seconds tick off the clock in Tuesday night's 35-23 win over York. The victory snapped a 50-game losing streak dating back to the 2013-14 season.

Alan Chamberlain photos

Back on Jan. 9, 2014, New Kent’s Lady Trojans won a close basketball contest over Warhill’s Lions. At the time, the outcome seemed of little significance outside of a hard-fought triumph.

Since then, however, the Lady Trojans have tasted nothing but the bitterness of defeat. The specter of a long losing streak has hovered over the New Kent program since that cold January night. By the end of last season, the number of consecutive losses had reached 50.

But in Tuesday night’s season opener with York’s Falcons invading New Kent’s gym, the Lady Trojans erased frustration of the past. Behind a dominating second half performance, the hosts overcame a one-point halftime deficit to snap the losing streak with a 35-23 win.

Lady Trojan Jada Hooker tossed in five points to help stake the hosts to an early 8-2 advantage. York, though, recovered to grab a 10-8 lead after one quarter and hold a 16-15 edge heading into halftime.

First-year Lady Trojan coach Neko Burson noted that his players had the streak in mind long before the opening tap. And he made a point to remind them in his locker room speech during the break.

“I told them you’ve got to play with heart,” he said. “Coming off [Thanksgiving] break, it’s hard to get going again, but I told them you’ve got to play our game.

“They knew what was at stake,” he added. “They knew it was a 50-game streak, and they didn’t want to start off the season that way.”

When play resumed, York extended its lead to three, but New Kent answered with Brynne Jones’ basket in the paint and a Peyton Slater-to-Kayla Tirrado give-and-go that put the hosts back in front 19-18.

York pulled ahead momentarily before Kelsey Yates struck from the perimeter for a 21-20 New Kent lead. The hosts began to pull away on Haley Hyndshaw’s driving lay-in off a Tirrado steal. A Hyndshaw free throw coupled with Jones’ basket in deep on an assist from Tirrado had New Kent up 26-20 after three quarters.

Hyndshaw opened the fourth with a steal and lay-in. Moments later, Sierra Locklear buried a medium-range baseline shot to create New Kent’s first double-digit lead at 30-20.

New Kent’s defense, meanwhile, held the Falcons without a field goal (and scoreless) from the 3:55 mark of the third quarter until only 45 seconds remained in the game.

“Defense is one of the things we take pride in,” Burson said. “We know if we can make stops, we can make shots. We’ve got girls who can shoot.”

Jones led the Lady Trojans with nine points. Hyndshaw scored seven while Tirrado and Hooker tossed in six apiece. Yates added five followed by Locklear with two.

“It’s really good to [break the streak] at home,” said Burson, who can now focus on the goal of finishing with a winning season, something a Lady Trojan team has not accomplished since 1996.

“We’ve got a lot of potential on this team,” he said. “It should be a great season.”

Trapped on the baseline by York’s Mahlina Shorts (10) and Megan Eckstein, New Kent’s Brynne Jones dives to her knees to fire an outlet pass to a teammate after controlling a rebound.