New Kent builds big lead, holds off late Bruton rally for 62-51 triumph

New Kent's Amari Brown (11) and Jordan Hernandez challenge the shot in the lane by Bruton's Greg Dockery.

Alan Chamberlain photo

New Kent’s host Trojans survived Bruton’s game-opening 5-0 run with 12 unanswered points of their own. They never trailed again in handing the Panthers a 62-51 basketball setback.

Wednesday night’s clash served as New Kent’s home opener. And the home crowd got its first look at the Trojans’ inside presence, a facet of the game the hosts have lacked in recent years, to go along with their signature outside shooting prowess.

Jordan Hernandez, a 6-foot-5 Varina transfer, scored 17 points, mostly in the paint, to tie teammate Kyle Claytor for game-high scoring honors. Claytor, meanwhile, connected four times from three-point land, including a trio of threes when the hosts began to pull away in the second quarter.

“Jordan needed a game where he could break out, and Kyle helped us with those threes,” said Trojan coach Ronnie Cox. “I think that definitely stopped the bleeding and we were able to start converting. The defense began to tighten up and before you know it, we were making a pretty good run.”

Claytor buried back-to-back threes to extend a 12-10 lead after one quarter to 18-12. Hernandez’s stick-back with 4:38 left in the half opened New Kent’s first double-digit lead (22-12). Moments later, Claytor sank another three to up the advantage to 26-12.

“We were really surprised [Bruton] didn’t press us,” Cox said, looking back on a first half in which his team led 35-23 at the break.

“We prepared for it all week in practice,” he added. “They usually run some sort of zone press, but dropped back and that played to our advantage since we were able to set up our offense.”

After shooting just under 50 percent from the floor in the first half (Bruton shot 33 percent), the Trojans set the nets on fire when play resumed, sinking eight of their first nine shots. Ryan Curle’s three opened a 22-point spread (54-32), the hosts’ longest, with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter. New Kent took a 54-35 lead into the final period.

Left with no choice, the Panthers resorted to the press — the full-court variety — to wipe out most of New Kent’s lead. With 3:30 left to play, the visitors had pulled within eight at 58-50.

“We turned the ball over too many times and let them back in. That was an issue,” complained Cox.

But the Panthers could not draw closer. The Trojans opted for a spread offense to run precious seconds off the clock down the stretch.

Defensive specialist C.J. Reeders joined Hernandez and Claytor in double figures with 10 points. Amari Brown and Jared Lugg scored six and five, respectively, followed by Curle’s three and two each from Hunter Torres and Darren Harris.

“It was very nice to get this one,” said Cox, whose team improved to 2-1. “I thought we played a real good game defensively and put pressure on them. Any time you hold a team to 35 points through three quarters in varsity basketball, you’ve got to like that.”