Intense Trojans race away from York for 88-42 triumph

New Kent's Evan Branch out-leaps and out-muscles teammate Dean Powell for an offensive rebound in the York contest's second quarter.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Less than five minutes into their basketball encounter with York’s Falcons, New Kent’s host Trojans owned a 10-point lead. That margin held up through the first quarter, and from there, the hosts pulled away for an easy 88-42 victory.

Thursday night’s win upped the Trojans’ record to 7-5 and placed an exclamation point of the first of three consecutive home games on successive nights, thanks to last weekend’s snowstorm that moved the York contest back a day. The Trojans entertain Tabb on Friday and welcome neighborhood rival Charles City on Saturday.

“Coming back from these snow breaks, I’m concerned because we usually play with malaise, but not tonight,” Trojan coach Ronnie Cox said.

“The defensive intensity was there,” he said. “Then we went big [as opposed to a shorter lineup] tonight, but it’s nice to have the option to go either way. Our size definitely altered [York’s] shooting.”

And at the offensive end, all 12 players on the Trojan roster cracked the scoring column.

By halftime, the Trojans had doubled the score on the Falcons (44-22), and already had three players in double figures– Kyle Claytor with 13 and Amari Brown and Jordan Hernandez with 10 apiece. The Falcons, meanwhile, experienced a five-minute second period scoring drought that enabled New Kent to push a 25-18 advantage to 41-18.

“Our defense was solid and we were unselfish,” Cox said. “That’s what good teams do, and I’m proud of them for doing that.”

Claytor finished with a game-high 22 points while Hernandez totaled 18 and Brown netted 14. Darren Harris and Ryan Lugg tossed in eight and six, respectively, while C.J. Reeders and Hunter Torres each contributed four. Ryan Curle and Patrick Minor each ended with three followed by two apiece from Evan Branch, Dean Powell, and Michael Amadeo.