Poquoson duo, three-pointers enough to defeat New Kent

New Kent’s Madison Foley (right) uses her maneuverability to avoid a steal attempt by Poquoson’s Madi Long.

Robb Johnson photo

New Kent’s Lady Trojans last hardwood encounter with Poquoson’s Lady Islanders occurred on Senior Night, a contest that saw the visitors escape with a 42-39 victory over the Lady Trojans. Tuesday night’s matchup with the same two teams also provided a competitive contest, but resulted in another win for the visitors.

The Poquoson duo of Hope Jennings and Sandra Fan combined for 43 points as the Lady Islanders edged New Kent 55-49.

Poquoson struck first as Avery Pinder’s three and a Jennings steal and lay-in bolted the visitors out to a 5-0 lead. New Kent’s Brynne Jones converted a traditional three-point play and added another close range score to knot the game at five apiece.

But the Lady Islanders began to gain an advantage in the back and forth battle. Davah Headrick’s three-pointer was the third of the opening frame for the guests, giving them a four-point lead (15-11). Another long distance connection by Fan provided the visitors an 18-13 lead heading into the second quarter.

The second frame overwhelmed New Kent’s Lady Trojans. Turnovers marred many of the scoring attempts for the hosts. Meanwhile, Poquoson outscored their counterpart 17-6, including draining two additional threes to gain a 35-19 advantage at halftime.

A switch to player-to-player defense by New Kent in the third quarter slowly chipped away at Poquoson’s advantage. An early jump shot by Lady Trojan Haley Hyndshaw and score through contact by Jones swung momentum in favor to the hosts, despite trailing by 13 (40-27) heading into the final quarter.

A Kayla Tirrado steal of Pinder led to a three-point play for New Kent, reducing the deficit back to ten (40-30). Tirrado returned to the line and sank two more free throws after a flagrant foul was whistled against Poquoson.

Fan began to exert her dominance for the Lady Islanders. Her aggressive play sparked a 6-0 personal scoring run for her, with all of those points coming from the charity stripe. Her last one provided a dozen-point advantage for the guests (48-36) with three minutes to go.

New Kent senior Peyton Slater assumed control of the court, knocking down back-to-back threes to cut into the visitors’ lead (48-42). After Jennings converted a three-point play, Tirrado retaliated with a corner three to keep the deficit at six (51-45). However, late free throws by Fan would be enough to help the visitors escape the contest and thrwart the upset attempt by New Kent.

After the contest, Lady Trojan head coach Neko Burson shed some light on his team’s loss.

“There were a lot of calls out there that I did not agree with, but things could have gone either way tonight,” he commented. “We have to dig deeper as a team and not have a first half like we did.

“We had to catch up and we fell short,” Burson continued. “Whether it’s our seniors or anyone on the team, we must continue to challenge each other to make this team better.”

Slater led New Kent (2-2) with 15 points. Tirrado and Jones also finished in double figures with 13 and 12, respectively. Madison Foley tossed in four, Jada Hooker pitched in with three, and Hyndshaw dropped in two.

Poquoson (3-1) received a game-high 23 from Jennings, while Fan provided 20 points.