New Kent completes season sweep of Charles City with 83-73 triumph
New Kent's Mitch Morse (24) performs a teardrop runner in front of Charles City's Davon Johnson (left), Jawuan Bowman (15) and Leo Charity (right).Robb Johnson photo
When you’re playing in a rivalry game, every possession counts. After having to delay the contest by a week due to inclement weather, Charles City and New Kent collided on the Trojans’ home floor for a rematch. In the end, it was the hosts who completed the season sweep.
New Kent pulled away in the second half, emerging with an 83-73 victory over Charles City in the Jan. 13 contest.
Ryan Curle started things off on a high note for the Trojans. Two quick lay-ins plus a free throw jumped New Kent to a 5-2 lead. Charles City bounced back, tying the game after a Justis Crawley three-pointer and a De’Rome Chretien lay-up.
Charles City added six more points on a small run, before a New Kent trifecta by Mitch Morse found the bottom of the net. New Kent cut the Panthers advantage to one (13-12) before Christian Stewart’s three pointer for the visitors spread it to four. New Kent tied the game at 16 apiece before the contest remained tight with New Kent holding a 26-22 lead. The second quarter mirrored the opening frame and ended the same point advantage for the hosts heading into the intermission break (42-38).
The rivalry battle continued on the scoreboard for a few moments to start the second half. Charles City’s Devonte Johnson scored a lay-in to cut the lead down to two for New Kent (46-44). But the Panthers began to unravel, with New Kent becoming more successful from the field. The Trojans orchestrated a 14-2 run to jump out a 60-46 lead before settling for a 65-55 advantage to end the third.
The Panthers clawed back into the game at the five-minute mark and remained within striking distance of New Kent (70-65). But a trio of downfalls of excel fouling, inability to score, and difficulty to stop the Trojan offense resulted in a 9-2 run for New Kent. In the end, New Kent returned the lead to double-figures and held on for the win.
After the contest, Charles City head coach Vashaun Otey spoke about his team’s inconsistency.
“We had too many turnovers, especially in the third quarter,” he said. “We didn’t protect the ball and we had too many lapses in our man-to-man defense.
“I told these guys you have to play this game like you are down ten points,” Otey expressed to his team during breaks in the action. “You can’t play like that on someone else’s home floor.”
New Kent head coach Ronnie Cox talked about the Trojans ability to close out the contest.
“Tonight, we were just trying to run our offense,” he said. “When our jump shots went flat, I told the guys that we were driving and going to layups only.
“In the third, we were 8-10 from the line and that helped us get a big enough lead to run some clock,” Cox continued. “We are no longer a young team and we know what we have to do.”
New Kent (3-8) placed four players in double figures, led by Curle’s 17. Jared McCaughan and Morse finished with 15 apiece, while Housden dropped in 14. Zack Manly pumped in nine, Robb Kinder contributed seven, and Ke’Sean Taliaferro chipped in with six.
Leo Charity led Charles City (1-7) with a game-high 21 points. Devonte Johnson scored 15 points, Crawley added 10, Kameron Johnson pitched in nine, Stewart pumped in six, Chretien and Tanner Grubbs added four apiece, and Cameron Vaden and Davon Johnson chipped in with two apiece.