Lady Trojans handle Lakeland in first round of playoffs

New Kent's Brynne Jones (52) powers through contact for two of her game-high 20 points.

Robb Johnson photo

New Kent’s Lady Trojans found themselves as the seventh-seed in the Group 3A Region A tournament, enabling them to host the 10th-seeded Lakeland Lady Cavaliers from Suffolk in the first-round matchup on Feb. 16. With the visitors coming in with a 1-21 and trying to pull the ultimate upset, it didn’t take long for hosts to establish dominance in what was an expected result

New Kent used tough defense and a strong offensive showing to demolish the Lady Cavaliers 66-28 in the contest. The Lady Trojans will travel to Hopewell on Monday (Feb. 19) to challenge the second-seeded Lady Blue Devils in the quarterfinal round.

The hosts started the contest early with a 13-0 run, highlighted by forward Brynne Jones’ seven points including an uncontested lay-in after a teammate’s miss on a free throw. Lakeland finally broke into the scoring column halfway into the first quarter as Kayla Barnes converted a conventional three-point play. However, New Kent ramped up pressure defense, only allowing a single field goal in the frame and ending it with an 11-3 run to hold a comfortable 24-6 advantage.

The Lady Trojans continued to play hard for the next three quarters, using strong efforts on both sides of the ball. The hosts never trailed in the contest and closed out the game in dominating victory.

New Kent head coach Neko Burson expressed pleasure in his team and their home playoff debut in several years.

“I was proud of the ladies tonight and we were the favorite for once this season in a game,” said the victorious coach. “For us hosting this playoff game in front of the home crowd, it was big for the fans and this team was excited.”

Jones scored 20 points, with ten in each half, to lead the Lady Trojans in scoring. Jada Hooker and Haley Hyndshaw each added a dozen apiece, Peyton Slater and Emma Bell contributed six apiece, Madison Foley and Bailee Hellebrandt added five apiece, and Abby Coutu chipped in with two.

Kayla Barnes led the Lady Cavaliers and tied for a game-high with 20 points.