Smithfield plays role of ‘Grinch’, demolish Lady Trojans

New Kent's Bailee Hellebrandt (right) does not feel Smithfield's Aja Walker (10) closing in to block her shot.

Robb Johnson photo

New Kent’s Lady Trojans invited Smithfield’s Lady Packers for some basketball action Monday night in the gymnasium prior to the holiday break. The visitors were in a giving mood in the form of a beat down.

Capitalizing from torrid free throw shooting by New Kent, Smithfield went on to a 48-32 triumph to close out the 2018 year for the Lady Trojans.

The hosts’ troubles stemmed from the get-go and how to deal with the Lady Packer duo of Shakeria Tucker and Jayla Gray. The two combined for 17 of their team’s 19 points in the first quarter, quadrupling New Kent’s team total of four points. The second quarter was no better for the hosts, as they were only able to tack on four more points as Smithfield led 32-8 at the halftime break. Despite outscoring the visitors in the second half, the huge gap was too much for New Kent to conquer.

After the contest, Lady Trojan head coach Neko Burson didn’t sugarcoat his comments when it came to his team’s performance.

“You can’t execute a game plan with missed free throws and turnovers,” he said. “Along with the pressure they put on us, it was really tough.

“We came out flat and their pressure knocked us off the hinge and they capitalized off turnovers,” Burson continued. “Our free throws along would have had us back in this game but we are going to have to execute better coming out of the Christmas break.”

New Kent (3-5) received a team high 10 points from Haley Hyndshaw. Alaina Torres tossed in seven, Madison Foley and Bailee Hellebrandt each contributed six, and the duo of Alayna Loveland and Natasha Lange chipped in with two apiece.