Lady Islanders rally in fourth, shock New Kent 63-61 in double overtime

New Kent's Bailee Hellebrandt (right) looks for a path to attack against a Poquoson defender.

Robb Johnson photo

When teams go into overtime, it’s usually very exciting as drama builds up a compelling storyline. Unfortunately, the script was not supposed to last that long for New Kent’s Lady Trojans.

Playing down to the level of competition, the hosting Lady Trojans were shocked by the Poquoson Lady Islanders, who are at the bottom of the Bay Rivers District standings, 63-61 in Tuesday night’s double overtime contest.

New Kent held an eight-point advantage at halftime and a nine-point lead as the fourth quarter rolled in. However, turnovers along with the bugaboo known as free throws damaged the hosts’ chance to seal the game in regulation.

Four missed free throws prevented New Kent from stretching the gap of five points over Poquoson even wider. Meanwhile, Lady Islander Logan Pickford’s three-pointer cut the deficit to two. After New Kent’s Madison Foley was fouled, she went to the line for a bonus situation free throw. However, the Lady Trojan clanked the attempt, allowing Poquoson to grab the rebound and drive the floor with moments to spare. A buzzer-beating shot in the paint by Lady Islander Reagan Walters knotted the game at 48 apiece and force overtime.

After both teams ended the first overtime tied, the second extra period saw exhaustion kick in for the hosts. New Kent’s turnovers allowed Poquoson to build a four-point advantage. Lady Trojan Bailee Hellebrandt’s three-pointer cut the lead to one, but the guests built the lead back up to two (63-61) with three seconds left. New Kent was unable to get off a shot in those waning moments as the Lady Islanders successfully completed the comeback.

After the contest, Lady Trojan head coach Neko Burson seemed awestruck about his team’s performance.

“This is probably the worse loss so far,” he said. “It’s their second win and it’s tough for me being a coach. This one really hurts.

“There is nowhere but up from here and they were more excited than us,” Burson continued. “They were more aggressive going into this game and we should have been licking our chops against a team we beat before this season.”

New Kent (5-8) received a team-high 18 points from Foley. Also finishing in double figures for the Lady Trojans were Haley Hyndshaw (15), Hellebrandt (13), and Jada Hooker (13). Abby Coutu’s two rounded out the scoring.