Strong third quarter vital in New Kent defeating West Point

By Robb Johnson | January 20, 2019 12:21 pm

New Kent's Robb Kinder (right) drives through contact created by West Point's Ethan Hoffman.

Robb Johnson photo

Sitting on an 8-8 record for the season, New Kent’s Trojans looked to break the .500 barrier as rival West Point challenged them Saturday night. It took a while, but a dozen-point scoring advantage put up by the Trojans against the visitors’ zone in the third quarter provided enough distance for the win.

New Kent outscored West Point 23-11 in the frame after the halftime break and emerged as 57-47 winners in the contest.

Trojan head coach Ronnie Cox elected to bench his usual starters at the beginning of the game. However, poor play on both ends by both teams resulted in West Point holding a 2-1 lead less than three minutes into the contest. After New Kent’s usual starters entered the contest, they dropped eight straight points at the end of the first quarter. But those players also slacked on the defensive end in the following frame, resulting in West Point rallying to trail by only three (20-17) heading into the halftime break.

West Point managed to cut the lead to two (26-24) early in the third but turnovers allowed New Kent to take advantage. A 17-6 run by the Trojans lifted the hosts to a 15-point lead (43-28). The Trojans played on near-even terms with the visitors for the remainder of the game that finished with the scoreboard favoring the hosts.

After the contest, Cox said he wanted to reward his hardworking bench because of their practice effort.

“J.J. Jacobs, Spencer Gilland, Noah Cross, KeSean Taliaferro, and Zack Morse play some, but they work really hard in practice,” the coach said. “The starters didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just I wanted to give them a chance to start in front of the home crowd.

“As far as the third quarter, we pressured West Point and tried to get turnovers,” Cox continued. “Along with hitting three three-pointers against their 2-3 zone, we knocked them down in crucial situations.”

Robb Kinder scored 12 points to lead New Kent (9-8) in the scoring column. Jared McCaughan scored 10, Mitch Morse and Evan Branch each contributed nine, Dean Powell tossed in seven, Jacobs added four, and Taliaferro and Banks each pumped in three.