New Kent shuts out Lady Panthers in first quarter, sweeps season series with 55-15 win

By Robb Johnson | January 23, 2019 11:04 pm

Charles City's Skye Bradby (left) searches for an opening to shoot the ball as New Kent's Bailee Hellebrandt (24) applies defensive pressure.

Robb Johnson photo

Riding into the Jan. 23 contest with two consecutive wins, Charles City’s Lady Panthers entered New Kent’s gymnasium looking for a measure of revenge against the hosting Lady Trojans. However, a hostile environment along with physical play by New Kent made the task too much for the visitors.

New Kent cruised to a 55-15 win over Charles City, completing the season sweep once again for the second consecutive year.

Charles City’s aggressive nature early on resulted in New Kent’s Bailee Hellebrandt saddled with two quick fouls. However, Lady Panther Jaelah Wyatt couldn’t sank the free throws and the scoreboard remained unblemished at the time.

But after two minutes of no scoring, Jada Hooker’s putback at the rim launched an offensive onslaught by the Lady Trojans who scored 22 consecutive points while pitching a shutout in the first quarter. It wasn’t until the 6:07 mark of quarter two when Lady Panther Cheyanne Marshall converted a close-range basket. But the Lady Trojans were able to continue to maintain a distance over Charles City, emerging with a 32-4 lead at the break. New Kent outscored Charles City 23-11 in the second half to establish the final margin.

Charles City head coach VaShaun Otey said distractions played a key role in the loss.

“We did not come to play, and the players were worried more about the stands than on the court,” he said. “We have to be stronger mentally.

“In any sport, you have to be strong mentally and I just don’t feel that our mentality was there tonight,” Otey continued. “We were just going through the motions.”

As for winning coach Neko Burson, he hopes his Lady Trojans use the win as momentum to close out the season.

“The last lost we had [to Poquoson] was pretty bad,” he said. “This was a must win. We have no excuses going forward and every game is a must win for us.

“We don’t take teams for granted,” Burson continued. We had to learn from some close losses and that helps us get better at this point.”

Haley Hyndshaw’s 20 points led New Kent (6-8) in the scoring column. Madison Foley tossed in 14 points, Hellebrandt pitched in with eight, Natasha Lange added five, Loveland scored four, and the duo of Hooker and Abby Coutu chipped in with two.

Alexis Williams’ nine points were the team-high for Charles City (2-12). Skye Bradby added four and Marshall rounded out the scoring with two.