New Kent Charles City Chronicle

News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | March 28, 2024

New Kent bounces back with triumph over West Point

By Robb Johnson | January 19, 2020 12:51 am

New Kent's Jared McCaughan flies in for an uncontested lay-up in the first half.

Robb Johnson photo

New Kent’s Trojans may want to start playing on Saturday nights more often.

One week after knocking off rival Charles City, the Trojans repeated the feat against the visiting West Point Pointers 73-59 in the non-district affair.

West Point had no answer for Kevin Harris early on. His block on one end was rewarded with an easy lay-in. The visitors opened up a small five-point lead (11-6) before Harris scored on an inbound to pull the hosts within three at the end of one.

Harris converted early in the second quarter for the Trojans. After he failed to convert the free throw, the offensive rebound by teammate Hayden Smith resulted in Harris the recipient of an assist. New Kent opened up a 10-2 run that played crucial in the hosts taking a 30-24 lead into the halftime break.

New Kent continued to put pressure on West Point’s defense, pulling away at the end of the third. A pair of three-pointers by Jared McCaughan factored into a run that provided the hosts their first double digit lead of the night (53-42). From there, the Trojans continued to stretch the lead, with the visiting Pointers not being able to get within 14 for the remainder of the game.

After the contest, New Kent head coach Garrett Ross spoke about the factors that led to his team’s victory.

“The win tonight was huge for us to be able to come back,” Ross commented. “For us to be strong and smart, especially after losing two [games] this week, we had to come back and this was huge for us.

“You have guys who have been pushing hard and working hard this year,” he continued. “Tonight, it was good to see J.J. Jacobs step up. He was in the right spots for us all night tonight whether it was a tip in or fly in or a hustle play on defense.”

McCaughan’s 24 led New Kent (5-7) in the victory. Jacobs and Harris also finished in double figures with 18 and 12, respectively. Calvin York contributed nine, Spencer Gilland and Jalen Banks tossed in four, and Jason Hall chipped in with two.