Behind strong second quarter, New Kent powers to victory over Charles City
New Kent's Katelyn Norman (32) uses her size advantage to snag the ball just out of the reach of Charles City's Nijah Johnson (5).Robb Johnson photo
The Jan. 22 affair between New Kent’s Lady Trojans and Charles City’s Lady Panthers marked their only meeting of the season between the squads. For the visiting Lady Trojans, it continued their winning streak over the hosting Lady Panthers.
New Kent used a strong second quarter run to outdistance themselves from Charles City’s Lady Panthers 67-27 in the non-district matchup.
After Charles City’s Alexis Williams provided the hosts their only lead of the game (2-0), New Kent went inside to center Katelyn Norman. Her size advantage contributed to six points of a 10-0 Lady Trojan run.
The Lady Panthers were able to counter, as Skye Bradby’s three-pointer cut the lead back down to five. Charles City remained within striking distance, only trailing by a half dozen (12-6) heading into quarter two.
New Kent flexed their muscles, utilizing a pressure defense that forced several miscues by the Lady Panthers. Charles City turnovers led to Lady Trojan buckets, resulting in a 19-7 run and a 32-14 halftime lead.
The visitors’ shots fell a lot easier in the second half, with Charles City unable to answer on the offensive end. The result was a huge 26-point cushion at the end of three and a running clock in the fourth to seal the game in favor of the visitors.
Victorious Lady Trojan head coach Neko Burson offered comments about never knowing what type of game to get with a rivalry team.
“We never know what to expect as we are a humble team and we approach each opponent the same way,” he said. “We may not have expected the amount of physicality that they brought out, but we shook that off and controlled the paint more.
“Down the stretch, we settled down and looked for better opportunities,” Burson concluded, pointing to the key point that established the victory.
For Charles City Lady Panthers head coach Hailey Holmes, she pointed to her team wanting to have the desire to get better.
“Sometimes it’s mainly just having everyone at practice everyday,” she said, pointing to the roster of eight players. “We don’t have that because our team is small.
“We can’t go over the things we need to go over,” Holmes added. “The ones that need to be there are not there, and that is the biggest thing. They need to take it more seriously.”
Norman’s 21 points were the high for New Kent (10-4) in the victory. Hailey Hyndshaw and Natasha Lange also finished in double figures with 17 and 11, respectively. McKenna Mueller tossed in eight, JaKeira Thomas and Cheyenne Smith each added four, and Hannah Drewer chipped in with two.
Williams’ 11 points led Charles City (4-12) in the scoring column. Bradby and Milla Mantell each added seven, and Janiya Washington chipped in with two.