Last second Poquoson score lifts Lady Islanders over New Kent 34-33

New Kent's Katelyn Norman (center) splits a pair of Poquoson defenders on a drive to the basket.

Robb Johnson photo

New Kent Lady Trojan’s hoped that a home game Saturday night against the visiting Poquoson Lady Islands would provide the right recipe for a win. Unfortunately for the hosts, the Lady Islanders were the cooks who spoiled the broth.

A coast-to-coast lay-up by Poquoson’s Logan Pickford with nine seconds left proved to be the difference maker as the Lady Islanders edged New Kent’s Lady Trojans 34-33 in the Bay Rivers District affair.

Poquoson started out quickly with an 8-2 run after Logan Pickford and Skyler Brown each converted a three-pointer. New Kent was able to slow down and counter the early advantage with a 9-1 run of their own, led by the scoring of McKenna Mueller and Jaiden McCoy. However, four more points tossed in by the visitors bestowed a 13-9 lead for the visitors at the end of the opening frame. A low scoring second quarter saw Poquoson increase their lead by a single point as they held a 21-16 advantage at halftime.

Following their trademark of relying on defense this year, the Lady Trojans slowly climbed back into the contest. Holding the visitors to a mere free throw in the third quarter, New Kent mustered together a couple of baskets to pull within one (22-21) by the end of the frame.

Poquoson’s offense regained their spark, orchestrating a 7-1 run to provide a seven-point game over the Lady Trojans (29-22). With 4:36 remaining on the clock, New Kent’s Hannah Drewer began the fight to get the hosts back into the contest. Her lay-up plus steal and assist to Aubrey Hyndshaw quickly cut the visitors’ lead down to three (29-26). A three-pointer by Mueller knotted the score at 29 apiece with less than three minutes remaining.

Poquoson answered back as Sela Pickford drained a trifecta to answer Mueller’s connection to reestablish a three-point advantage for the guests (32-29). But the hosts remained vigilant, as Hyndshaw converted on another bucket and Mueller’s score on a putback provided New Kent their first lead of the night (33-32).

But that lead did not last long as on the subsequent inbound, the Lady Trojan defense provided too much space for Poquoson’s Logan Pickford to find the lane. Her lay-up returned the advantage to the guests (34-33) with nine ticks left on the clock as New Kent called a timeout.

The Lady Trojans pushed the ball down the floor and found McCoy on the left block. Her shot attempt fell short as time expired, providing the visitors to escape with the win.

New Kent Lady Trojan head coach Neko Burson talked about the uphill climb the team faced after making too many errors.

“We shot ourselves in the foot so many times and we strung together turnovers instead of positive things,” the disappointed head coach said. “I was big on fighting hard the rest of the game and cleaning ourselves up on the offensive end.

“It was big that we could hold them to just one in the third frame,” Burson continued, speaking about the halftime adjustments. “It wasn’t enough. We just missed shots.”

Mueller’s 14 led New Kent (3-3) in the scoring column. Hyndshaw finished with six, McCoy tossed in five, JaKeira Thomas and Katelyn Norman each tossed in three, and Drewer chipped in with two.