New Kent Charles City Chronicle

News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | March 29, 2024

Warhill outmuscles New Kent 64-57 in boys’ basketball clash

By Robb Johnson | January 21, 2022 12:30 pm

New Kent's Calvin York slices to the basketball for an easy lay-in.

Robb Johnson photo

A team’s record can be deceiving in sports. And New Kent’s Trojans found that out the hard way heading into a Jan. 19 contest against the Warhill Lions.

Despite only posting one win on the year, the visiting Lions outmuscled New Kent 64-57 in the Bay Rivers District match-up.

New Kent’s defense had trouble early on in the game, as Lions’ wingman Jacobi Cherry drained a three-pointer. That long distance connection would be one of seven that the visitors would drain in the first half alone. While the Trojans trailed by one (15-14), it was another one from Cherry and a deep buzzer beater from teammate Chase Barnett that highlighted a 7-3 run to end the frame.

The second stanza saw more offensive woes from New Kent. The Trojans only converted one bucket from the field in the quarter, courtesy of a Joe Buchman three-pointer. Meanwhile, Warhill continued to main a healthy lead, resulting in a double-digit advantage at the halftime break (32-22).

In the third quarter, New Kent finally got some offense going thanks to Calvin York’s performance. From the free throw line to the field, the Trojans rallied to cut Warhill’s lead to three (51-48) by the beginning of the fourth quarter. But defensive breakdowns and the inability to snag rebounds plagued the hosts, as Cherry closed out the game for Warhill by converting key shots down the stretch to hand the visitors their second win on the season.

After the contest, New Kent Head Coach Garrett Ross talked about the lack of contributions from role players.

“Warhill’s secondary people stepped up tonight and hit shots,” he said. “They hit shots and we didn’t have our role players hit tonight, whereas they did against Jamestown and Bruton in the last two.

“The biggest thing is that when we need a stop, we need a stop,” Ross continued. “We need to rebound, and they got scoring on their second and third chances. You can’t do that when you’re clawing your way back.”

York’s 28 points paced New Kent, whose record now drops to 5-5. Josiah Reedy also finished in double figures for the Trojans with 10 points. Buchman finished with nine, Jack Swynford tossed in eight, and Phillip Woodley chipped in with two.