New Kent Lady Trojans top J.R. Tucker on Proffitt’s last second basket

New Kent’s Aubrey Hyndshaw (10) releases a long distance shot over the outstretched hands of J.R. Tucker’s Makayla Hanna.

Robb Johnson photo

With the uncertainty when leading scorer Katelynn Norman will return to the floor after suffering an injury, New Kent’s Lady Trojans engaged in a Dec. 28 contest against the J.R. Tucker Lady Tigers in the opening round of the Mechanicsville Mustang Holiday Tournament. And after watching a big lead evaporate, it would be a score in the last moments of the game that became the deciding factor.

A lay-up by Campbell Proffitt with 12 seconds remaining proved to be the differential as New Kent emerged as 41-39 winners over J.R. Tucker.

New Kent seemed to find scoring easy in the first quarter even without Norman, jumping out to a 15-4 lead after the first frame. But J.R. Tucker methodically worked their way with a grinding defense, holding the Lady Trojans to only four points while reeling off 12 points of their own. The result was New Kent holding a 19-16 halftime lead.

J.R. Tucker continued their strong play after the halftime break, doubling up New Kent in the third quarter (16-8) to take the lead and a 32-27 lead as the transition into the fourth quarter took place.

The intensity of the game escalated in the final frame, with Lady Trojans Hannah Milby’s underhanded shot falling to cut J.R. Tucker’s lead to three. After two free throws from the Lady Tigers bumped the lead back up, Milby drained a couple of free throws and followed it up with a field goal to bring New Kent within one (34-33).

With J.R. Tucker leading 39-37, a Lady Tiger turnover led to Aubrey Hyndshaw’s game-tying basket with less than a minute remaining in the contest. The Lady Tigers next shot failed to fall, resulting in New Kent grabbing the rebound. On the transition, Proffitt found an opening that would lead her to an easy conversion and provide the Lady Trojans a 41-39 lead.

After a J.R. Tucker timeout, the Lady Tigers tried to bring the ball up the court. But New Kent’s defense forced Lady Tiger guard Koi Shabazz to turn the ball over, allowing the Lady Trojans to pick up the loose ball and dribble out the clock to win the game.

After the contest, New Kent Lady Trojans Head Coach Neko Burson talked about his team’s ability to overcome adversity throughout the season so far.

“Our mottos is to fight, fight and be in any game,” he said. “Their team made a run in the second quarter and a bigger run in the third quarter.

“We just chipped away,” Burson added. “We were down, but we missed a lot of lay-ups and free throws. We kept it close and put ourselves in position, and all you can do is fight and that is what we did.”

Proffitt’s 15 points led New Kent, who improved to 5-3 on the season. Hyndshaw pumped in 12, Miby added 10, and the duo of Alline Alexander and Evie Davenport chipped in with two points apiece.