New Kent Charles City Chronicle

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

New Kent squanders double digit lead as Grafton battles back for victory

By Robb Johnson | January 26, 2023 11:22 pm

New Kent’s Will Ross (4) plots his next move as he is guarded by Grafton’s Chase Santiago (5).

Robb Johnson photo

New Kent’s Trojans hit their high earlier this season with a seven-game win streak. Now, the team must find out how to bounce back from one of their lows.

Behind 14 points on 17 offensive rebounds and 10 New Kent turnovers, the visiting Grafton Clippers edged the Trojans 64-61 in the Jan. 25 Bay Rivers District contest.

After Grafton jumped out 4-0, New Kent’s Kemauri Palmer responded with a close-range basket. Teammate Isaiah Carr’s three provided the host a brief lead before the guests responded with a trifecta of their own. However, the hosts were able to use an Ethan Smith score at the buzzer to their advantage, taking a 16-14 lead into the next quarter. New Kent was able to double their lead from two to four by the halftime break, leading 29-25 over Grafton.

New Kent’s lead hit double figures (45-35) after Will Ross’ three-pointer combined with another bucket from Smith. But Grafton added four within a 30-second time frame to trail by six (45-39) heading into the fourth.

New Kent saw their lead dwindle, as the Clippers ramped up their defensive pressure. New Kent was unable to control the pace of the game, which saw Grafton take a lead late. The hosts were unable to clean up their errors, resulting in the Clippers taking the win on the road.

After the contest, New Kent Head Coach Garrett Ross talked about their recent struggles as they dropped their third consecutive game.

“They (Grafton) were well prepared from the last game,” the head coach commented. “They changed the tempo and dictated things, and I don’t think we intentionally tried to slow things down.

“We were just trying to be smart and execute with the ball,” Ross concluded.

New Kent (12-7) received 15 points from both Carr and Ross. Dillon Mickles added 11, Kyle Diggs scored seven, Josiah Reedy added six, Smith tossed in five, and Palmer chipped in with two.