King William uses strong second half to pull away from Lady Panthers

By Robb Johnson | January 26, 2024 7:33 am

Charles City’s Nyla Brown (2) dribbles around a King William defender in an effort to beat a full-court press.

Robb Johnson photo

For one half, Charles City’s Lady Panthers played basket-to-basket with the top team in the Tidewater District. But a sluggish third quarter by the Lady Panthers ended up being the turning point of the contest.

Behind 26 points from Daejah Robinson, King William’s Lady Cavaliers coasted to a 58-45 win over the Charles City Lady Panthers in the Jan. 24 match-up.

Robinson contributed to most of the points in the opening frame for the visitors as she tossed in nine to guide King William to a 13-7 lead. Charles City’s Lady Panthers relied on the backcourt of Nyla Brown and Jaela Smith to initiate a rally. The hosts chipped at the lead before Brown was fouled on a continuation play with 44.4 seconds remaining in the first half to tie the game at 21. But King William responded quickly, rallying off four straight points to take a 25-21 lead into the break.

Charles City got within one to start the quarter after Brown’s three, but from there, it was all King William. Robinson ran the floor for easy scores as the Lady Panthers were beaten on several hustle plays throughout the rest of the contest.

After the game, Charles City Lady Panthers Head Coach Julio Garcia spoke about the contest.

“We played hard tonight and some things that happened in the game were unfortunate,” he commented. “We can only control what we can, and we have to learn from it.”

Charles City (6-10) received a game high 24 points from Smith while Brown also finished in double figures with 12. Madison Bradby tossed in four, Teonna Bey pumped in three, and Bryana Lewis chipped in with two.