Lafayette’s experience, dominance teaches early lesson to youthful Lady Trojans

New Kent’s Talayah Wilson (14) drives around a Lafayette defender in an attempt to get to the basket.

Robb Johnson photo

New Kent’s Lady Trojans’ girls’ basketball team enters the 2024-25 season with a roster of talented but young players. And sometimes those teams can get overwhelmed in situations, such as the case on Dec. 5 as they hosted the visiting Lafayette Lady Rams.

Behind collegebound prospect Dynasti Pierce, Lafayette coasted to a 56-20 victory over New Kent in the Bay Rivers District opener for both teams.
Lafayette started quickly with a 6-0 run before New Kent’s Deloney Montgomery drained a three pointer. Talayah Wilson added one of her own for the hosts, closing the gap to two (8-6) midway through the opening stanza.

But from that point, Lafayette’s pressure defense began to wear on the younger Trojans. Lafayette clogged the middle, preventing New Kent from driving to the basket. Meanwhile, the Lady Rams used a 10-0 run to end the first quarter and jump their lead to double figures (18-6). The second quarter saw the visitors methodically work their offense while their defense continued to keep New Kent in check. The result was a 31-11 halftime advantage. From there, Lafayette had no issues as they dominated the second half, outscoring the Lady Trojans 25-9.

After the contest, New Kent Lady Trojans Head Coach James Montgomery talked about the early lesson his team learned.

“Lafayette is one of the better teams that we will play, and the first five minutes we competed,” he said. “It’s just that things got tight, and we locked up.

“It’s a long season and we have played two tough games,” Montgomery continued. “We just have to stick together, put a good practice in, and move on from there.”

New Kent falls to 0-2 on the season.