New Kent uses charity stripe success to defeat Grafton in overtime
New Kent’s Christian Joyner (10) battles hard at the basket against Grafton’s Jeremiah Littleton.Robb Johnson photo
In a game plagued with free throws and physical play, New Kent’s Trojans hosted the Grafton Clippers in a game that needed an extra period to decide the outcome. And it was the free throw shooting by the hosting Trojans that proved to be the difference maker.
New Kent sank 34 free throws, outlasting Grafton 101-93 in the overtime Bay Rivers District contest. By comparison, the Clippers drained 14 out of 35 attempts.
The hosts started the game on a 9-3 run and seemed to take control of the contest from the onset. But Grafton kept it close for a few moments before New Kent’s Marty Wray reverse lay-up kept the Trojans ahead. Moments later, Jarred Hathaway scored four consecutive points as the Trojans took a double-digit lead (27-17) into the second quarter. Every attempt by the Clippers in the second quarter was turned back by the hosts, as New Kent carried a 46-35 lead into the halftime intermission.
In the third quarter, New Kent led by nine (62-53) when Grafton made their first run at slicing the score. The Clippers orchestrated a 7-3 run to cut the home team’s lead to five (65-60). The hosts once again withstood the run as they entered into the fourth quarter with a 68-62 lead.
New Kent led 75-67 before Grafton orchestrated a 7-0 run to cut the home team’s lead down to a mere point. A pair of Wray free throws upped the lead to three, but Grafton didn’t falter. Just under the three-minute mark, the Clippers tied the game at 80 apiece.
Both teams battled, with New Kent pulling ahead 86-82 with 1:25 after a lay-up from Christian Joyner. Grafton cut the hosts’ lead down to one after a free throw, followed by sinking a free throw. New Kent’s Deven Bailey returned the lead to the home team with seven seconds remaining in the fourth quarter with a putback. But on the subsequent inbound pass, Japheth Hayden made an over-the-top catch for a score, sending the game into overtime as time expired.
Grafton garnered their first lead of the game with a score to kickoff the extra frame. New Kent regained the lead at 95-93 after Joyner’s putback. The Clippers missed a pair of free throws on their next possession down, leading to Wray being fouled on the subsequent series. Wray drained the next pair of free throws, with Kingston Young’s pair of conversions from the charity stripe increasing the Trojans’ advantage to six (99-93). New Kent added two more free throws to account for the final score.
Wray’s 35 points led New Kent (8-1) in the scoring column. Joyner finished with 28 points, while Kris Leeper also finished in double figures with 14. Bailey finished with eight, Josiah Reeded contributed six, Hathaway tossed in four, Caleb Marable added three, Young tossed in two, and Jaron Collins chipped in with one.