New Kent grinds it out in 43-38 victory over Lafayette

New Kent’s Brooklyn Fleischman (right) executes lockdown defense against Lafayette’s Makayla Brooks (left).

Robb Johnson photo

New Kent’s Lady Trojans continue to win, but opponents are continuously getting closer to them.

Such was the case as New Kent escaped with a 43-38 win over the visiting Lafayette Lady Rams during the Feb. 16 contest.

Coming out of halftime with a 21-12 lead, New Kent orchestrated an 11-0 run, courtesy of two trifectas from Delaney Montgomery and Anna Hetzel. The lead remained at 10 (36-26) early in the fourth quarter after Amiyah Armstead scored four pour points.

The calling card of the final frame was defense by both sides. Despite a lack of offensive production, both teams play stellar defense. Lafayette closed the gap to five with five-and-a-half minutes remaining in the quarter. But the visitors couldn’t make any additional advances, resulting in New Kent’s victory.

After the contest, New Kent Lady Trojans Head Coach James Montgormery talked about the grind-it-out contest.

“I don’t know what that was, but I like the way we responded as a team,” he said. “It was good to sweep a team like that and finish the home season 10-1.

“We are coming not our own, and it was a gritty win,” Montgomery added. “It’s good to win ugly sometimes.”

However, Montgomery issued a statement to the public, challenging the community to support the team during their playoff run that Is scheduled to start on Feb. 24.

“If only they could come and see these ladies, we are fun to watch,” he said, pointing to the team’s 16-3 record. “We are begging people to come out and support us and make this an asylum. The girls are the number one seed, and we hope that the community gets behind them.”

Montgomery’s 19 points topped the scoring column for the Lady Trojans. Armstead tossed in eight, Hetzel pumped in five, Brooklyn Fleischman added four, Vyktorya Otey tossed in three, and the duo of Aubrey Loucks and Rayne Otey chipped in with two apiece.