Petersburg lives up to national ranking, downs New Kent in regional semifinals

By Robb Johnson | March 1, 2026 1:01 pm

New Kent’s Kingston Young (2) tries to find a path to the basket against the defensive pressure from Petersburg’s Larry Walker (1).

Robb Johnson photo

Sometimes in sports, there are things that can’t be controlled. One of those factors is the top Class 3A team in the state in the visiting Petersburg Crimson Wave being seeded fourth in the Region 3A tournament. And in their Feb. 26 visit to the New Kent Trojans in front of a sell-out crowd, the home team got a first-hand look at the premiere firsthand talent.

With no answer for recently named All-American Latrell Allmond and number one freshman prospect King Bacot, Petersburg coasted to an 82-41 victory over the New Kent Trojans, bringing the season to an end.

With the Trojans without leading scorer Marty Wray due to injury, New Kent’s game plan to actually slow the tempo of the game down started off well. Christian Joyner’s three-pointer provided New Kent an early lead. But that would be the only one they would hold for the night.

Petersburg played as advertised, scoring the next 22 points to take a 22-3 lead. The Trojans began battling back in the second stanza, with two trifectas from Kingston Young, one from Joshua Reedy, and one from Jared Hathaway to cut their deficit to 10 (25-15).

But from there, the combination of Allmond and Bacot began to find more success easily, with the latter dunking on several occasions thanks to assists. The result was an 18-4 run that provided Petersburg a 43-19 lead at the break.

In the third quarter, it would be Petersburg’s Camerson Claiborne taking the leading role for the Crimson Wave. Corner three-pointers by Claiborne stretched the margin out even wider. Along with pressure defense, Petersburg’s gap grew to the point where a running clock was implemented, eventually leading to New Kent’s season coming to the end.

For the Trojans, they finished with a record of 19-3, with all of their losses coming to top teams in the state. The Trojans will graduate six players this year, including top scorers Wray, Joyner, and Young.