News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | September 11, 2026
Sports
Charles City’s rally falls short as season ends at West Point
In the waning moments of the Conference 42 semifinal game, Charles City’s Panthers dwindled the top-seeded West Point Pointers’ lead down to a mere point with just under three minutes remaining in the Feb. 21 contest. Unfortunately for the visitors, late crucial turnovers paired with West Point finishing scores became too much to overcome. The visiting Panthers saw their 2013-14 boys’ basketball season come to a close, falling to the Group 1A-eighth ranked West Point 74-67. It is the third time this year the Pointers have defeated the Panthers. Early in the contest, both teams alternated leads. While the Panthers…
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Powerful Park View storms past New Kent in conference final
Heading into his team’s battle with Park View-South Hill’s Dragons for the 3A Conference 25 tournament championship, New Kent coach Ronnie Cox anticipated the contest turning into a track meet. He was right. The top-seeded and host Dragons ran, pressed, and shot their way past Cox’s Trojans, never allowing the third seeds to mount a serious threat or much less stay in last night’s (Friday) game. Park View opened with an 8-0 run and never looked back on the way to a 97-56 win. “They’re very athletic and very unselfish,” Cox said about the opponents. “They shot it extremely well…
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Surry’s youth outplays Lady Panthers’ experience in 45-39 win
Last year, Charles City’s Lady Panthers ousted Surry County’s Lady Cougars in the regional semifinals to earn a berth in the Group 1A state championship tournament. But a new, youthful Surry cast rolled into town this time, focused on avenging last year’s loss. Led by 6’4” freshman Brianna Jones and freshman guard Armani Franklin, Surry overcame a Lady Panther comeback and held on for a 45-39 win, ending Charles City’s season Wednesday night in disappointing fashion. After a Jessica Hill hook shot tied the game at two apiece in the opening minutes of the game, Surry capitalized using Jones’ size….
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LaPrade wins individual state wrestling crown, New Kent third overall
New Kent’s B.C. LaPrade won the individual state championship at 138 pounds at Saturday’s Group 3A state wrestling tournament held inside the civic center in Salem. LaPrade posted a 3-1 decision over Christianburg’s Creed Lumpp in the final match. New Kent, meanwhile, amassed 82 points to place third in team scoring out of 35 teams, just a single point behind runner-up Brentsville. Christiansburg won the state title with 101.5 points while New Kent’s Bay Rivers nemesis Poquoson came in fourth with 73.5. Two New Kent wrestlers finished as runners-up in their weight classes. Blake Hohman dropped an 8-0 decision to…
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New Kent season comes to close at John Marshall
John Marshall’s Justices lived up to their billing as one of the best basketball teams in the state. Last year’s Group AAA state runners-up put on a clinic last night (Monday) as they dismantled New Kent 104-42 in the Group 3A East Region tournament in Richmond, thus ending the visiting Trojans’ season. Afterward, New Kent coach Ronnie Cox could speak only in superlatives concerning the Justices’ performance. “They’re unbelievable,” he said. “They’re state contenders, and tonight they proved it. They’re in a league of their own. There’s no way you can underestimate just how good they are.” The Justices opened…
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Lady Panthers top Middlesex for third time in 10 days to advance to conference finals
It’s a known saying in sports that defeating a team three times in a season is difficult. For the Charles City Lady Panthers, a third matchup with the visiting Middlesex Lady Chargers in 10 days ended with the same result–a victory. Cheyenne Davis pumped in a season-high 20 points while teammates Jessica Hill and Adrienne Miles both added 12 apiece as the hosts claimed a 50-36 victory over Middlesex during the Feb. 20 Conference 42 semifinal matchup. Poised from the onset, Davis scored six of the team’s first nine points. And when the senior didn’t score, it was junior classmates…
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New Kent edged by Poquoson in conference wrestling tournament
It’s almost a foregone conclusion that district, conference, and region wrestling titles will be decided between New Kent’s Trojans and Poquoson’s Islanders. Programs at both schools are head and shoulders above the competition. Saturday, the Trojans and Islanders, along with a handful of also-rans, grappled their way toward the crown in the Colonial 3A Conference tournament held at New Kent. The event took place three days after New Kent bested Poquoson 36-32 on the Islanders’ mat for the Bay Rivers District title. But much to the Trojans’ dismay, Saturday proved to be the Islanders’ turn. Poquoson received crucial pins worth…
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Early, late runs lift Lady Panthers over Middlesex
If the old adage “sharing means caring” was mentioned by Charles City Lady Panthers head coach VaShaun Otey before the game, the hosts took it to heart. Converting 20 field goals from 11 assists, the Lady Panthers put together two huge runs en route to a 52-34 victory over the Middlesex Lady Chargers during the Feb. 10 senior night celebration. Up 6-4 with two minutes to go in the first quarter, the hosts staged their first big run of the night. An Adrienne Miles’ steal paired with a senior connection hookup from Jessica Hill to Ke’Ara Jones pass kicked off…
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Lady Trojans fare better, but Grafton rolls
At the end, the scoreboard read Grafton 96 New Kent 42. But on the bright side, the outcome wasn’t as one-sided as the first time the two basketball teams met this season. Earlier, Grafton put up over 100 points at home on the Lady Trojans. The Clippers, who sit atop the Bay Rivers District standings, came close in the teams’ Monday night meeting, but this time the host Lady Trojans nearly doubled their offensive output. “We did better than last time,” said Lady Trojan coach Ayla Young. “But [Grafton] shot lights out, and there was nothing much we could do….
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Senior scoring lifts Panthers over Chesterfield Community
Led by a trio of seniors, Charles City’s Panthers matched visiting Chesterfield Community’s Eagles score for score before pulling away to a 73-63 win. The Feb. 5 contest consisted of contrasting styles. While Chesterfield used the power trio of Randall McClarkin, Derek Smith, and Jay Jordan, Charles City countered with senior shooters Antonio Harris and Gavin Cotman. With Harris drawing double teams most of the night after his 50 point performance at Chesterfield, Cotman became the beneficiary. Cotman scored 10 points in the second quarter, helping the Panthers to a tie at 34 apiece at the halftime break. Helping Cotman…
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