News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | March 1, 2026
Sports
New Kent survives upset scare from Heritage, escapes with one-point win
Survive and advance. Sometimes it’s simple like that when it comes to playoff basketball. New Kent’s Trojans withstood a late rally as they edged the visiting Heritage Hurricanes 51-50 in the Feb. 24 Region 3A quarterfinal contest. Early on, the eighth-seeded Hurricanes looked to take advantage of a Trojans’ team that did not have sharpshooter Marty Wray for the contest. A three by Mehki Watkins sparked a 7-2 run out the gate for the visitors from Newport News. New Kent responded back, with Deven Bailey’s back-to-back baskets highlighting a 6-2 spurt, but another Heritage 9-2 run launched them into a…
Read Full Story
New Kent benefits from Tabb’s free throw woes, advances to regional semifinals
New Kent’s Lady Trojans knew the visiting Tabb Lady Tigers would not let a win come easy during the Feb. 24 Region 3A quarterfinal contest. But it was the woes of the visitors that allowed New Kent to advance to the next round. Capitalizing off free throw woes by Tabb, New Kent defeated Tabb 45-36 to advance to the regional semifinals. New Kent led 15-7 after the first quarter thanks to the shooting of Delaney Montgomery and Anna Hetzel. The lead remained eight at the break, mostly due to Vyktorya Otey’s eight points in the second quarter to keep New…
Read Full Story
Burnetts stepping away from New Kent High School volleyball sidelines after 38 years
After 34 years on the sidelines, a powerhouse couple who guided New Kent’s Lady Trojans’ volleyball teams to several state appearances is stepping away from the sideline. Stuart and Cynthia Burnett are handing over the reins after 38 years of coaching. The journey for the duo began in November 1988 with the goal to build the volleyball program from the ground up to make it a respective team. The Burnetts turned the concept of team into the program. Cynthia notched 525 wins as the head coach from 1988-2021, while husband Stuart garnered 73 wins leading the helm from 2022-2025. The…
Read Full Story
Leggett wins 100-yard freestyle, New Kent boys place 14th in state competition
New Kent High School’s boys’ swim team scored 53 points, finishing in 14th place at the Class 3A state championships at SwimRVA this past weekend. Finnegan Leggett earned the gold medal in the 100-yard freestyle, swimming to victory in a time of 46.83. He also placed third in the boys’ 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.51. On the girls’ side, the Lady Trojans accumulated six points, placing 25th in the state competition. The Lady Trojans accumulated points in the 200-yard freestyle relay as the quartet of Sydney Miller, Kelsey Sutton, Brynnlee Ronan, and Kayleigh Beatley placed 15th with a…
Read Full Story
Lady Trojans finish sixth in state championships; Griffith places sixth in individual competition
New Kent’s Lady Trojans accumulated 137.925 points to finish sixth in team competition at the state gymnastics championships held Friday afternoon at Kellam High School in Virginia Beach. Competing in the Class 5A level, the team combined for 35.750 points in the vault, 35.225 in the floor exercise, 34.175 on the balance beam, and 32.775 on the uneven bars. Ryan Griffith was the top performer for the team, scoring 9.525 in the vault, 9.175 on the balance beam, and 9.500 on the floor exercise. Kempsville emerged as the Class 5A state champion in the competition, scoring 149.725 points. Kellam (149.2)…
Read Full Story
New Kent High School wrestling finishes as Class 3A state runners-up
New Kent High School’s Wrestling Team is trending back in the right direction after finishing as the Class 3A state runner-up following a two-day competition in Salem. The Trojans used one second place finish and three third place finishes to muster 143.5 points, good enough to place them on the podium with silver medals. Alex Cuic was the top performer for the Trojans in state competition, finishing as runner-up in the 126-pound weight class, falling shore to Staunton River’s Graydon Martin via pinfall. Carter Roy earned bronze in the 113-pound weight class with a pin over Lane Brunk of William…
Read Full Story
New Kent High School gymnastics captures first regional championship
New Kent’s Lady Trojans captured their first regional championship in gymnastics. Competing in Region 4B, the team amassed 140.175 points to win the championship meet. Atlee placed second with 137.925 points, with Broadway finishing in third place with 137.925 points. New Kent’s Ryan Griffith was named as the meet’s best all-around performer, scoring 37.35 points. Teammate Chloe Coyle placed fifth overall with 34.775 points. Griffith won three events, taking gold in the balance beam (9.6), floor exercise (9.725), and vault (9.6). Teammate Julia Kline tied for bronze in the vault with a score of 9.0. New Kent competed in the…
Read Full Story
New Kent takes care of Smithfield, grabs number one spot in regional playoffs
New Kent’s Trojans clinched the top seed in Region 3A in convincing fashion with a 66-48 victory over the visiting Smithfield Packers during the Feb. 16 Bay Rivers District contest. From the tip, New Kent set the pace of the game, jumping out to a 34-18 lead by the halftime intermission hit. When the break ended, Christian Joyner scored the first four points for the Trojans, with a free throw from Kingston Young pushing New Kent’s lead to 19 (39-20). Smithfield attempted to comeback, but the Trojans team continued to get consistent scoring from familiar faces in bigger roads. At…
Read Full Story
New Kent grinds it out in 43-38 victory over Lafayette
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…
Read Full Story
New Kent holds Jamestown scoreless for 12 minutes in second half, triumphs with 53-35 win
Sometimes winning requires the pace of the game to be slow and ugly. But a win is a win. That was the lesson New Kent’s Lady Trojans learned as they defeated the Jamestown Lady Eagles 53-35 in a Feb. 12 Bay Rivers District contest. Early in the contest, the sluggish play from both sides saw ineffective offense by both teams. The first half saw New Kent only amass 23 points, leading Jamestown by two as they hit the intermission break. Jamestown opened up the third quarter with a 7-1 run, taking the lead from the Lady Trojans who found themselves…
Read Full Story
