Defensive adjustment keys comeback win over Bruton

NK’s Adrienne Goodlet is fouled on a drive to the basket by Bruton’s Alexis Callaway.

Alan Chamberlain photo

A halftime adjustment to their backcourt press got New Kent’s Lady Trojans back in the game. And from there, the hosts held off Bruton’s Lady Panthers the rest of the way for a 51-43 victory, only their third this season in Bay Rivers District basketball.

Last Thursday’s contest began on a very high note for Bruton. The visitors sank a trio of three-point shots for a 9-0 lead, giving an appearance that a rout was in the making. But New Kent managed to stop the Panthers from running away, battling the visitors on even terms for the rest of the half. Bruton led 23-13 at the break.

For the first half, New Kent used its full court press, but with one defender stationed back under the offensive basket and no one guarding the Bruton player charged with making an inbounds pass. The Panthers had few problems in breaking the press.

Lady Trojan coach John Scorsone changed that as play resumed in the third quarter. Now pressuring the ball out of bounds, his team forced turnovers and converted most of those Bruton miscues into points.

“Our man defense was the best it’s been all year,” he said afterward. “We worked hard in practice on it, doing things like helping out and switching and talking. We got a lot of good steals out of it. We had 18 steals for the game and only 12 turnovers. I’ll take that any day.”

Approaching the third quarter’s midpoint, the Lady Trojans closed the gap to one at 27-26 on a basket in the lane from Anna Mathis. New Kent’s press then yielded a steal by Adrienne Goodlet.

Goodlet missed a lay-up attempt, but Caitlin McClain grabbed the rebound and was fouled on a put-back try. McClain calmly sank both free throws to give the hosts their first lead of the night.

New Kent’s press inflicted more damage. Three straight Panthers turnovers led to an equal number of field goals and a 34-27 lead before the visitors called time to regroup.

When play resumed, however, New Kent reverted back to its first half press and Bruton took advantage. With under a minute to go in the third, the Panthers had pulled back within one (34-33), but a Paige Simpson three stopped the visitors’ run. Bruton again closed within one (44-43) with 2:07 left in the game, but the visitors failed to score down the final stretch.

“We put a lot of pressure on them, and I think we wore them out,” said Scorsone. “They were grabbing their knees and sucking wind at the end.”

Goodlet poured in 18 of her game-high 22 points in the second half to lead New Kent, now 3-13 in Bay Rivers and 6-13 overall. Simpson finished in double figures with 13 while Mathis scored eight, Karley Allen added six, and McClain contributed two.