Opportunity lost for New Kent, Packers rally for win

New Kent’s Parrish Braxton gets inside position on Smithfield’s Kendall Shephard to score two of his 14 points.

Alan Chamberlain photo

Not putting away an opponent when the opportunity arose came back to haunt New Kent’s Trojans. After overcoming a long first half scoring drought, Smithfield’s visiting Packers used a late game surge to stun the Trojans 55-52 and ruin the hosts’ Senior Night celebration.

The Feb. 4 result dealt a serious setback to the Trojans’ goal of qualifying for the Bay Rivers District basketball tournament. Only the top eight teams get in, and New Kent is a borderline case as the final week of the regular season wraps up. (The Trojans secured the eighth tourney spot by tie-breaker.)

“We didn’t do the things you have to do to close out a game,” said Trojan coach Ronnie Cox after his team dropped to 5-11 in the district and 7-13 overall.

“We had too many turnovers, we missed free throws, and we didn’t hit our shots,” he said. “We just let them hang around, and when they made that little run at the end, that was it.

“This was a winnable game, but maybe we were a little tight,” he said, adding, “I feel bad for our seniors.”

After taking an early 4-2 lead, the Packers failed to score over the next seven minutes. But New Kent managed just 13 points during the span for a 17-4 mid-second quarter lead. By halftime, the visitors were well within striking range, trailing 26-18.

Late in the third quarter, New Kent held a 35-28 advantage, but the Packers finished the period with a 6-0 run, closing the gap to one heading into the final eight minutes.

Smithfield moved in front to start the fourth, but the Trojans responded with a 10-0 run opened and closed by Travis Claytor threes to lead 45-36 with five minutes left in the game.

That lead, however, proved not to be safe in the face of Packer pressure that garnered frequent steals. Smithfield’s Nicholas Wells buried a three from the corner to catch the Trojans at 48-all. Then Alonzo Evans scored off a fast break following another Trojan turnover to put the Packers back in front.

Smithfield owned a 52-49 edge with 24 seconds left. A free throw from Parrish Braxton and two more from Tommy Hale with nine seconds remaining wiped out the deficit as the prospect of overtime loomed.

But on the ensuing inbounds play, the Packers’ Kijona Henley drove the length of the floor for a lay-in and was fouled by Claytor. The resulting three-point play with four seconds to go accounted for the final margin. New Kent had a last ditch effort to tie, but Jamar Murray’s three-pointer missed just before the buzzer.

Claytor led all scorers with 21 points. Braxton finished with 14 followed by Murray’s six, four each from Hale and Rashad Bentley, and Micah Scorsone’s three.