Quickness, scoring run lifts Tabb over New Kent

New Kent's Sarah Major (left) tangles with Tabb's Kenra Williams in a rebound battle under the basket.

Alan Chamberlain photo

After weathering Tabb’s game-opening salvo, New Kent’s Lady Trojans played the visiting Tigers on even terms, at least for a while during Friday’s basketball encounter. The Tigers, however, utilized their quickness and speed to mount a 37-0 run that placed the visitors well on their way to a 78-23 win.

Just over a minute into the game, Tabb held a 12-0 lead behind five-for-five shooting from the floor, a pair of free throws, and a stifling defense that prevented New Kent from getting off a shot. But Brittany LaPrade drained a three to end the hosts’ drought and trigger a 7-1 run to get the Lady Trojans back in the game. After one quarter, New Kent trailed 19-10.

Unfortunately, New Kent failed to register a second quarter point, and the scoreless streak lasted well into quarter three. Tabb built a 56-10 advantage before Lady Trojan Payton Slater converted a medium-range jumper with 2:11 left in the third.

“In the beginning, we were holding them, and at the end we came back,” said Lady Trojan head coach Vann Baker. “But we’re so inexperienced that it’s hard to make adjustments. We’re not to the point yet where we can make adjustments on the floor without taking a time out, but we’re working on it.”

LaPrade and Slater scored six points each to lead New Kent, now 0-5. Kelsey Yates scored five followed by two apiece from Sarah Major and Brynne Jones and one each from Tessa Gray and Haley Grisbaum.

Tabb’s Tania Smith led a group of four Tigers in double figures with 25 points.

“For us, it’s a matter of trying to give [opponents] a decent game,” Baker said. “The score might not reflect the game, but if you see the game, we stay in it and make the other team adjust.”