CC loses early lead, falls at West Point in season finale

Charles City's Noah Ragland bisects West Point's Chase Stewart (23) and A.J. Jones on his way to the basket.

Andre' Jones photo

Charles City’s Panthers held an early lead in their season finale clash at West Point during a Feb. 10 contest. Unfortunately for the visiting Panthers, miscues paired with a Pointer scoring run doomed any hopes of an upset.

West Point’s Pointers strung together a 16-3 run to close the first quarter as the hosts cruised to a 69-40 victory.

Charles City emerged as leaders early into the contest. A Jestin Harris lay-in followed by a banked three-pointer by Thomas Kelly gave the guests their biggest lead of the night (7-2). Unfortunately for the guests, they wouldn’t find another score until 11 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Initiated by layups from Montel Allen and A.J. Jones, six different Pointers scored during a 16-0 run to flip the score in their favor (18-7). Only a conventional three-point play by Panther guard Kyle Jones prevented the run from being any bigger as the Panthers trailed by eight heading into the second quarter (18-10). The hosts would stretch that margin to 13 (35-22) by the intermission break.

After the exchange of baskets, West Point scorched the nets, orchestrating an 11-2 run to push the lead to 22 (46-24). The Panther were unable to get any closer, falling behind by 24 at the end of the third before West Point sealed the deal with a 10-0 run midway through the final quarter to claim the victory.

Panther head coach Cullen Jenkins was obviously disappointed with the lackluster effort displayed by his team.

“All year long we haven’t brought the intensity on the road,” he said. “Every game has been like that and we got exploited tonight by a good team.”

For now, Jenkins has to refocus as his team prepares for the Conference 42 tournament. Charles City is projected as a five-seed and will travel to King & Queen in an opening round game. The teams split the regular season series at one apiece.

“We have to figure out a way to get ready,” the coach continued. “We have to look deep inside ourselves and find that drive.”

Charles City (2-18) received a team-high nine points from Kyle Jones. Noah Ragland scored seven, Harris and Kelly tossed in six apiece, Michael Callahan and Jaquane Wyatt contributed with three apiece, and the trio of Walter Gordon, Tyler Allen, and Charles Vaden all chipped in with two.

Allen’s 13 points for West Point led five players who finished in double figures for the victors.