New Kent flexes muscle in 67-48 conquest of York

New Kent guard Ryan Curle (right) steals the ball from York's Jesse Kimrey to trigger a Trojan first half fast break.

Alan Chamberlain photoi

Running their flex offense to perfection, New Kent’s Trojans built a comfortable first half lead at the expense of York’s invading Falcons. The hosts then withstood a York comeback after intermission to go on to a 67-48 victory in Wednesday night’s basketball opener for both.

Five minutes in, the Trojans reached a double-digit lead (16-6). Then when forward Darren McCaughan banked in a shot off an Ethan Ashford assist, the lead ballooned to 33-12 near the second quarter’s midpoint.

“The kids really ran [the flex] well,” said Trojan coach Ronnie Cox. “We set some good screens and were able to get good baskets. If you let the flex work for you, it can really give you an advantage and tonight it did.”

In the first half, New Kent shot 53 percent (17-for-32) from the floor while turning the ball over a mere five times. The defense, meanwhile, never allowed the Falcons to reach double figures as a team until the 6:36 mark of the second period.

At the break, the hosts owned a 41-23 advantage. About the only negative in New Kent’s first half performance was 4-for-13 shooting at the foul stripe.

But the Falcons took a run at their hosts in the third quarter, duplicating New Kent’s first half aggressiveness to pull within striking distance behind a 1-2-2 zone press.

“When they went to that 1-2-2, I guess they were trying to pressure [point guard] Kyle [Claytor] a little bit,” Cox said. “We had to take a step back and realize what they were doing. Once we did that, we were able to get back in our game and then we got our transition game going.”

York opened the third quarter with a 16-4 run. Jesse Kimrey’s steal and lay-in just past the midway mark closed the gap to 45-39.

Claytor, however, stepped up to thwart the Falcon rally, burying back-to-back threes before assisting on a Justin Cox basket in the paint. In just over a minute, the Trojans had stretched their lead back to 14 at 53-39.

“Kyle can slam the door with those threes, and that’s certainly what he did tonight,” coach Cox said.

Claytor poured in 21 points, tying York’s Kinney for game-high scoring honors. Sophomore newcomer/transfer Amari Brown tossed in 16 for the Trojans.

“Amari did a good job for us tonight,” the coach added. “At times he was a little jittery, but that’s just because he’s young.”

Justin Cox reached double figures for the hosts with 11 points. C.J. Reeders finished with five followed by Kenneth Woodley’s four, three each from Ashford and Cameron Downer, and two apiece from McCaughan and Jared Lugg.