New Kent Charles City Chronicle

News for New Kent County and Charles City County, Virginia | February 14, 2025

Long layoff factors into Charles City Lady Panthers’ 36-18 loss to rival West Point

By Robb Johnson | January 15, 2025 6:55 pm

Charles City’s Jaela Smith gets a rare look at the basket as she releases a floater in the lane.

Robb Johnson photo

In the battle of the top two girls’ basketball teams in the Tidewater District, Charles City’s Lady Panters welcomed the visiting West Point Lady Pointers in a Jan. 14 match-up. But not being able to play competition in 11 days proved to be a downfall for the hosting Lady Panthers.

West Point jumped out to a 9-2 lead and never looked back as they coasted to a 36-18 victory over Charles City, snapping the Lady Panthers three-game winning streak.

After the aforementioned run, Charles City was able to chip into the lead. Trailing 10-6, Lady Panther Jaela Smith drained a three-pointer from the top of the key to cut the home team’s deficit to one.

But from that point forward, it was evident that the Lady Pointers were better conditioned coming from the inclement weather lay-off. The Lady Pointers utilized a half-court trap, resulting in turnovers by Charles City and easy scores by the visitors. West Point scored the final 12 points of the first half to take a 22-9 lead into halftime. From there, the visitors increased their lead to as much as 21 before capturing the win.

Charles City (6-5) received a game high 10 points from Jaela Smith. Madison Bradby and Sha’Ryan Paige were the other scorers for the Lady Panthers, with each contributing four.