WYE MILLS — The Trojans matched their opponents point for point in the middle two frames, but it was the first eight minutes and the final eight minutes that did them in Saturday night in their season opener.
After starting the game on a 22-9 run, Snow Hill led the rest of the way en route to an 82-56 victory.
This was the final game of the two-day Bayside Basketball Peak Tip-Off at Chesapeake College, which paired schools from the conference’s North division against schools from the South division.
Snow Hill boasted four players in double figures, led by guards Brooks Croswell and Demar Brunson with 22 and 21 points, respectively.
Kent County countered with JySir Valentine, Elijah Wilson and Dwan Harris with 15, 13 and 10 points, respectively, and Jayden Miller with nine.
Valentine, who went to the bench early after picking up two quick fouls, scored all but four of his points after halftime.
“The whistle wasn’t going in our favor,” Kent County head coach Sobaye Scott said, referencing his team’s 26 fouls compared to Snow Hill’s 16.
A glance at the box score would suggest that the Trojans played a futile game of catch-up, trailing by 13 points after each of the first three quarters — 22-9, 39-26 and 57-44. But it wasn’t until the closing minutes, when Brunson poured in 13 points, including 6-of-7 from the free-throw line, that the Eagles finally took charge with a 25-12 finishing flourish.
When asked for his impression of the first game, Scott told The Evening Enterprise, “first-game jitters.”
The Trojans traveled with only 10, including four who have been promoted from junior varsity.
On the plus side, Scott said he was impressed with the “camaraderie of the team” and their execution.
All told, Scott and longtime assistant Buck Kennard, who both are back for the 13th year at alma mater KCHS, start the season with a 12-player roster. Returnees from last year are 6-foot-6 senior JySir Valentine, senior shooting guard Jonah Somerville, senior guard Karon Houston, junior guard Rah Zir Wilson and 6-3 sophomore combo guard Dwan Harris.
Valentine, fit and slimmed down to about 215-220 pounds, was the team MVP for the 7-14 Trojans of a year ago. He totaled 421 points in 2023-24.
The newcomers are 6-4 senior forward Shakur Wilson; junior Elijah Wilson, who is playing high school basketball for the first time; junior Tyrie Wright; Kiyan Hynson, point guard Gavin Miller and Zayvion Brown, who were called up from junior varsity last year for the playoffs; and 6-3 sophomore combo guard Jayden Miller.
Gavin Miller was the MVP on last year’s solid jayvee team that also featured Hynson, Brown and Jayden Miller. They finished 13-6 [including two victories in a holiday tournament at Queen Anne’s County High School over the winter break] for the program’s first winning season since the 11-5 campaign of 2018-19.
Coach Scott likes what he’s got.
“I can go deeper in the bench this year,” he said in a telephone interview Sunday, and “they all have the ability to contribute.”
“We’re a work in progress,” he added.
Already, Scott has seen that the Trojans’ transition game and half-court set offense have improved.
The challenges, he said, will be their play under the glass and backside man defense.
The Trojans travel to Cambridge-South Dorchester tonight.
Kent County’s first home game is Thursday, Dec. 12 against border rival Queen Anne’s for a junior varsity-varsity twin bill. The jayvee game will tip off at 4 p.m., followed by the varsity game at 5:30 p.m.