WORTON — Winter break followed by winter weather has kept Kent County High School’s cagers off the hardwood for too long.
Over the last three weeks there have been no games, while practices — with Christmas and New Year’s Day on Wednesdays this season — have been sporadic with low turnout.
“I feel like we’re starting over,” longtime head boys basketball coach Sobaye Scott told The Evening Enterprise in a telephone interview Monday, Jan. 6.
With schools shuttered again Thursday due to continued icy roads and snow drifts — though students will attend classes virtually — the earliest the Trojans (3-4) can anticipate getting back on the court is Friday, Jan. 10.
Their next scheduled game is Jan. 14 at home — 26 days since they last tipped off, longer than their entire preseason.
That’s only part of the challenge KCHS and its coaching staff is facing as they go about putting the proverbial track back on the track.
The Trojans had been chugging along smoothly with three wins in a row after an 0-3 start, anticipating heading into the holidays on the plus side of .500 as they headed to St. Michaels for the final game of 2024 on Dec. 19.
The Mid-Shore foes have become more evenly matched as of late, and last year they split the two-game series — each winning on their home court.
KCHS went on to eliminate St. Michaels in the opening round of the Class 1A East Region tournament, 46-44, scoring what held up to be the winning bucket with 4.2 seconds to play.
It’s reasonable to expect that players on both teams and their fans remembered all of that when the rivalry was renewed Dec. 19.
It was a fiercely contested game from the opening whistle.
St. Michaels erased an early 16-12 deficit to go up 30-22 at halftime and 42-33 after three quarters.
With about three and a half minutes remaining, and St. Michaels holding a commanding 57-41 lead, KCHS coach Scott called the game after an especially physical loose ball scramble.
“With the temper still flared up and the officials not having control of the game in the first place, they only was going to get into it again,” Scott told The Evening Enterprise in a text message.
The emotion carried over to the bench as players from both teams stepped on to the court, resulting in technical fouls for unsportsmanlike conduct and ejections.
Per Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association rules, any player or coach who is ejected is suspended for the next game.
Eight St. Michaels players were ejected and five KCHS players were ejected, according to Kent County Athletic Director Kevin Taylor.
Additionally, the Talbot County Sheriff’s Office charged two adult males from Easton, ages 60 and 22, with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct after they came out of the stands and allegedly put their hands on KCHS players.
Of the game itself, Scott told The Evening Enterprise that it was a game the Trojans should have won.
“We were starting to play better,” he said in Monday’s telephone interview. “The Gunston game [68-38 victory on Dec. 13] showed that if we run the offense and listen, this is what can happen.”
Scott said that successive victories at North East, 60-57, on Dec. 16 and North Caroline, 64-59, on Dec. 17 “came down to executing down the stretch.”
NOTES: Kent County seniors JySir Valentine and Jonah Somerville are closing in on 1,000-point careers. Coach Scott said Valentine is less than 100 points away from the milestone, while Somerville is about 200 points shy of the mark.
Kent County’s next scheduled game is Tuesday, Jan. 14 at home against Easton.
The jayvee game tips off at 4 p.m., followed by the varsity game at 5:30 p.m.