WORTON — Jack Fry, Ethan Clark and Brett Devary closed out the scoring over the final two minutes and change Wednesday afternoon as Kent County High School closed in on the region’s top seed in boys lacrosse for the second year in a row.
The Trojans are 4-7 with one game remaining in the regular season — today at home at 4 p.m. — and it appears that they have enough of a cushion in the Class 1A East Region II to finish No. 1 no matter what happens in the finale.
After a six-game slump in mid-season against larger Class 2A schools, KCHS has strung along three wins in a row in a schedule that has been more friendly down the stretch.
The surge began last week with a 13-1 shellacking of North Dorchester’s first-year program and continued Wednesday at home against Wicomico, whose only two wins are against 0-11 North Dorchester.
Senior midfielder Ethan Clark lit up the scoreboard with a career high of seven goals in Kent County’s 13-3 rout of WiHi. Classmates Jack Fry (four assists) and Brett Devary each had two goals.
David Daniels, rounding out the senior class, continued his stellar play in between the pipes and picked up the win. In the second half, with victory pretty much assured, Daniels came out of the cage to play attack and then some at midfield while sophomore Alex Harris subbed in.
Also contributing to the win were sophomores Gabe Parr and Colin Fry each with a goal, sophomore Bryce Jacobs with one assist and Quinten Joiner, the only freshman on the squad, with two helpers.
“I appreciate the effort, from the opening whistle to the final horn,” head coach Ben Joiner told the Trojans in their postgame huddle.
He tempered his remarks by adding, “Defensively there were a few miscues and offensively we still have things to work on.”
Joiner and his staff noted that there were some “poor decisions” in the opening minutes of the final frame.
After building a 10-2 lead through three quarters, KCHS got a little sloppy — giving up a cheap goal just 43 seconds into the fourth quarter, while failing to find the back of the net for almost 10 minutes.
Clark and Quinten Joiner both struck iron with shots, but the scoring drought continued until only 2 minutes, 4 seconds remained when Jack Fry converted a pass from Clark.
Forty-six seconds later, Clark scored on a nifty behind-the-back shot.
And, with the clock showing only 9.1 to go, Jack Fry found Devary for the 13-3 final.
With hard work and teamwork, the Trojans, who graduated five all-conference performers from last year’s highly touted squad, “have an opportunity to make noise, win a game or two in the playoffs, if we play the way we are capable of,” coach Ben Joiner told his players in the post-game huddle.
“You have the tools,” he said, “and the coaches believe in you.”
Kent County closed out the regular season today at home against Class 2A North Caroline (4-7).
Seeding for the region tournaments is Monday, May 5.
