WORTON — The Kent County-St. Michaels boys basketball rivalry is starting to look eerily similar to last season, when the teams met in the opening round of the region tournament after splitting the home-and-away regular-season series.
Last week, the Trojans (6-9) pulled away from their guests in the third quarter and salted away the win, 54-48, behind JySir Valentine’s 11 fourth-quarter points.
Kent County avenged a 57-41 loss at St. Michaels on the eve of winter break.
KCHS coach Sobaye Scott said he had challenged his players the night before against 2024 state runner-up and currently unbeaten Cambridge-South Dorchester — “Let me see you guys go out and compete,” he directed — and the Trojans’ intensity and intention from that game, though a loss, carried over into the St. Michaels game.
Shorthanded Kent County was saddled by early foul trouble with Valentine, Kiyan Hynson and Jayden Miller on the bench before the end of the opening frame, each with two fouls.
Dwan Harris and Jonah Somerville collectively matched the Saints’ first-quarter scoring for a 7-7 tie.
The teams traded points in the second quarter for a 16-16 deadlock at halftime.
Rah ‘Zir Wilson’s fast-break layup 1 minute, 24 seconds in gave the locals a 9-7 lead, but it was back and forth for the remainder of the half.
St. Michaels (4-10) led 14-11 with 3:40 remaining before the break after consecutive layups by Johnny Mautz (16 points), before Valentine, who re-entered the game with 1:08 to play in the half, and Somerville pieced together a 4-0 run that restored Kent County’s lead, 15-14, with 29.4 seconds on the clock.
To avoid picking up another foul in the waning seconds of the half, Valentine subbed out when the Trojans were on defense and subbed in when they had the ball.
Valentine’s free throw made it 16-14.
But the Saints drained two shots from the stripe with less than a full second to play, leveling the score at 16 at intermission.
Sending out their starting five to start the second half, the Trojans asserted themselves with a run of 10 unanswered points to take a 28-18 lead on a second consecutive 3-pointer from Somerville with 5:36 remaining in the third quarter.
Kent and St. Michaels traded points on their respective opening possessions after the break — Jayden Miller with a jumper and Ethan Wells with a pair of free throws — to keep it tied, 18-18.
The Trojans, who dressed only eight players, regained the lead for good when Somerville found Harris on the fly for the go-ahead bucket 57 seconds into the second half.
Kent outscored St. Michaels in the third quarter, 22-16, with Somerville and Valentine combining for 15 points.
The locals took a 38-32 lead into the fourth, and their six-point margin held up to be the difference.
Kent County led by as many as 11 points twice in the final frame — at 43-32 following Gavin Miller’s mini-run of five unanswered points and at 48-37 on Valentine’s traditional three-point play — and extended the spread to a dozen points, 50-38, on a Valentine bunny with just under four minutes to play.
St. Michaels, led by the hot hand of Connor Wheeler (19 points), scored 10 of the next 12 points to close to 52-48 with 28.2 seconds remaining.
Valentine short-circuited the Saints’ comeback with a lay-in on the Trojans’ next trip down the court.
Coach Scott said he was “very impressed” with his squad.
“I wish they had played this way in the beginning of the season,” he said. “If so, now we’d be a really different team.”
Scott added, “If we continue to play like we have the last couple of games, we’re going to be a hard out.”
Kent County has five games remaining, including four on the road.
The final home game of the regular season is tomorrow night (Feb. 6) against Kent Island. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m.
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The Kent County-St. Michaels rematch on Jan. 30 was played in a closed gym because of how the first game played out — the game ending abruptly with about three and a half minutes remaining after an especially physical loose ball scramble; players from both teams stepping on to the court, resulting in technical fouls for unsportsmanlike conduct and ejections; and two adult males from Easton charged by the Talbot County Sheriff’s Office with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct after they came out of the stands and allegedly put their hands on KCHS players.
