ST. MICHAELS — With the holidays and winter break fast approaching, Kent County’s girls gave themselves an early Christmas gift on Dec. 19.
The Trojans raced out to a 27-1 lead after the opening frame, cruised past their hosts from St. Michaels, 59-5, and put a bow on their first win of the 2024-25 high school basketball season.
Juniors Jayla Sisco and Love Jackson provided the one-two scoring punch with 20 and 16 points, respectively, for a Kent County squad that nearly cleared its bench before halftime.
All 12 who made the trip saw playing time before the end of the third quarter, including two international students who are attending KCHS for the entire academic year, and 10 ultimately contributed to the scoring.
This was Kent County’s third game in four days, and its best effort of the season.
“I’m seeing a lot of improvement in running our offense, implementing the plays that we’ve been working on in practice,” coach Tyray Johnson told The Evening Enterprise in a telephone interview earlier this week. “It’s starting to click. We’re moving the ball around better, and opening shots for more players,” he said.
The 59 points is a season high for the 1-5 Trojans.
Sisco scorched the nets for 12 points over the opening eight minutes, twice as many points as would be needed to defeat the Saints.
Jackson added six points, Jane Cleary four, Talicia Wright three and Kate Cannon two, rounding out the scoring from the starters.
Off the bench, Ariyana Green contributed a field goal to the first-quarter scoring.
The count at intermission was 33-3, with sophomore Saniyah Jones and freshman Sanorra “Star” Parker adding to the Trojans’ tally.
Kent County opened the second half on a 12-0 run; once the spread reached 35 points in the third quarter, the game was played with a running clock.
St. Michaels was held to two points in the second half.
Next up for the Trojans is a holiday tournament tomorrow and Saturday at Crisfield High School.
KCHS will face off against Snow Hill on Friday — a rematch of the season opener that Snow Hill won handily, 54-16 — and Washington on Saturday.
The Trojans’ regular season resumes Jan. 7 at Colonel Richardson.
The next home game is Jan. 9.