Maybe it was Lloyd Memorial’s boys basketball team playing their sixth game in nine days.
Maybe it was because they were out two players due to illness.
Or maybe Newport is just that good. Whatever it is, in the highly anticipated matchup and a near full capacity crowd, the Wildcats were a 71-48 winner on Thursday night in Newport over the Juggernauts, dominating in all facets of the game.
The Wildcats shot 53%, outrebounded the Juggernauts 40-28 and led by as much as 28.
“We told these guys a lot people are here for this one,” Wildcats coach Rod Snapp said. “They’re probably finding a tough place to park and have to budge each other just to get in here and we need to go out there and perform for them and they did that today. They really got after it, competed and played hard.”
Taylen Kinney led the way with 24 points and six rebounds, adding three assists and two steals. Kinney was one of four Newport players in double figures, Noah Silverton adding 12 off the bench while James Turner and Jabari Covington chipped in 10 points apiece. Deshaun Jackson added six points and pulled down 10 rebounds at the guard position.
Newport put on a dunk show for the large crowd, Turner rattling the rim a couple times, Kinney throwing one down on a fast break while Griffin Starks caught an alley-oop from Kinney.
“We made eye contact about the 3-point line,” Starks said. “I knew it was coming. It really gets me going.”
Starks would finish with seven points and six rebounds, also blocking two shots as he and Turner made life tough on Juggernauts junior standout EJ Walker. Walker finished with 11 points and six rebounds on 5-of-13 shooting.
“He’s a hell of a player and we talked about if he got it inside we were going to double down,” Snapp said. “We definitely wanted to make him uncomfortable in the paint and when he shoots threes we wanted to contest his shots.”
After Lloyd got out to a decent first couple of minutes with the score knotted at seven, it was pretty much all Newport from there. They’d end the first quarter on a 13-2 run to take a 20-9 lead into the second.
The run continued into the second, Starks’ dunk putting them up by as much as 20 at 34-14 before going into the half with a 36-17 edge. It was a similar story coming out of the break.
“We talked about coming out in the third quarter and really staying consistent as we could and keeping our foot on the gas pedal,” Snapp said. “Just playing sound and solid and sharp and if we get stops, we push and hopefully get good shots and if not, wanting to get continuity and reversing the ball.”
The Wildcats opened the lead to 28 near the end of the third and taking a 57-31 lead into the fourth. Reserves got to play for the majority of the fourth, Silverton making the most of his opportunity with nine points in the final frame.
Walker and Anthony Blaackar finished with 11 each for the Juggernauts, Isaiah Sebastian adding nine points. No one else had more than four as Carter Bresser and Jayden Humphrey missed the contest due to illness.
The Juggernauts busy stretch continues on Saturday with a home matchup against Collins at 6:30 p.m. Further evidence of the Juggernauts tired legs? They went 1-of-18 from the 3-point line and 3-of-9 from the free throw line.
Newport closes out their regular season on Tuesday at home against Beechwood. They’re gunning for their 19th straight victory and looking to close out at 27-3 headed into the postseason.
WILDCATS 71, JUGGERNAUTS 48
LLOYD MEMORIAL — 9-8-14-17 — 48
NEWPORT — 20-16-21-14 — 71
Scoring
Lloyd (48) — Walker 11, Blaackar 11, Sebastian 9, Golsby 4, Jackson 4, Lewis 2, Copeland 2, Crenshaw 2, Collins 2, Sims 1
Newport (71) — Kinney 24, Silverton 12, Covington 10, Turner 10, Starks 7, Jackson 6, Nichols 2
Game Stats
Field Goals: Lloyd 22/59, Newport 28/52
3-Pointers: Lloyd 1/18, Newport 5/18
Free Throws: Lloyd 3/9, Newport 10/14
Rebounds: Lloyd 28, Newport 40
Assists: Lloyd 8, Newport 13
Turnovers: Lloyd 6, Newport 10
Steals: Lloyd 4, Newport 4
Blocks: Lloyd 0, Newport 6
Fouls: Lloyd 9, Newport 10
Records: Lloyd Memorial 17-9, Newport 26-3
