FAYETTEVILLE — Bunn boys basketball coach Gerald Melton knows exactly who Kinston is, and to him, the Vikings are second to none.
Kinston (25-2) and the Wildcats (23-6) will tip off at 7 p.m. on Thursday in a 2A Eastern Regional semifinal game at Fayetteville’s Crown Arena, and already Melton is preparing his team for taking on its biggest challenge of the season in his opinion.
Even with his team playing 4A teams like Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons and East Wake, Melton believes the Vikings are the premier program in the state.
“It’s kind of an honor just to play them. They are the best — they’re probably the best program in the whole state, in any classification,” Melton said during Monday’s regional press conference in Fayetteville.
“For us to have the opportunity to play against them I look forward to it. I just wouldn’t have want to have done it in the early rounds.”
The Wildcats are pretty good themselves. They enter Thursday’s matchup having won 18 of their last 19 games, including the Northern Carolina 2A Conference tournament championship.
Last season Bunn, seeded seventh this year, earned a No. 1 seed in the state playoffs and had only two losses until being knocked out by North Brunswick in the second round. This year the Wildcats scheduled a tougher non-conference schedule, and while they may have suffered more losses because of it they feel they’re more game-ready for a team like Kinston, Melton said.
Vikings coach Perry Tyndall sure isn’t looking past them.
“They’ve probably got a bitter taste in their mouth from last year. The seeding, none of that stuff even matters, really. You play who you play and you play the way you’re capable of and you don’t worry about any of that stuff,” Tyndall said. “It’ll all take care of itself.”
Long time, no see
While Kinston’s boys are making their seventh straight appearance in the regionals, the last time one of its three 2A counterparts made it this far is Bunn, which last reached the semifinals in 2006.
The other two 2A participants — Jacksonville Northside and Fairmont — haven’t been since 2004 and 1994, respectively.
Bunn times three
Not only are Kinston’s boys playing Bunn on Thursday, but its girls will play Bunn at 7 p.m. on Friday in their regional semifinal.
The Vikings (24-4) and Wildcats (23-6) are meeting for the third time since last season’s regionals, with Kinston winning on a buzzer-beater last year and Bunn winning 55-49 during its own Christmas tournament in Dec. 27. As of that’s not enough Bunns for you, Bunn’s girls leading scorer is Whitney Bunn, who averages 15.1 points per game.
“They played us well. They spread the floor and attacked us,” Kinston coach Hubert Quinerly said. “But we’ll look to control some of that now.”
A familiar scene
Three of the four girls teams in this year’s 2A regionals — Kinston, Siler City Jordan-Matthews and Bunn — were here last season. The lone team that didn’t make it last year is Graham, which knocked out Kinston in the regional semifinals in 2011.
No cheering!
Committee members of the NCHSAA urged school administrators and coaches during Monday’s press conference to encourage their students to not cheer against a player from the opposing team while he or she is shooting free throws.
While it was more a suggestion than a rule, there are some rules that students must follow: No body, face or hair paint, no signs made of any kind and no noisemakers.
Good things come in pairs
Kinston is one of five schools in the Eastern Regionals whose boys and girls teams are still alive. Joining it is Bunn, West Craven, Raleigh Broughton and Fayetteville 71st.
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.