FAYETTEVILLE — Near the end of the third quarter of Saturday’s 2A Eastern Regional championship Brittany Drumgoole muscled her way to the basket. As the official’s whistle blew she watched as the ball fell through, then let out a massive scream.
“Let’s go!” she yelled, fists flailing through the air.
“Let’s go!”
For the first time in Lenoir County history and because of plays like Drumgoole’s — who knew the magnitude of what was to come — a girls basketball team will play for a state championship when Kinston faces Canton Pisgah at noon next Saturday in the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
Never before Saturday’s 56-37 win over Siler City Jordan-Matthews had a girls basketball team from a county known for its boys basketball advanced this far.
It was evident this is new territory when half of Kinston’s team ran off the Crown Arena court in celebration and headed for the locker room before the NCHSAA could do its post-game awards ceremony — something done following every regional championship.
Caught up in the moment were senior Monique Lofton and Drumgoole, a junior who was named the region’s Most Valuable Player and had 15 points, nine rebounds, five assists and six steals in the final hurdle before reaching a state championship game.
At a loss for words, that hurdle — which the Vikings (26-4) couldn’t get over last season when the Jets (27-5) ended their season here in the same round 61-28 — has now been crossed.
“It feels so good. We’ve come a long ways,” said Lofton, a four-year starter who had a team-high 16 points. “It took a lot (of work) but we’re here so I can’t complain.
“I’m just so happy right now. … Words can’t even explain.”
Added Drumgoole: “It means a lot. I feel like all those workouts in the summertime when we’d get out there and run, that’s when it all paid off. We’ve got a whole week of practice; it’s time to go get it. We didn’t come all this way for nothing.”
The win was the 17th in a row for the Vikings, who haven’t lost since late December.
It was also the first for the school — or any school in the county — this deep in the girls basketball season.
But Kinston isn’t settling for it being the last.
“This was a lot of preparation. Our coaches did a great job of scouting and did a great job of coaching,” said Vikings coach Hubert Quinerly, who will take part in his fifth state championship game — four as an assistant with the boys team and one with football.
“Just getting here is not enough. There’s a lot of work to be done.”
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.
