FAYETTEVILLE — Revenge wasn’t just sweet for the Kinston girls, it also laid the groundwork for a possible state championship.
The Vikings avenged the loss that ended their season last year by stampeding Siler City Jordan-Matthews 56-37 in the 2A Eastern Regional finals at the Crown Arena on Saturday.
The victory sends Kinston (26-4) to the state title game for the first time in school history. The Vikings will battle perennial power Canton Pisgah, a 63-57 winner over Thomasville for the Western Regional title, this Saturday at noon at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
“We’re headed to Chapel Hill and that’s what matters,” Kinston coach Hubert Quinerly said. “I couldn’t be prouder of what this team and this coaching staff has accomplished. We have a lot to be proud of, but that doesn’t mean we’re satisfied. We still have unfinished business.”
The fact that the Vikings made it this far at the Jets’ expense made the journey even tastier.
The defending state champions blitzed Kinston 61-28 in the regional finals last year en route to an undefeated season. The rematch was a 180-degree turnaround.
“We’ve been looking forward to playing them again ever since last year,” Kinston senior Monique Lofton said. “They were the team we wanted to play, and the fact that we beat them to reach the state championship means so much.”
Lofton did her part in the victory, garnering a team-high 16 points, sparked by a torrid 3 of 7 showing from behind the 3-point line.
Region MVP Brittany Drumgoole added 15 points, nine rebounds, five assists and six steals, while Lydia Rivers contributed 15 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots.
“We got some outstanding individual performances and a great overall team effort,” Quinerly said. “They’re a great team and to be able to beat them like we did says a lot about our girls.”
Kinston trailed just once in the contest, 7-6 with just over five minutes left in the first quarter. A Lofton trey put the Vikings back on top at the 4:13 mark, and Kinston was never headed again.
The only anxious moments came in the third quarter when the Jets (27-5) scored five quick points to trim a 14-point Kinston lead to nine with 3:06 remaining in the period.
But the Vikings answered with an 11-1 run that finished the quarter, and also finished the Jets.
“We responded every time they made a run, and I think that really frustrated them as the game went along,” Quinerly said. “Defensively we didn’t let the, get into any kind of rhythm.”
Jets leading scorer Mylia Garner, who torched Kinston for 28 points last year, led all scorers this time with 19, but was harassed all game and hit just 5 of 20 shots.
“We played more zone than we usually like to do, but it was working,” Quinerly said. “They never seemed comfortable in their offense against our zone.”
The Vikings forced 23 turnovers, generated 17 steals, and held the Jets to just 26 percent shooting (12 of 46).
Kinston connected on 17 of 44 field goal attempts (39 percent), with Rivers making 6 of her 7 tries from the field.
She and Lofton joined Drumgoole on the all-region team.
Jordan-Matthews 9 11 8 9—37
Kinston 16 12 19 9—56
JETS (27-5) — Mylia Garner 19, Paige 8, Bristow 7, Nona 2, Dunn 1, Poe, B. Pyrtle, Aguirre, James, A. Pyrtle, Webster, Moffit.
VIKINGS (26-4) — Monique Lofton 16, Brittany Drumgoole 15, Lydia Rivers 15, Williams 6, Addison 4, Thi, Faison, Cannon, Vermillion, Washington, Harper, Clark, Tice.