Monique Lofton will leave Kinston High School next month with a long-awaited state championship.
She’ll arrive at Methodist University knowing what it takes to be successful.
Lofton, Kinston’s leading scorer who helped it win its first state girls basketball title in school history this season, will play for the Division III Monarchs in Fayetteville next year.
The 5-foot-5 guard will take with her the knowledge of how to be a winner and how to work towards success.
“I feel well-prepared,” Lofton said, “especially after winning (a) state (title).”
Lofton, a four-year starter with the Vikings, averaged 13.1 points per game this season while helping her team not only reach its first title game but win one as well.
It was a four-year process, but Lofton was determined to go out a winner.
She’ll use that same determination at Methodist.
“(My coaches) prepared me enough, so I feel like I’m ready,” Lofton said.
Lofton said she chose the Monarchs over Elizabeth City State and Greensboro College, and that in the end she “felt at home” at Methodist.
“They were so friendly and good to me,” she said.
Vikings coach Hubert Quinerly has been with Lofton throughout the course of her prep career, and has seen first-hand her maturation from a shy little guard to a leader that can shoot the lights out of any gym.
He expects Lofton’s ceiling to continue to rise the way it did at Kinston.
“I think she’ll do fine. She did all the things possible to prepare herself for this situation,” Quinerly said. “She fits what they do — they’re uptempo, they change their defenses, and everybody’s looking for a shooter. She can go in and help right away.”
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.
