DEEP RUN — South Lenoir boys basketball coach Jeremy Barnett feels his team is starting to play like he thought it was capable of before the season started.
The Blue Devils couldn’t be coming together at a better time.
South Lenoir (7-4, 3-0 East Central 2A) hosts undefeated Jacksonville Northside (11-0, 3-0) in a key early-season conference tilt tonight. The Blue Devils enter the showdown having won four in a row and five of their last six.
“I know I’m excited and the boys are excited. We’re starting to play the way I had anticipated that we could play at the beginning of the year,” Barnett said.
“Hopefully we’re going to do our part to make it a good game.”
Injuries to key players hampered South Lenoir early this season. Senior point guard Will Graves was lost indefinitely when he dislocated his ankle at Kinston in the second game of the season. Then senior shooting guard Luke Whaley injured an ankle before the first game against North Lenoir. During that game, junior guard Davonte Garner missed some time after butting heads with a North Lenoir player diving after a loose ball.
Now, two of those three are healthy and the Blue Devils have been getting some quality play out of freshman guard Jonte Midgette, along with the rest of their lineup.
“We’re a lot healthier than we were,” Barnett said. “The biggest thing is we’re healthy. Jonte, our freshman, is really playing at a high level, especially for a freshman.”
This year’s group at South Lenoir is practically the same group Barnett coached to a junior varsity championship two seasons ago.
Barnett sees that as a plus entering tonight’s contest since the majority of his players know what it takes to play in tough games.
“It helps a lot. They know what it takes to win,” Barnett said. “Yes, there’s a big difference between varsity and JV but you win basketball games the same way on any level. … It gives them a lot of confidence.”
The Blue Devils began the year by losing three of their first five games, and all three losses were to teams (Kinston twice, North Lenoir) which excel at pressuring the basketball.
The Monarchs are one of those teams that like to apply pressure, but Barnett feels his team is ready for the challenge.
“They remind me of North Lenoir in the way they play,” Barnett said. “They’re a pressure team, but they’re more of an organized pressure. You know where the pressure’s coming from. You know where the trap’s coming from.
“The biggest thing between now and North Lenoir is basically health.”
While tonight’s matchup won’t decided who wins the conference title — there is currently a three-way tie for first which includes Clinton — it is important in which team gets a head’s up in the race to the championship.
“Every game is important,” Barnett said. “Is it an end all, be all? No. If we win the game tomorrow night they’re not going to hand us the conference championship trophy. And if we lose the game tomorrow night they’re not going to hand Northside the conference championship trophy.
“We’re going to do the best we can. I anticipate we’re going to play pretty well. I know we’re going to play hard. We’ll see what happens tomorrow night.”
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.