This year’s Kinston boys basketball team is aspiring for greatness.
Its next hurdle in that quest comes against a team known for upsets.
The Vikings will host North Pitt tonight in a battle of the Eastern Plains 2A Conference’s lone unbeatens in league play.
The Panthers (7-6, 3-0) were the only EP2A team to defeat Kinston (11-2, 4-0) last season when they did so by 11 points on Jan. 26, 2012.
While finishing out the season with a perfect run through conference play on their way to the state 2A championship is the Vikings goal, senior guard Josh Dawson knows his team is going to have to play at a high level every game to achieve it.
“We’re just trying to be great, really,” Dawson said. “When we go out, we just have to play together as a whole.”
Since its 50-47 loss to Waxhaw Cuthbertson on Dec. 28, Kinston has been nearly unstoppable. The Vikings won a pair of league games against Farmville Central and Tarboro by a combined score of 148-63.
Dawson said the one thing the Vikings learned from their last loss — they surrendered a late 13-point lead and didn’t score in the fourth quarter — is they have to play as a team.
So far, playing as a unit hasn’t been a problem, as 13 different players have scored since.
“We just have to play as a whole team, because when we don’t play together that’s when things fall apart,” Dawson said.
“If we don’t play together, any team can beat us. When we play together, it’s hard for anybody to beat us.”
Greatness may be something Dawson and his teammates are aiming for, but their head coach, Perry Tyndall, simply wants his team to improve with each practice and focus on one game at a time.
Next up is North Pitt.
“I think greatness for this team is continuing to get better and, ultimately, playing up to our full potential when it’s all said and done,” Tyndall said.
“We just want to reach our full potential.”
Even with a pair of blowout wins in their last two games, Tyndall still sees areas of concern.
He feels Kinston can improve upon stopping dribble penetration, which is something Tarboro actually excelled at on Tuesday even though Kinston won handily, 75-32.
The motivation to get better every day — and finding specific things to work on — is why the Vikings are looking for their seventh consecutive league championship.
“Defensively we can get better, there’s no doubt about it — focusing on the little things,” Tyndall said.
“Our mission right now is, night in and night out, to take care of every conference opponent we play, and get better while we’re doing it.”
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.
