The Vikings’ 33 percent shooting from the field couldn’t even spoil a 27-point cinch over visiting West Craven Friday.
Kinston remained undefeated to start the seasonJ as it breezed 61-38 over the Eagles at Vikings Gym.
“We weren’t the most efficient team, but we kept grinding,” Kinston coach Perry Tyndall said. “I think it’s a sign of a tough team.”
Junior forward Brandon Ingram and senior guard Andrew Lopez were the only two Vikings to score in double figures and combined for 42 points. It was a test against the foul line for Ingram in the first half, as he visited it six times and hit six of his 11 total shots.
Ingram, one of the state’s top high school recruits, completed a few appealing plays in jamming passes through the net on a pair of alley-oop dunks and driving to find easy layups to widen the scoring gap. He had a game-high 25, as Lopez scored 17 — hitting three from behind the arc. He drained 3-of-8 3-pointers.
“We can’t continue bad habits in the long haul,” Tyndall said. “Overall, we did a lot of good things … but we’ve got to give the all-out effort. We can’t have two good possessions and then two bad ones; we’ve got to get more consistent.”
But business was about usual for the 3-0Kinston team, where each Viking managed to contribute.
Senior Darnell Dunn had six quick rebounds in the first half.
His brother Darius Dunn, a sophomore, led-all with four assists, including a couple of big feeds toward the end of each half.
The pair was one part of a durable Kinston machine thathelped elevate the Vikings to a 31-19 halftime-lead.
West Craven’s Tyrone Brown opened the second-half scoring with a fast-break bucket, but it was answered by a drive from Ingram — a depiction of how the remainder of the game would turn out.
While the Eagles made notable plays, such baskets couldn’t power up their production. When Anthony Oates hit a jumper at the third-quarter buzzer, WC was already down 13 and would not recover.
As Alkeim Harley led his team with 13 points, it didn’t change the fact the Vikings held the Eagles to 22 total points in the second half.
“Kinston’s got great pressure, so they knocked us around a little bit,” West Craven coach Charles Harris said. “We’re really young, and these kids have been practicing this (new) system for a month.”
WC will look to rebound against New Bern Wednesday, as Kinston travels to Wilson Hunt.
The Vikings will not be back in their gym until 2014, when they host Eastern Wayne. Kinston was supposed to play at Eastern Wayne Monday, but the game has been rescheduled to Jan. 29.
Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 and Jessika.Morgan@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.
Kinston 13 18 19 11 — 61
W. Craven 9 10 16 22 — 38
Scoring:Brandon Ingram 25, Andrew Lopez 17, Tiquan Canady 7, Darnell Dunn 4, Qwarri Ham 3, Travon Jones 2, Marcus Matthews 2, Mykel Hart 1
Rebounds:Darnell Dunn 8, Ingram 8, Darius Dunn 4, Jones 4, Matthews 2, Canady 2, Lopez 2, Anthony Berry 1, Hart 1
Assists:Darius Dunn 4, Darnell Dunn 3, Hart 2, Lopez 2, Berry 1
W. Craven Scoring:Alkeim Harley 13, Anthony Oates 9, Tyrone Brown 8, Quasean Bryant 3, Zac Cuthberson 3, Ja’quan Reed 2