LA GRANGE — Few teams in North Carolina can match the Kinston boys basketball team when it’s hot.
Friday night at North Lenoir, it was sizzling to the tune of an 87-59 shellacking of the host Hawks in the non-conference county rivalry.
The Vikings (9-0) raced to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter before the Hawks (6-5) ever got on the board. Kinston shot 80 percent (12 of 15) from the field in the quarter, including 4 of 5 from beyond the 3-point arc. Perhaps most impressively, the Vikings tallied assists on 29 of 33 field goals on the evening.
“I saw them at West Craven, and I thought they were good then,” NL coach Anthony “Copperhead” Loftin said, referring to the Vikings’ 68-52 win in Vanceboro on Wednesday.
“Kinston tonight was in a class by itself.”
The Vikings were led by senior Denzel Keyes, who had a game-high 19 points to go along with seven assists and three rebounds.
“We were making the extra pass, playing as a team and crashing the boards,” Keyes said. “We were being unselfish.”
He was joined in double figure scoring by fellow seniors Josh Dawson (15 points, five rebounds, six assists) and Jeremy Taylor (11 points and four rebounds).
Keyes and Dawson accounted for 14 of the Vikings’ 17 points in the opening run, including a pair of monstrous alley-oop dunks from Dawson to Keyes that effectively silenced the home crowd and brought the Kinston faction to its feet.
“It was a great start,” first-year Kinston coach Perry Tyndall said. “With a rivalry game like this, you’ve got to come out and make a statement.”
Tyndall was particularly pleased with his team’s unselfish play that led to a number of easy baskets. Eight players tallied at least one assist.
“We always like to chart our assists and turnovers,” he said. “When we’re unselfish with the basketball, we can be a fun team to watch. We did a good job of making that extra pass and turning a good shot into a great shot.”
Kinston led 31-7 after a quarter, saw its lead balloon to as much as 32 points at 41-9 in the second quarter and took a 52-20 lead into the halftime locker room.
The Hawks, to their credit, never looked to concede the inevitable and actually outscored the Vikings in the second half, 39-34.
North Lenoir (6-5) was paced by Jauquaz Jones, who had a team high 16 points, four rebounds and six assists. Billy Summers added 10 points, while Jalen Robinson contributed nine points, three rebounds and a pair of assists.
“I thought we dug down and played well in the second half,” Loftin said. “We were able to finish the game and do what we do.”
Both teams will play in holiday tournaments on Dec. 27. North Lenoir will travel to Wallace-Rose Hill. The Vikings will open the HighSchoolOT.com Holiday Invitational on Thursday against DeSoto (Texas), the ninth ranked prep team in the country, in Raleigh.
Kinston 31 21 20 15—87
North Lenoir 7 13 20 19—59
VIKINGS (9-0) — Denzel Keyes 19, Josh Dawson 15, Jeremy Taylor 11, Dunn 9, Ham 8, Ingram 7, Lopez 7, Hart 3, Canady 3, Joyner 2, Jones 2, White 1.
HAWKS (6-5) — Jauquaz Jones 16, Billy Summers 10, J. Robinson 9, Hough 6, Sutton 4, Davis 3, Carlton 3, Troy 2, K. Robinson 2, Pridgen 2, Rouse 2.