DEEP RUN — There is a logjam at the top of the East Central 2A Conference girls basketball race, and South Lenoir is a part of it.
The Blue Devils, who are one of four teams tied for first in the conference, host Clinton tonight in a matchup of two of those tied teams.
South Lenoir (11-3, 5-1) is tied with the Dark Horses (12-4, 5-1), Jacksonville Northside (12-3, 5-1) and East Duplin (13-3, 5-1) for first with eight league games remaining.
Regardless of what has happened with the program in the past, its coaching staff feels its success up to this point has been no fluke.
“Now that we’ve grown the way we have as a team, I think it’s exactly where we belong,” head coach Donald Mooring said.
The Blue Devils, who have won six games in a row and nine of their last 10, are having success thanks to a myriad of factors.
The team has added several players, whether through transfer or entering the program after middle school, who have not only given them talent but leadership. Then the coaching staff — Mooring acting as the head coach while former head coach Mishella Crain calls the shots — has been able to see the little things, such as fundamentals, begin to bloom in the players who have been around a while.
All together, South Lenoir is officially in first place when very few felt it could happen.
“These girls have been working extremely hard for the last two years. They’ve taken it on the chin and they’ve gotten better and better and they’re really starting to play together as one,” Crain said.
“I’m very grateful that we’re at the top right now, and hopefully after tomorrow night it’ll stay that way.”
Part of their string of wins was a surprise victory over Northside on Jan. 8. That win — the program’s first over the Monarchs, said Athletic Director Lisa Smith after the game — has given a team that, before this season, used to expect to lose, all the confidence that it can now defeat anyone.
Next up are the Dark Horses — a team similar to Northside.
“We’re going to have to play very good defense and take away their outside shooting and hit the boards,” Crain said. “They like to run the floor a lot so we’re going to have to trim that down as well.”
Mooring analysis of the Monarchs was slightly more simplistic.
“It’s going to be like playing Northside over again,” he said.
There is still a guaranteed tie for first place following tonight because not only does South Lenoir host Clinton but Northside and East Duplin — the last team to defeat the Blue Devils — will tangle as well.
Mooring admitted that, when he was interviewed by The Free Press for its season preview for the Blue Devils, he was optimistic the team would finish in the “middle of the pack.”
Today, it sits in a four-way tie for first, and getting there has been a long road.
“When you’re team’s not used to winning, sometimes breaking that hump — we’re going to lose, we’re going to lose, we’re going to play but lose — having to break that cycle was a big thing. We’ve had some success in winning some games and that was a big hump,” Mooring said.
“Now the girls are going into the games, especially after beating Northside, understanding they could win anytime they step on the floor. That was a big mountain to climb.
“Every night it’s a battle. When you step on the floor against these teams you have to go at it with your all.”
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.