RALEIGH — In the first 16 minutes Friday Kinston imposed its will on Waxhaw Cuthbertson.
The final 16 minutes were an entirely different story.
Shelton Mitchell scored 19 points, and the Cavaliers rallied back from a double-digit deficit in the second half while holding the Vikings scoreless in the fourth quarter on their way to a 50-47 win in an elimination game at the HighSchoolOT.com Holiday Invitational.
Kinston led 47-34 with 1:41 left in the third period and didn’t score again. It was the second time in three years the Vikings went 0-2 in one of the nation’s top prep basketball tournaments.
“Obviously, we’re pretty disappointed with the outcome of the game,” Vikings coach Perry Tyndall said. “In the second half we really got all out of sorts and didn’t handle some pressure very well.
“We’ve got to have some guys step up in some big-time atmospheres and it just didn’t happen today.”
Kinston (9-2) did what it wanted in the first half, building a double-digit lead early in the second quarter that it held until the Cavaliers rallied.
Cuthbertson (10-1), which fell to Kinston 58-55 in last season’s NCHSAA state 2A championship, trailed by as many as 15 in the second quarter and found itself in a 38-24 hole at the break thanks to Kinston’s defensive pressure and an efficient Vikings offense.
The Cavaliers scored the first eight points of the second half to cut Kinston’s lead to 38-32, but the Vikings answered with a 9-2 run of their own that pushed the lead back out to 13 at 47-34 with 1:41 left in the third period.
It was the last run Kinston had. From then on, it was all Cuthbertson — on both ends of the floor.
“Man, what a second half. I couldn’t be prouder of the kids,” Cavs coach Mike Helms said. “We felt like, for the last little bit, our defense has been behind where it was a year ago. We were talking about that at the half, and if you had told me then we were going to give up nine points in the second half I don’t think I would have took that bet, obviously.
“What a great job defensively in the second half.”
A steal and subsequent dunk by Isiah Cureton with 31 seconds left in the third sparked a run of 14 unanswered points by Cuthbertson, eight by Cureton, to give it its first lead at 48-47 since it led 7-6 early in the first period.
The 6-foot-4 senior forward hit back-to-back 3s during the run, which all but took the wind out of the Vikings’ sails.
“I just felt like I needed to bring defensive intensity and energy to the team. You could tell we were down during the first half. Nobody’s spirits were really up,” said Cureton, who scored all 10 of his points in the second half.
“I just had to be a leader. I’m a captain for a reason.”
Kinston, which committed 15 second-half turnovers after only six in the first half, had its looks but the shots just wouldn’t fall, even the free ones.
Brandon Ingram missed a pair of free throws with 2:23 to play then Denzel Keyes, who led the Vikings with 16 points and 11 rebounds, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 38.6 seconds left and a chance to tie or take the lead.
Andrew Lopez, who scored eight points for Kinston, turned it over coming out of a timeout on a 5-second call then Jordan Hardrick missed a free throw with 13.8 seconds left to give Kinston another chance.
Lopez had a clean look at a 3 from the corner but it bounced wide, sending the rebound to Mitchell, who was fouled with 3.2 ticks left.
Mitchell hit both free throws, then Josh Dawson’s 40-foot heave bounced off the rim, sending Kinston home and the Cavs into today’s 11 a.m. fifth-place game.
“We’re going to eat a little bit of humble pie and get back to work; go back home early,” Tyndall said.
“We’ve got a lot to work on.”
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.