LA GRANGE — In reality, North Lenoir’s 73-61 victory over visiting South Johnston in the opening round of the Eastern Carolina 3A Conference tournament on Tuesday was a typical close, hard-fought battle between a 4-seed and 5-seed.
In theory, it shouldn’t have been.
The fourth-seeded Hawks had swept the season series by a combined 42 points and the visiting Trojans came in having won just three games all season (they earned the fifth seed by virtue of a coin toss with fellow conference bottom feeders Cleveland and Eastern Wayne). Yet, there were the Hawks, locked in a tug-of-war with an inferior opponent that wasn’t decided until a 9-0 run that opened the fourth quarter and finally created some separation.
“It took us until the fourth quarter to show a sense of urgency,” NL coach Anthony Loftin said. “These kids have to realize that come tournament time everyone is playing for their survival. South Johnston played like they didn’t have anything to lose and we were just the opposite.”
Actually, the Hawks (13-11) could have lost and still made the state playoffs — they travel to top-seeded and league champ Erwin Triton for a semifinal game on Thursday — but Loftin was hoping for a better showing with the one-and-done matchups starting next week.
“We were just too tight and too impatient in the beginning,” he said. “But I give our kids credit. We eventually found our rhythm and did what was necessary to win the game.”
The main maestro behind that rhythm was reserve guard Zongio Troy. After playing sparingly in the first half, Troy put on a clinic with 11 second half points, eight of which came during a 1:09 stretch spanning the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth.
Troy’s driving layup as the third period buzzer sounded gave the Hawks their biggest lead up to that point, 62-56.
Troy was just getting started.
He got NL rolling in the final frame by chasing down a Trojans shot behind the 3-point line that had been blocked by NL’s Billy Summers. Troy raced the length of the floor, converted the layup, and was fouled by SJ’s Justin Jeffress. He added the free throw for a 55-46 NL lead with 7:17 to play.
Twenty-six seconds later, he made what might have been the play of the game.
After the Hawks’ Devantae Sutton missed the second of two free throws, Troy sneaked along the baseline to grab the rebound, dribbled to the left corner, and calmly buried a trey.
That flurry put the Hawks on top 59-46. Summers converted a steal and layup seconds later, and NL was ahead 61-46 at the 6:39 mark.
“Zongio really gave us a lift,” Loftin said. “He made a couple of nice plays, gained some confidence, and his energy spilled over to the rest of the team.”
The closest the Trojans got the rest of the way was 69-61 with 1:39 left. SJ (3-19) managed to stay close by connecting on four 3-pointers in the final frame and 8 of 16 for the game.
Loftin admitted that his team may have gotten frustrated by the Trojans’ patient, Princeton-style offense.
“They lull you to sleep and wait for you to make a mistake defensively,” Loftin said. “We tried to pressure them and get them out of their half-court offense, but weren’t too successful until the last quarter.”
NL led 32-30 after a back-and-forth first half.
“Honestly, we were lucky to be ahead at halftime,” Loftin said. “They outplayed us and outhustled us, but we were able to get the lead because of our athleticism.”
Stellar first half performances from Jauquaz Jones and Summers didn’t hurt either. Jones scored 12 of his game-high 18 points in the opening 16 minutes, while Summers contributed 15 points and 12 boards (11 and seven in the first half.)
The Hawks will take a third crack at Triton on Thursday. Triton swept the season series, but won both games by a combined 6 points.
“We’ve shown we can play with them,” Loftin said. “Now we have to take the next step.”
South Johnston 13 17 16 15—61
North Lenoir 15 17 20 21—73
TROJANS (3-19) – Alan Johnson 14, Justin Jeffress 14, D. J. Collins 13, Holmes 9, Ennis 5, Ga. Smith 4, Clifton 2, Ge. Smith.
HAWKS (13-11) – Jauquez Jones 18, Billy Summers 15, Zongio Troy 11, Sutton 8, Davis 7, King 6, Carlton 4, Hough 2, Rouse, Pridgen.