After 8 minutes were complete in the NCHSAA state 2A boys basketball playoff game between Kinston and Pittsboro Northwood it looked as if this second round game was going down to the wire.
The Vikings ended that notion as quick as the second quarter began.
Denzel Keyes had 20 points and 12 rebounds and Josh Dawson had a full stat line of 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists as Kinston blew things open by halftime for an 80-35 win over the Chargers in the second round at Viking Gym on Wednesday.
Brandon Ingram scored 11 points just over 24 hours after N.C. State gave the sophomore his first collegiate scholarship offer but it was top-seeded Kinston’s defense that led to 23 unanswered points that turned a two-point game at the end of the first quarter into a blowout by the break.
“When you get stops it gets contagious. The guys, we’ve challenged them,” Vikings coach Perry Tyndall said.
“It was just everything coming together at the right time in that quarter.”
Kinston (24-2) led 15-13 after the first quarter but broke it open in the second when it opened the period with four consecutive 3s by Ingram, Andrew Lopez and two from Dawson, then continued its hot streak by hitting its first eight from the floor while the No. 8 Chargers (17-11) couldn’t find the net.
The reason they couldn’t score was simple: the Vikings simply wouldn’t let them.
Had it not been for Ti Pinnix’s lone free throw in the quarter Northwood, which sent Kinston home in the 2A regional finals in 2011, would have came up empty.
“We ran into a buzz saw. I think that’s what makes a great team. That second quarter really showed how great they are,” Chargers coach and former North Carolina point guard and 1993 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Donald Williams said.
“We never recovered from the second quarter. … I don’t think we really competed in the second quarter. And against a great team like that, you’ve at least got to compete.”
While Northwood missed its share of open looks — it was 5 of 21 from the floor in the first half — Kinston’s length and athleticism did its part at disrupting things offensively for the Chargers.
Northwood committed 17 turnovers and was outrebounded 47-22.
No one for the Chargers reached double figures. They were a combined 1 for 20 from the field in the second and fourth quarters.
“Defensively, I thought, we were very, very good,” Tyndall said. “I’ve said we’ve got a lot of guys that can score, but when you hold people in check on the defensive end of the floor it allows you to separate and that was the difference.”
The win, Kinston’s 15th straight, sets up a home meeting on Friday with No. 4 Elizabeth City Northeastern (24-4), which knocked off Bertie 69-55, for a shot at the 2A Eastern Regionals in Fayetteville next week.
The Vikings have reached the regionals the previous six seasons, and are hoping for a seventh return trip. But things aren’t going to be easy.
“I told the guys that you’re going to see good teams every night with good players,” Tyndall said. “When you play solid defense and own the boards good things are going to happen, and we did that.”
KINSTON 69, NORTH JOHNSTON 16
Kinston’s girls continue to be unstoppable.
Lydia Rivers was the only Vikings player to reach double figures with 11 points, but a balanced scoring attack in which all but one who played scored plus a defense that held the Panthers to a single field goal for the first 17 1/2 minutes gave Kinston yet another lopsided victory.
It will travel to second-seeded Pittsboro Northwood, which defeated Hillsborough Cedar Ridge 47-37, for a sectional final game on Friday.
Anshonee Addison, Monique Lofton and Takerian Harper scored nine points each, Alexis Williams and Brittany Drumgoole had seven points each and Jada Faison added six points as Kinston (23-4) won for the 14th straight time.
The third-seeded Vikings didn’t allow No. 6 North Johnston (20-7) a field goal until Chandler Hines scored with 1:21 left in the first quarter.
The Panthers didn’t connect from the field again until Ashley Hinnant finally got one to drop at the 6:30 mark of the third quarter.
Kinston led 38-3 at halftime.
Brandie Simmons had six points and seven rebounds to lead North Johnston. The Vikings, led by Rivers’ nine and Addison’s seven, outrebounded the Panthers 50-22.
Lofton was honored at halftime of the boys game for scoring her 1,000th career point in Monday’s win over Franklinton. The senior has 1,017 career points.
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.
BOYS
Northwood 13 1 16 5—30
Kinston 15 25 23 17—80
CHARGERS (17-11) — Walker 8, Pinnix 7, Rome 6, Washington 5, Worley 3, Dark 3, Udoh 2, Bailey 1, M. Smith, C. Smith, Cole, Leviner, Marrow, Thomas.
VIKINGS (24-2) — Denzel Keyes 20, Josh Dawson 18, Brandon Ingram 11, Ham 7, Taylor 6, Lopez 6, Dunn 4, Canady 4, Williams 2, Jones 2, Joyner, White, Hart, Rouse.
GIRLS
N. Johnston 2 1 8 5—16
Kinston 23 15 14 17—69
PANTHERS (20-7) — Simmons 6, Neal 2, Williams 2, Hinnant 2, Hines 2, Evans 1, Johnson 1, Turner, Richardson, Batten, Turner, Johnson.
VIKINGS (23-4) — Lydia Rivers 11, Addison 9, Lofton 9, Harper 9, Williams 7, Drumgoole 7, Faison 6, Clark 4, Cannon 3, Thi 2, Vermillion 2, Tice.