It’s been a while — final-score wise — since Kinston’s boys basketball team was last challenged.
Coach Perry Tyndall fully expects a challenge tonight.
Top-seeded Kinston (24-2) will host No. 4 Elizabeth City Northeastern (23-4) at 7 in a sectional final of the NCHSAA state 2A playoffs for a shot at next week’s regionals.
The Eagles enter tonight’s matchup having won seven of their last eight and are averaging 61.5 points per game.
“They’re good,” Tyndall said following his team’s 80-35 dismantling of Pittsboro Northwood in a second round game on Wednesday. “They’ll be one of the toughest teams we’ve faced all season so we have to be prepared.”
Preparation hasn’t been a problem in Kinston’s current 15-game winning streak. Since its last loss on Dec. 28, Kinston’s closest margin of victory has been 15 points in a 54-39 mid-week non-conference win over visiting Wilmington New Hanover.
While the offense has shined all year, averaging 72.5 points per game and having hit the 80-point mark in seven of its last eight outings, Tyndall believes the true reason for his team’s success has been its play on the defensive end.
The Vikings’ length and athleticism have disrupted offenses so much that their last four opponents have combined to shoot less than 40 percent (74 for 188) from the floor and turn it over a combined 81 times.
“I don’t have any question or doubt in our offense. As I’ve said before we’ve got guys who can score,” Tyndall said. “Where our challenge comes is on the defensive end and in our rebounding. If we do those two things well we’ll be in pretty good shape.”
Northeastern enters tonight’s game coming off a big 69-55 win over Northeastern Coastal 2A-3A Conference foe Bertie in the second round on Wednesday.
Of their four losses this season, the Eagles fell to Bertie twice.
Kinston girls on a roll
Just like their male counterparts, Kinston’s girls have been on a tear since postseason play began and they take that streak to Pittsboro Northwood for a sectional final game at 7 tonight.
The third-seeded Vikings (23-4), winners of 14 in a row, have held four of their last five opponents in the teens while senior Monique Lofton was able to score her 1,000th career point in Monday’s 66-18 win over Franklinton.
But, again like the boys, coach Hubert Quinerly isn’t expecting tonight’s contest at No. 2 Northwood (24-4) to be that easy — not that any of them are.
“We’ve been playing well of late, really distributing the basketball on the offensive end and getting stops on the defensive end,” Quinerly said. “Friday’s going to be tough. Northwood’s a solid team.”
The Chargers last lost on Jan. 29 and have won 10 in a row with all but two coming by double figures. They’ve also knocked off last year’s state 2A champion Siler City Jordan-Matthews — the team that ended Kinston’s season a year ago.
A-G finally gets past Goldsboro
It took four tries, but Ayden-Grifton’s boys basketball team finally got the best of Goldsboro on Wednesday and gets to host a 1A sectional finals game because of it.
The seventh-seeded Chargers (15-11) will host No. 11 Pamlico (13-12) at 7 tonight after upsetting the Cougars 57-54 on the road on Wednesday.
Ayden-Grifton was swept by Goldsboro during the regular season and fell 80-36 in the Carolina 1A Conference tournament championship game last week.
The Hurricanes enter after upsetting No. 3 Wallace-Rose Hill, 67-64, in overtime.
Ayden-Grifton hasn’t been to the regionals since 2007. Pamlico last went in 2008.
Ryan Herman can be reached at 252-559-1073 or Ryan.Herman@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter: @KFPSports.