PITTSBORO — Kinston High never trailed during its third round state 2A playoff contest at Pittsboro Northwood on Friday, but with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter, all seemed lost.
The Chargers were in the middle of a big run that had trimmed a 12-point Kinston lead to four, energizing the home crowd in the process, and junior sensation Brittany Drumgoole had just fouled after being whistled for an offensive foul.
Enter Alexis Williams.
The senior guard assumed the role of primary ball handler, connected on six consecutive free throws in the final 54.4 seconds and helped the Vikings hold on for a 65-57 victory that earned them a third consecutive trip to the regionals next week in Fayetteville.
The Vikings will face Bunn at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Crown Arena.
“We’re going back to Fayetteville, that’s what it’s all about,” Kinston coach Hubert Quinerly said. “It’s a great accomplishment, but these girls aren’t satisfied. We feel like we still have unfinished business.”
The Vikings can thank Williams for the opportunity.
The unflappable senior, who is often overlooked alongside the passing wizardry of Drumgoole and the deft outside shooting of backcourt running mate Monique Lofton, took center stage against Northwood, which used a 10-2 run to get back in.
As the clock ticked down and with the Chargers forced to foul, Williams made sure she had the ball in her hands.
“I wasn’t ready for my high school career to end,” Williams said. “As a senior, I knew it was time for me to step up.”
Did she ever. On three consecutive Kinston possessions, Williams dribbled away the time before being fouled.
On all three occasions, she calmly buried two free throws, six in a row all together.
“We’ve been in big games before and I feel like I’m a pretty good foul shooter,” Williams said. It’s an easy shot so there was nothing to be nervous about.”
For the game, Williams scored 13 points and made all eight of her chances from the charity stripe.
“Free throws win big games,” Quinerly said. “There’s nobody I’d rather have on the line in that situation than Alexis.”
She didn’t do it alone.
Lofton led the team with 15 points, including a 4 of 8 performance from beyond the 3-point line. Anshonee Addison tallied 13 points, grabbed eight rebounds and held Northwood’s leading scorer Shontai Totten to just two second-half points after a 17-point outburst in the opening 16 minutes.
“It was a team effort,” Quinerly said. “We had so many girls play their hearts out. That’s the game of effort it takes to be an outstanding team like Northwood on the road.”
Before fouling out, Drumgoole contributed 11 points and five assists, while Lydia Rivers scored nine points (all in the third quarter), hauled down eight boards and blocked four shots.
Kinston led 34-24 at the break and was on top 55-43 at the 5:23 mark of the final period when Williams canned a 3-pointer and Drumgoole found Addison open under the basket with a breathtaking look away pass.
Northwood’s Jasmine Atkins (game-high 22 points) answered with a pair of buckets and two free throws to fuel the 10-2 spurt that led to a Quinerly time out.
“I knew we weren’t going to panic,” Quinerly said. “We’re a family and we’ve been here before. During the time out, I basically just told the girls to keep doing what they were doing. I never doubted that we’d hang on.”
KINSTON 16 18 16 15—65
NORTHWOOD 12 12 17 16—57
VIKINGS (24-4) – Monique Lofton 15, Alexis Williams 13, Anshonee Addison 13, Brittany Drumgoole 11, Rivers 9, Vermillion 2, Harper 2, Faison
CHARGERS (24-5) – Jasmine Atkins 22, Shontai Totten 19, Brower 7, Mehringer 5, Morrow 2, Harris 2, Vanderford, Baldwin.