Vikings beat South Central in 2nd Round

For the better part of two quarters, it looked like Kinston High would be in for another hard-fought battle, but the Vikings were able to pull away from South Central in the last 20 minutes for an impressive 84-50 win in the second round of the state 3A playoffs Thursday.

Kinston led 17-8 after the first quarter, but the Falcons used a 13-4 run early in the second to cut the Vikings’ lead to two. Kinston responded with back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore Josh Benoit, who ended the game with nine points.

Not to be outdone, sophomore Reggie Bullock, who started the game ice-cold from the field, found his mark, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers of his own. And the rout was on.

Bullock finished with 23 points to lead all scorers.

Kinston ended the half on a 21-8 run, pushing its lead to 42-27 at intermission. The Vikings led by as many as 30 points in the third, and they entered the fourth quarter with a comfort-able 65-37 margin.

“We went about 10 minutes with only scoring seven or eight points,” said South Central coach Jerry Woodside, whose team ended the year at 15-11 as the No. 2 seed out of the Coastal 3A Conference. “We went through a long spell with hardly any points, and we turned the ball over a lot. But they have a really good team. They’re well-coached. I wish them the best.”

Amidst the blowout, there were several important details not to be overlooked for the Vi-kings.

Senior Bo Ingram put in another workmanlike performance with 13 points, five boards, five assists and two steals.

“I can’t say enough about Bo’s effort,” said Kinston coach Wells Gulledge. “He was a blue-collar worker tonight.”

Senior Jermaine Miller rejoined the team after an extended absence and contributed two points, two steals, an assist and a disruptive presence on the defensive end. His twin brother, Tremaine Miller, had 10 points.

Marquez Jones and Mister Height combined to hold South Central’s Quan Nobles to just eight points after the Falcons’ best offensive threat exploded for 30 in his last outing.

“This part of the year, you have to have kids step up when you call their name and num-ber,” said Gulledge. “We had that across the board tonight.”

The game was a sharp contrast to Monday’s first-round game, when Kinston played an un-Kinston-like game against wildcard West Craven, sneaking out of Viking Gym with a 12-point win that was closer than the final margin indicated for much of the game.

“We more or less played more team ball tonight,” said Ingram. “We haven’t been rotating on defense, but we played much better defense tonight. That’s what we’re going to need the next three games.”

The game was played at a frenetic pace, with both teams racing up and down the court, resulting in 22 Falcon turnovers.

Gulledge said he expects a mirror image of the up-tempo game when his Vikings host Hertford County tonight in the sectional finals.

“If Gatorade stock doesn’t go up overnight, it never will,” said Gulledge, “because both teams will be hydrating well into the evening.”

South Central 8 19 10 13 — 50

Kinston 17 25 23 19 — 84

SC - Antwan Burrus 14, James Carlton 11, Nobles 8, Smith 5, Disz-Cobo 4, Harper 3, Hol-lywood 2, Garrison 2, Clark 1; KHS - Reggie Bullock 23, Bo Ingram 13, Tremaine Miller 10, Benoit 9, Sutton 6, Singleton 6, Best 4, Jones 4, Hines 4, Quinerly 2, J. Miller 2, Height 1.