Courtesy Terry Allen Williams of The News-Press of Fort Myers, Fla.:
Akeem Sutton defends
Dory Hines drives the lane
Victor Holloway skies
Tremaine Miller defends
Dallas Best pump-fakes
Reggie Bullock makes the turn
Reggie Bullock goes up strong
Joshea Singleton attacks the basket
It’s 10:05 a.m. Kinston and Columbus (Miss.) New Hope are warming up with 10 minutes before game time. Thanks for joining me here on the ol’ blog for Kinston’s last game in the Bank of America City of Palms Classic from Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers, Fla.
Like yesterday, JONATHAN TRIBULA from Kinston High School will be updating you with in-game action. Much thanks to JT!
I’ve got a ton of pictures from yesterday’s game that I will post on yesterday’s action later today; didn’t get them until late last night from the Fort Myers paper.
Home Team: Kinston – Starters: AK Sutton, Victor Holloway, Bo Ingram, Reggie Bullock, Dory Hines (Quick Note: Tremaine Miller and Dallas Best are out with injuries. Twin – bad ankle; Dallas – bad shoulder)
Visiting Team: New Hope Trojans from MS – 6’9′ Rahanti Harris, 6’2″ Michael Payton, 6’3″ Kendrick Bush, 6’2″ Dale Hughes, 6’0″ Ray Knight
Tip Off: 10:18 am.
1st Quarter:
Kinston loses tap, turnover by New Hope.
Kinston first two possissions, two turnovers.
First basket by New Hope, layup and 1, missed free throw. New Hope 2-0
3 pointer for Ray Knight, New Hope 5-0.
3 pointer for Ray Knight, New Hope 8-0. Kinston Time Out!
Kinston first basket, Bo Ingram 18 foot jumper, New Hope 8-2.
Bullock 12 foot jumber, New Hope 8-4. New Hope turnover, Dory Hines layup. New Hope 8-6. New Hope Timeout!
Bo Ingram rebound put back. Tied, 8-8.
Rashanti Harris follow up. New Hope 10-8.
Mister Height with 10 footer baseline jumper. 10-10
Benoit rebound, coast to coast 10 foot jumper. Kinston 12-10. First lead for Kinston.
Rahanti Harris basket good, got fouled by Bo Ingram. Free Throw good, New Hope 13-12.
Benoit missed shot at end of quarter. Fast paced first quarter. Vikings started slow but got hot starting about the 4 minute mark. New Hope 13, Kinston 12.
2nd Quarter:
Dory, Marquez, Reggie, Victor, Mister start 2nd quarter.
Harris layup. New Hope 15-12.
New Hope 1 for 2 from line. 16-12.
Dory to the hole, got fouled. First free throws for Kinston. 1st one is good. 2nd one is good. Maybe a good sign! New Hope 16-14.
3 pointer by Dale Hughes. New Hope 19-14.
Bullock rebound, layup. New Hope 19-16.
Bullock fouled shooting runner. 1st Free throw good. 2nd free throw good. 4-4 from line. New Hope 19-18.
Marquez with layup, nice pass from Dory Hines. Kinston 20-19.
Pookie Clark checks in for the first time, Benoit comes in as well.
New Hope to the line. Both free throws good. New Hope 21-20.
Pookie Clark nice pass to Victor Holloway. Holloway fouled shooting. Holloway to the line. 1st one good, 2nd one no good. Tied up 21-21.
Marquez nice pass to Victor Holloway for the layup. Kinston 23-21.
New Hope back with easy layup. Tied 23-23.
Pookie Clark for three. Kinston 26-23.
Rashanti Harris 1 for 2 from line. Kinston 26-24.
Dory Hines to the line. Both good. Kinston 7-8 from line. Kinston 28-24.
Harris with a put back layup. Kinston 28-26.
Foul on J’mell Garner, New Hope to the free throw. 1st free throw good, 2nd one is good. Tied at 28.
New Hope with layup, New Hope 30-28.
Bullock with desperation for three at the buzzer.
Its good, the bank is open on Saturday. 35 footer, fading away, jumped off his wrong foot. Kinston leads at half 31-30.
Halftime, Analysis from Hanks coming up!!!
Hanks: Wow! What a first half. Still trying to catch my breath.
Five ties, eight lead changes, so it’s been a great game.
Kinston is playing well despite the loss of Tremaine Miller (ankle) and Dallas Best (shoulder).
FT shooting is much improved for the Vikings, 7 for 8 today.
After the slow start, KHS is playing much better. This is a very winnable game for Kinston.
Reggie’s final shot was an ESPN Classic-style shot; falling away, guy in his face, great-looking bank shot.
Scoring leaders: KHS — Reggie Bullock 9 points, Dory Hines 6 points; New Hope — Dale Hughes 11 points, Rashanti Harris 10 points
Back to JT; again, thanks to him for his updates while I’m keeping stats!
THIRD QUARTER
New Hope ball! Kinston has Bo, Reggie, Victor, Dory, and AK on floor.
Bo Ingram for three. Kinston 34-30.
Bo Ingram for three. Kinston 37-30. New Hope Timeout.
Rashanti Harris to the line. Foul on Victor Holloway. 1st one good, 2nd no good. Kinston 37-31.
Bo Ingram 15 footer. Kinston 39-31. Ingram 8 points in 3rd quarter so far.
Foul on AK, New Hope to the line for two. 1st one no good, 2nd one good. Kinston 39-32.
Three for Michael Payton, Kinston 39-35.
Bullock for layup, Kinston 41-35.
Rashanti Harris with a “SHAQ” like dunk, Kinston 41-37.
New Hope to the free throw: 1st one is no good, 2nd one is no good. Kinston 41-37.
Drive by Dory Hines, fouled. Hines to free throw line. 1st one is good, 2nd one is good. Kinston 43-37. 3:42 left in 3rd quarter.
New Hope to the free throw. 1st one good, 2nd one good. Kinston 43-39.
Dory Hines with acrobatic layup over 6’9″ Harris. Kinston 45-39.
3 pointer by New Hope 45-42. Marquez Jones back down the court with strong layup! Kinston 47-42.
Another strong drive by Marquez for a layup. Kinston 49-42.
3 pointer by New Hope. Kinston 49-45.
Baseline jumper by Marquez. Kinston 51-45.
Marquez three pointer at the top of the key. Kinston 54-45.
New Hope to the free throw line, one and one. 1st good, 2nd good. Kinston 54-47.
Quick layup by Marquez, Kinston 56-47. End of 3rd quarter.
Marquez showed up big, 11 points. Bo had 8 points. Kinston scored 25 points in 3rd quarter.
4th quarter:
Marquez opens fourth quarter like the end of the 3rd. Strong layup. Kinston 58-47.
New Hope layup, Bo Ingram back down with layup. Kinston 60-49.
New Hope 3 pointer. Kinston 60-52.
AK Sutton back down with a layup. Kinston 62-52.
Dory penetration kick out to AK. AK for three. Kinston 65-52.
Fast paced action. Tough to keep up with it all, back and forth. New Hope layup and 1. Free throw no good, Kinston knocks ball out of bounds. Kinston 65-54.
Harris with two point layup. Kinston 65-56. 5:16 left in game. Time out in game. Quick note, Kinston has scored on last seven possessions.
Bo Ingram for three, Kinston 68-56.
New Hope put back layup. Kinston 68-58.
New Hope layup. Kinston 68-60.
Dory Hines layup, Kinston 70-60.
4th foul by Bullock. New Hope to the line. 1st free throw good, 2nd one is good. Kinston 70-62.
Bullock with a runner. Kinston 72-62.
Foul by AK, his fourth. New Hope to the line. 1st no good, 2nd good. Kinston 72-63.
Dory Hines with a tough layup. Kinston 74-63. Bo Ingram draws a charge. Kinston ball. Getting exciting!
Bullock rattles in a three. Kinston 77-63.
AK picks up his fifth battling with Harris. Harris to the line with double bonus. 1st one is good. 2nd one is no good. Kinston 77-64.
Kinston burning some clock. Marquez nice pass to Reggie. Layup by Bullock 79-64.
New Hope back down with layup, calls timeout. Kinston 79-66! 1:40 left in game.
Baseball pass down to Dory. Intentional foul. Dory hits both free throws. Kinston 81-66. Ball out to Kinston.
Kinston burning more time. Finally a foul by New Hope. Bo Ingram to the line! 1st free throw good, 2nd one is good. Kinston 83-66.
Holloway to the line. 1st one is good, 2nd one no good. Kinston 84-66.
Harris dunk, Kinston 84-68. New Hope with another dunk, uncontested at the buzzer. End of game, Kinston wins 84-70.
Kinston scores 53 points in 2nd half. Very exciting 2nd half. Up and down action.
Analysis by Hanks after the interviews!
Hanks: Again, thanks to JT for his great job keeping you guys up to date.
This LOOKED like Kinston basketball today. We may have two new stars, though. We know KHS is going to get points from Reggie and Bo, but Dory Hines (16 points, 3 assists) and Greene Central transfer Marquez Jones (15 points, 4 assists) really made a difference today.
The New Hope team is the No. 3 team in Mississippi, so they’re no slouches. It was a good team that Kinston beat today.
Get well wishes to Tremaine and Dallas, who will both be evaluated when they get back to Kinston on Monday.
I’ll be flying back tomorrow, too, and will be getting ready for the Glaxo, which runs Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Raleigh. Kinston’s got to feel like it’s got a very, very good chance to win it, especially after the way the Vikings played today. This blog will be the OFFICIAL blog of the Glaxo this year, with updates during and after every single game.
Kinston will be playing a team that it might face in next week’s GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational — Woodland Hills (Calif.) Taft. I’ll be updating the game here when it begins at 3:30 p.m.
3 p.m.: The other consolation semifinal is being played now, with Scott County (Kent.) and Columbus (Miss.) New Hope playing. Scott leads 59-53 with 2:40 left. Kinston will be playing one of these two teams tomorrow.
3:15 p.m.: Scott County wins, 71-60. If Kinston wins today, the Vikings will play Scott County at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday; if they lose, they will face New Hope.
Kinston and Taft are warming up right now.
3:35 p.m.: Game underway
SPECIAL THANKS TO JONATHAN TRIBULA, WHO IS UPDATING IN-GAME FOR YOU!
Kinston takes the first lead of the game. 5-4 with 4:37 left in first quarter.
Sutton 3pts, Bullock 2pts
7-4 Kinston. Sutton 5pts
9-4 Kinston. Sutton 5pts, Bullock 4pts. 2:33 left in first quarter. Kinston 4-7 from the field. 4pts off Tafts 6 turnovers.
12-4 Kinston. Mister Height 3 pointer!
15-8 Kinston. AK Sutton has 8 points.
End of 1st quarter, Kinston 15, Taft 14. Sutton 8pts, Bullock 4pts, Height 3. Taft finished the first quarter on a 6-0 run in the last minute of the 1st quarter.
17 to 14 Kinston. Victor Holloway layup!
19-14. Bullock 15ft jumper.
22 to 14. Dallas Best hit first free throw, missed second. Next possession, Dallas Best made layup and 1, missed free throw. 5:13 left in the 2nd quarter.
24 to 17. Bullock layup, 8pts.
24 to 22 Kinston. 2:38 left in 2nd quarter.
25 to 22. Victor Holloway hits 1 of 2 free throws. Vikings 3-10 from free throw line.
Another missed free throw. Hines hits 2nd free throw. 26-24. Kinston only has two turnovers, both on offensive fouls so far in the 1st half.
27 to 26 Kinston at half. Victor Holloway just finished the half by doing a MONSTER pin against a Taft player going up for a layup at the buzzer. MONSTER PIN!
Halftime analysis from Hanks:
Thanks again to Jonathan “J.T.” Tribula for updating the in-game action.
Reggie Bullock and Akeem Sutton have eight points each for KHS. UNC-signee Larry Drew leads Taft with nine points.
Kinston has only three turnovers, two of which were charges by Sutton. Kinston has forced nine Taft turnovers.
The Vikings look good, but they really need to start hitting some FTs. KHS is 5 of 14 from the FT line.
Shooting stats: KHS is 10 of 21 from the field, while Taft is 10 of 25.
Third quarter is set to begin. JT will be taking over from here. I’ll jump back on at the end of the game after I get my interviews to provide final analysis.
3rd Quarter:
Holloway to the free line. Hits 1 out of 2. Kinston 28-26.
Twin with 3 pointer. Kinston 31-26.
Bullock for three. 34 to 30 Kinston. 6:01 left in 3rd quarter. Bullock 11 points.
Larry Drew for Taft hits one of two. Kinston 34 to 31.
Little lag in the game. No field goals in the last four minutes by either team. Kinston still up 34-31.
Larry Drew for Taft ends the drought with a layup. Kinston 34-33.
Taft takes the lead by a dunk from Eugene Phelps. Taft 35-34. 1:18 left in 3rd quarter.
Eugene Phelps with a layup. Taft 37-34.
Dallas Best missed two free throws. Kinston 6-18 from the line.
After three, Taft 37-34. Kinston scores 7 points in third quarter. Kinston was 2-11 from the field in third quarter. Kinston has not scored since 6:01 mark in third quarter.
4th Quarter
Bryce Smith for Taft hits three pointer. Time out by Kinston.
Taft 42-34.
Bo Ingram scores first basket of the game. Taft 42-36. 6:04 left.
Larry Drew reverse lay up. Taft 46-36.
Bo three pointer Taft 46-39. Taft answers back 49-39.
Taft layup, 51-39.
Bo Ingram five footer. Taft answers back with layup. 53-41.
Ingram to the free throw line. 1st one good, no good on 2nd. Taft 53-42.
Bo Ingram given two points after basket interference. He has all 10 points for Kinston this quarter. Taft 54-44.
Ingram reverse layup.
Miller layup. Taft 56-48.
Kinston fouls to put Taft on the line. Taft 1-2 from the line. 57-48.
Another foul, Taft hits both free throws. 59-48 Taft. 47.4 seconds.
Layup by Ingram, Taft 59-50. Ingram has all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter.
Kinston fouls, Larry Drew to the line. 1st one good, 2nd one good. Taft 61-50.
Intentional foul called on Mister Height. Missed both free throws.
Mister Height fouls out on inbounds play. 1st free throw good, 2nd free throw no good. Taft 62-50.
Marquze Jones three pointer. Taft 62-53. Foul on Kinston, Taft to the free throw line.
Joshea Singleton with lay up. Taft 63-55.
Taft runs out the clock. Taft 63, Kinston 55.
End of Game!
Tipoff at 3:34 p.m.
No score with 6:41 left in 1Q
St. Benedict’s 11, Kinston 5 2:02 in 1Q
END OF FIRST QUARTER: St. Benedict’s 17, Kinston 8; Reggie Bullock has 6 for KHS
Timeout KHS with 4:56 left in 2Q; St. Benedict’s 27, Kinston 14
Timeout SB with 2:26 left in 2Q: St. Benedict’s 31, Kinston 18
HALFTIME: St. Benedict’s 36, Kinston 22; stats coming up
Halftime stats — Field goal pct: SB 12 of 26 (46.2 percent); KHS 7 of 28 (25 percent). FT pct: SB 10 of 13 (76.9 percent); KHS 6 of 8 (75 percent).
Scoring leaders: SB — Samardo Samuels 11 points; KHS — Reggie Bullock 11
Quick takes — Kinston is certainly struggling with SB’s size. SB has five guys with two fouls each.
Start of the second half:
Timeout KHS 3:54 left in 3Q: St. Benedict’s 44, Kinston 28
2:08 left in 3Q: St. Benedict’s 46, Kinston 29
Timeout SB 1:29 left in 3Q: St. Benedict’s 48, Kinston 29
END OF THE THIRD QUARTER: St. Benedict’s 51, Kinston 29
Timeout KHS 6:41 4Q: St. Benedict’s 55, Kinston 29
Final: St. Benedict’s 72, Kinston 44
Leading scorers: SB — Samardo Samuels 26 points, Tamir Jackson 15, Gregory Echenique 12; Kinston — Reggie Bullock 18, Dallas Best 8, Bo Ingram 4, Akeem Sutton 4.
Final analysis from the gym — The Vikings were just out-sized. SB coach Danny Hurley did exactly what he had to do — kick the ball inside and force Kinston to defend. There really wasn’t anyone who had enough body to keep Samuels out of the lane — or the other 6-9 guiys either. All I could keep thinking while I was watching was “What if Quinton Coples were here?” Sure, KHS probably wouldn’t have won the game, but it would’ve been a lot closer (15-20 points perhaps?).
But there was NO QUIT in the Vikings. They played hard to the end and didn’t give up, although they were playing the nation’s best team in the best tournament in America.
Some pictures from the game, courtesy of The News-Leader of Fort Myers:
Akeem Sutton drives the lane against Samardo Samuels
Victor Holloway in a scrum with the St. Benedict’s players
Kinston’s Dory Hines pump-fakes
Checking in from Bisop Verot High School in Fort Myers, Fla., where hometown Dunbar HS and Helen Cox (New Orleans) HS are playing in the Bank of America City of Palms Classic.
Kinston will play the No. 1 team in the nation, St. Benedict’s of Newark, N.J., at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. St. Benedict’s annihilated the second-ranked 5A team in Florida, Gainesville, 87-32, on Tuesday.
I will be keeping you up to date here on the blog throughout Thursday’s game, as much as possible (and as much as the WiFi in here allows me).
Couple of nuggets:
St. Benedicts of New Jersey will play Oak Hill Academy (Va.) at 9 p.m. on ESPN tonight. St. Benedicts is the likely first opponent for Kinston in the City of Palms Classic in Florida on Dec. 20. Very rarely (if ever?) does Wells Gulledge get to scout an opponent on ESPN; he’ll get to do it tonight.
Blogging with Bryan C. Hanks 