Kinston sweeps Rose Friday night
Kinston's Dontrez Styles elevates for a basket during Friday's win against Greenville Rose. Photo by William “Bud” Hardy / Neuse News
By Bryan Hanks
The varsity basketball squads from Kinston swept Greenville J.H. Rose in a non-conference matchup between the schools Friday night at Viking Gymnasium.
The girls snapped a five-game losing streak by defeating the Rampants, 58-50, while the Viking boys rolled to an 81-48 victory.
The Viking girls were coming off last week’s performance at the John Wall Holiday Invitational, where they dropped three games by a combined 190-93 margin. They struggled early against the winless Rampants (0-10), trailing 10-7 at the end of the first quarter before pushing through in the second frame to take a 24-22 lead. After Rose tied the game at 28-28 with 6:12 remaining in the third quarter, Kinston (6-5) went on a 25-12 run to take control of the game.
Junior forward Taliyah Jones finished with 16 points to lead the Vikings, while junior guards Michyla Dove had 13 points and Quiara Powell added 10.
Kamya Brown, a junior center, led Rose with 12 points, while sophomore guard Ania Sands and freshman forward Zakarriah Smith-Crandle had 11 points each for the Rampants.
In the boys’ game, sophomore forward Dontrez Styles scored 25 points, while adding 13 rebounds, four blocks, three assists and three steals to lead the Vikings to the easy victory. Kinston led 18-13 at the end of the first quarter, 38-27 at halftime and 57-44 after three frames. But the Vikings turned it up another notch in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Rampants 24-4 to improve to 9-3.
“When you finish a game 24-4, that makes a statement,” Kinston coach Perry Tyndall said. “We haven’t even scratched the surface yet with how good we can be defensively. When we lock it in on that end, we can be much better than we are.”
Will London, a junior forward who joined the team in the second semester, finished with 10 points for the Vikings, who will return to Eastern Carolina 2A play Tuesday at home against Ayden-Grifton.
Rose (2-10) was led by Silas James’ 11 points; the Rampants host Southern Wayne in Eastern Carolina 3A/4A action on Tuesday.
Boys
Kinston 81, Rose 48
R 13 14 17 4 -- 48
K 18 20 19 24 -- 81
Rose: James 11, Latham 9, Hamilton 7, K. Murphy 7, A. Murphy 6, Griffin 5, Waller 4, Harris 2, Green 2, Mallory 2. Kinston: Dontrez Styles 25, London 10, Wooten 8, Minott 8, Parson 5, Evans 5, Pitts 4, Williams 4, Dixon 4, Luter 3, Koonce 3, Roberts 2.
Girls
Kinston 58, Rose 50
R 10 12 17 11 -- 50
K 7 17 21 13 -- 58
Rose: Kamya Brown 12, Ania Sands 11, Zakarriah Smith-Crandle 11, A. Brown 8, Pascasio 3, Fisher 2, Cooper 2, Bacon 1. Kinston: Taliyah Jones 16, Michyla Dove 13, Quiara Powell 10, S. Jones 7, Andrews 6, Hargett 4, Cobb 2.
