Ayden-Grifton’s James Richardson brings the ball upcourt during Tuesday’s first round Eastern Carolina Conference matchup against North Lenoir at South Lenoir. Photo by William ‘Bud’ Hardy / Neuse News

DEEP RUN — James Richardson made up for a rough shooting night with one big defensive play.

The Ayden-Grifton senior preserved the Chargers' lead with a late block in a 66-62 victory over North Lenoir in the first round of the Eastern Carolina 2A tournament. The Chargers will travel to Kinston Wednesday to face the top-seeded Greene Central Rams.

Richardson said coach John Moye told him to be prepared for the moment.

"I was having a bad game and he told me to zone in for the last 1:18," Richardson said. "It was my fault we got into that position, so I had to clean it up."

North Lenoir started the game on an 11-3 run, but Ayden-Grifton responded with an 11-2 spurt, ending with Richardson's steal and layup. The Hawks went up 25-17, aided by 10 first-half points from De'Shaun Kee, but the Chargers closed the half on a 16-2 spurt. Marlon Cannon scored five points in the run as Ayden-Grifton went up 33-27.

"It meant a lot considering this was my first varsity game," Cannon said. "The coaches believed in me and I just tried to make plays."

North Lenoir fought back in a game with nine lead changes and six ties. A Jordan Blow basket gave the Hawks a 46-40 advantage heading toward the fourth, but Ayden-Grifton’s Jordan Atkinson caught fire in the final frame. Atkinson scored 16 of his game-high 27 points in the final frame, including 12 straight for the Chargers before assisting on a Moses Tufts layup to put the team ahead 64-60 with 1:56 remaining.

“It was more of a killer mentality, knowing that I needed to go out and do this for the team,” Atkinson said.

On the other end, Jamir Gatling scored for the Hawks and after calling a timeout after having issues setting up the offense, Terrance Copper stole the inbounds pass with 50 seconds left on the way to a game-tying layup.

Instead, Richardson skied to swat away the attempt and the Chargers finished the game at the line.

Now, Ayden-Grifton has its sights set on the next round.

“We have to give a great team effort or we’re in trouble (Wednesday),” Moye said. “We’ll have our hands full, but we’re up for the challenge. I’ve got to thank the players, along with these great assistant coaches — Johnny Davis, Terry Blount and Jeremy McGee — for helping us stay in it tonight.”

North Lenoir coach Anthony Loftin said the Chargers exploited weaknesses and the team couldn’t adjust.

“They found a high pick and roll, and we missed rotations defensively,” Loftin said. “On the other end, we rushed some shots and simply didn’t play smart basketball. Give Ayden-Grifton credit, but we needed to do better tonight.”

AYDEN-GRIFTON 66, NORTH LENOIR 62

NL           13           14           19           16—62

AG          9              24           9              24—66

NORTH LENOIR — De’Shaun Kee 21, Jordan Blow 12, Jam. Gatling 8, Copper 7, Koonce 5, Jay. Gatling 3, Wooten 2, Sears 2, Brown 2

AYDEN-GRIFTON — Jordan Atkinson 27, Josh Wright 10, Cannon 8, Richardson 8, Tufts 4, Gunter 4, Mitchell 3, Harris 2

Three-pointers: NL — Kee 2. AG — Atkinson 5, Wright 2, Mitchell.  

 In the girls’ matchup, points were at a premium, but South Lenoir pulled off a 38-21 win over Ayden-Grifton in the first round. As a result, the Blue Devils will face top-ranked Kinston at Viking Gym Wednesday.

“Ayden-Grifton is very fast and their speed is about as equal to Kinston,” South Lenoir coach Donald Mooring said. “In the end, we fed Taniejah Mitchell and were able to handle their pressure.”

The Blue Devils benefited from the Chargers’ 1 of 21 start from the field and although South Lenoir only shot 25 percent in the first half, went on a 12-1 run — nine scored by Destiny Hall and Gralicia Jenkins. Ayden-Grifton went 13 minutes without a field goal, but only trailed 16-9 heading into the break.

In the third quarter, Mitchell scored all the points for South Lenoir, but Zy’Kierah Andrews would score seven for Ayden-Grifton and Maya Hardy banked in a long 3-pointer as time expired to bring the Chargers with 24-19 heading into the fourth. From there, Jenkins would hit a 3-pointer to spark a game-sealing 14-0 run.

“They’re a fast team, so we had to just slow it down,” Jenkins said. “Even though we had a big lead, we had to keep our poise and stay calm.”

For Ayden-Grifton coach Charles Kessel, he said the team give its all.

“We played with a lot of intensity, but we just couldn’t hit our shots,” Kessel said. “I do hope we’ll still be able to make the postseason—for our girls to go from 0 wins last year to eight this season is a wonderful accomplishment and they really played their hearts out.”

SOUTH LENOIR 38, AYDEN-GRIFTON 21

AG          4              5              10           2—21

SL            5              11           8              14—38

AYDEN-GRIFTON — Andrews 9, Hardy 7, Little 4, Smith 1

SOUTH LENOIR — Taniejah Mitchell 16, Jenkins 9, Hall 8, Kopanski 2, Foster 2, Howard 1

Three-pointers: AG — Andrews, Hardy. SL — Hall, Mitchell

Here's the semifinals slate for the Eastern Carolina Conference tournament Wednesday. The girls’ games will start at 5:30 p.m. with the boys to follow approximately 90 minutes afterwards:

BOYS

No. 4 Ayden-Grifton vs. No. 1 Greene Central at Kinston

No. 3 West Craven vs. No. 2 Kinston at North Lenoir

GIRLS

No. 4 South Lenoir at No. 1 Kinston

No. 3 Washington at No. 2 North Lenoir