Feb 5

Feb 5 Kinston dominates varsity matchups with Ayden-Grifton

Kinston's Dontrez Styles had 22 points and 12 rebounds in Tuesday's win over Ayden-Grifton. Photo by William “Bud” Hardy / Neuse News

AYDEN | Kinston more than made up for a slow start after halftime Tuesday.

The Vikings dominated in the second half on the way to a 94-56 win over Ayden-Grifton. Kinston (16-6, 7-2 Eastern Carolina Conference) shot 67 percent in the final two quarters, breaking open a close game with its second-half St scoring output of the season.

The Vikings scored 101 points on Washington in a Jan. 18 victory.

"We weren't locked in (during) the first half," Kinston coach Perry Tyndall said. "I challenged the guys at halftime and we looked to push through pace. We took great care of the ball and answered well in the second half."

Neither team had a lead higher than six in the first half. Judah McBynum's 3-pointer as time expired put Kinston up 22-17 after the first quarter, but Ayden-Grifton (8-12, 4-5) responded, eventually taking a 28-25 lead on a Josh Wright triple early in the second. The Vikings' Dontrez Styles made his presence felt in the frame scoring 12 points, including a 3-point play starting a game-changing 19-1 run between the second and third quarter.

"Coach pointed it out in the locker room that we weren't playing as well as we should've," Styles said. "We wanted to come out (in the second half) and execute."

The Vikings certainly did and after going up 37-31 at the break, stretched the advantage to 20 in the third quarter. Kinston went into overdrive during the fourth, hitting its first 10 shots and going 14 of 16 overall. The two misses were rebounded and put back in by Cardiaa Koonce.

ECU basketball coach Joe Dooley was on hand to watch Kinston's 94-56 win over Ayden-Grifton Tuesday. Photo by William “Bud” Hardy / Neuse News

The Chargers fell behind by as many as 38, and dribbled out the final 1:55.

For Kinston, Styles had 22 points and 12 rebounds, McBynum scored 16 and Issac Parson added 13. For Ayden-Grifton, Jordan Atkinson posted 22 points and James Richardson provided 10.

In the girls' game, Kinston dominated in the paint on the way to a 67-22 victory.

The Vikings (16-5, 9-0) never trailed and set the tone early, scoring all of their points inside in the first half.

"We knew (Ayden-Grifton) didn't have a legitimate post player and felt we had an advantage," Kinston coach Christopher Bradshaw said. "Our guards did a great job looking down low, penetrating and getting it inside."

Anzaryia Cobb and Taliyah Jones scored all the points in an 8-0 to start the game and both had 10 on the way to a 27-10 halftime lead.

"I was just trying to do my job and help the team out where I could," Jones said. "I was focused on finishing at the rim."

The Vikings continued their stellar play in the second half, stretching the lead to as many as 45. The defensive effort didn't wane as Ayden-Grifton (6-12, 3-6) was held to 24 percent shooting in the game.

"We put more pressure on defense, which helped us out on offense," Cobb said.

Jones led all scorers with 20, Cobb had 17 and Samantha Lee scored eight, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to end the third to put Kinston ahead 50-20. For Ayden-Grifton, Cedaria Little scored seven.