Blogging with Bryan C. Hanks

Howdy! Was going to stay away from the blog tonight, but my arm was twisted by Dawnn Gulledge and others. I’m still tweeting (@BCHanks), along with Ryan Herman (@KFPSports) and Justin Hill (@mjhill).

Here are the rosters for both teams:

Wilson Beddingfield (19-6)

No.   Name                                Pos.     Ht        Yr.

3       Dante Artis                      PG/SG  5-9       Sr.

4       Corey Taylor                  PG/SG   5-11      Sr.

11     Lamonte Roberson         SF            6-0      Jr.

12     Tony Harper                   C              6-5     Soph.

13     Johnathan Barnes          SF           6-0     Sr.

14     Elijah Hooks                   SG          5-11      Soph.

15     Terrance Peterson       SF/SG    6-0       Jr.

20    A-Jay Williams              SF/SG/PG  6-4  Soph.

21    Deonta Woodard           PF/SF      6-5      Sr.

22    Roderick Blackston       PF/SF     6-0      Jr.

23    Rontrel Peoples             PF           6-0      Sr.

24    Tim Eatmon                  SF            6-1      Jr.

32    Deaaron Ward              C/PF       6-5     Sr.

33    Travis Barnes               C            6-7        Jr.

Beddingfield coached by Jeremy Howard

Kinston (24-4)

No.   Name                                Pos.     Ht        Yr.

1        Nakeil Williams                G           5-8       Sr.

2        Josh Dawson                    G           6-1        Jr.

3       C.J. Bradshaw                   G          5-10      Sr.

5       Andrew Lopez                  G          5-10      Soph.

11     Chris Hall                          G           5-9        Sr.

13     Brandon Ingram             G            6-4        Fr.

15     Shikeem Ham                 G            5-9        Sr.

20     Darnell Dunn                 F             6-4         Fr.

21     Kyle Brown                    F             6-4         Sr.

23      Denzel Keyes                F            6-4          Jr.

31      Qwarii Ham                  G            5-9          Soph.

32     Angelo Keyes                F            6-2           Sr.

33      Jerome Hart                F            6-1           Sr.

45     Jay Taylor                    F            6-4           Sr.

51      Derek Rivers               F            6-5           Sr.

(By the way, Reidsville and Burlington Cummings, the other 2A Eastern Regional teams, are headed to overtime tied at 43-43)

8:38 p.m.: Reidsville 50, Burlington Cummings 47, 0:54.2 1OT

8:41 p.m.: Headed to double overtime — Reidsville 50, Burlington Cummings 50

8:58 p.m.: Final — Reidsville 60, Burlington Cummings 55, 2OT; Rams meet winner of Kinston/Beddingfield Saturday at noon for 2A Eastern Regional championship

9 p.m.: Have to add this — I have Pittsboro Northwood head coach Russ Frazier sitting next to me … and I’ve already learned more about basketball in 45 minutes than I’ve learned in the past five years. AWESOME. Also, 20 minutes until tipoff between Beddingfield and Kinston

9:20 p.m.: Three minutes to gametime; go to my Twitter feed for pregame warmups video

Starters for Beddingfield: Artis, Taylor, Peterson, Ward and Barnes

Starters for Kinston: Dawson, Bradshaw, Lopez, D. Keyes and A. Keyes

LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!

FIRST QUARTER

7:17 — Kinston 2, Beddingfield 0, Denzel Keyes layup on pretty assist from Dawson

6:08 — Kinston 4, Beddingfield 0; Dawson layup

6:02 –Kinston 4, Beddingfield 3; Artis 2 plus 1

5:14 — Kinston 7, Beddingfield 3; Lopez 3-pointer

4:46 — Kinston 7, Beddingfield 5; Taylor layup

4:10 — Kinston 9, Beddingfield 5; A. Keyes hook shot

3:18 — Kinston 12, Beddingfield 5; Dawson 3-pointer

2:41 — Kinston 12, Beddingfield 7; Ward lay-in

1:28 — Kinston 14, Beddingfield 7; Taylor rebound of a miss

1:15 — Kinston 14, Beddingfield 10; Taylor 3-pointer

0:57 — Kinston 16, Beddingfield 10; Lopez on a cutter, pretty pass from Dawson

END FIRST QUARTER: Kinston 16, Beddingfield 10; KHS led by Dawson and Lopez with 5 each; Taylor leads WB with 5

SECOND QUARTER

7:51 — Kinston 16, Beddingfield 13; A-Jay Williams 3-pointer for WB

7:29 — Kinston 18, Beddingfield 13; A. Keyes on assist from Dawson

6:56 — Kinston 19, Beddingfield 13; Josh Dawson hits 1 of 2 FTs

6:40 — Kinston 19, Beddingfield 15; Barnes hookshot

5:13 — Kinston 19, Beddingfield 17; Barnes off Kinston turnover

4:58 — Kinston 21, Beddingfield 17; Lopez short jumper

4:32 — Kinston 23, Beddingfield 17; Dawson layup

3:06 — Kinston 26, Beddingfield 17; Brandon Ingram 3-pointer

2:56 — Kinston 26, Beddingfield 18; Woodard hits 1 of 2 FTs

2:54 — Kinston 26, Beddingfield 20; Woodard hits 2 FTs

2:30 — Kinston 28, Beddingfield 20; Taylor hits nice hookshot

1:42 — Kinston 28, Beddingfield 20; Woodard misses 2 FTs

1:07 — Kinston 28, Beddingfield 22; Taylor layup

0:56 — Kinston 30, Beddingfield 22; CJ Bradshaw basket

HALFTIME: KINSTON 30, BEDDINGFIELD 22

Kinston: Dawson 8, Lopez 7, A. Keyes 4, Taylor 4, Ingram 3, Bradshaw 2, D. Keyes 2. Beddingfield: Taylor 7, Barnes 4, Artis 3, Williams 3, D. Woodard 3, Ward 2

Rebounding leaders: Kinston — D. Keyes 3; Beddingfield — D. Woodard 3

Assist leaders: Kinston — Dawson 5; Beddingfield — Taylor 2

Foul leaders: Kinston — four players with 1; Beddingfield — Williams 2

THIRD QUARTER

7:43 — Kinston 32, Beddingfield 22; A. Keyes basket

7:20 — Kinston 34, Beddingfield 22; D. Keyes hits 2 FTs

7:13 — Kinston 34, Beddingfield 24; Barnes runner

6:38 — Kinston 34, Beddingfield 27; Artis 3-pointer from 28 feet

5:16 — Kinston 34, Beddingfield 29; Artis layup

5:08 — Kinston 36, Beddingfield 29; A. Keyes high-archer

3:33 — Kinston 36, Beddingfield 32; Taylor 3-pointer

3:12 — Kinston 39, Beddingfield 32; D. Keyes 3-pointer

2:59 — Kinston 41, Beddingfield 32; D. Keyes layup

2:36 — Kinston 41, Beddingfield 34; Taylor short jumper off offensive rebound

BEDDINGFIELD TIMEOUT 2:36 3Q

1:29 — Kinston 43, Beddingfield 34; D. Keyes hits 2 FTs, 9 pts this quarter

0:44.0 — Kinston 43, Beddingfield 36; Taylor hits 2, misses FT

END THIRD QUARTER: KINSTON 43, BEDDINGFIELD 36

FOURTH QUARTER

7:06 — Kinston 43, Beddingfield 36; A. Keyes misses 2 FTs

6:30 — Kinston 45, Beddingfield 36; D. Keyes hits basket, misses FT

5:57 — Kinston 47, Beddingfield 36; D. Keyes hits 2 FTs

5:35 — Kinston 47, Beddingfield 38; Artis runner

BEDDINGFIELD TIMEOUT 5:32 4Q

5:14 — Kinston 49, Beddingfield 38; Dawson hits 2 FTs

4:53 — Kinston 50, Beddingfield 38; D. Keyes hits 1 of 2 FTs

4:01 — Kinston 52, Beddingfield 38; Dawson hits 2 FTs

3:47 — Kinston 52, Beddingfield 41; Artis hits 3-pointer from right side

BEDDINGFIELD TIMEOUT 3:47 4Q

3:13 — Kinston 52, Beddingfield 42; Artis hits 1 of 2 FTs

3:01 — Kinston 54, Beddingfield 42; D. Keyes dunk

2:42 — Kinston 54, Beddingfield 44; Barnes follow shot

2:26 — Kinston 54, Beddingfield 44; A. Keyes misses 2 FTs

2:16 — Kinston 54, Beddingfield 46; Artis hits 2 FTs

2:10 — Kinston 54, Beddingfield 48; Williams basket

1:59 — Kinston 56, Beddingfield 48; Dawson hits 2 FTs

1:50 — Kinston 56, Beddingfield 48, Taylor going to FT line; KINSTON TIMEOUT

1:50 — Kinston 56, Beddingfield 50; Taylor hits 2 FTs

1:48 — Kinston 56, Beddingfield 50; Lopez misses 2 FTs

1:43 — Kinston 58, Beddingfield 50; A. Keyes hits 2 FTs

1:28 — Kinston 60, Beddingfield 50; D. Keyes hits transition layup; KINSTON TIMEOUT

1:10 — Kinston 60, Beddingfield 50; Ward misses front end of 1-and-1

0:53.8 — Kinston 62, Beddingfield 50; Dawson hits 2 FTs

0:42.0 –Kinston 62, Beddingfield 53; Taylor for 3; BEDDINGFIELD TIMEOUT

0:35.0 — Kinston 64, Beddingfield 53; Ingram breakaway layup

0:29.8 — BEDDINGFIELD FINAL TIMEOUT

FINAL: KINSTON 64, BEDDINGFIELD 53 — VIKINGS ADVANCE TO REGIONAL FINAL SATURDAY AT NOON AGAINST REIDSVILLE!

Kinston: Denzel Keyes 22, Josh Dawson 16, Angelo Keyes 8, Andrew Lopez 7, Brandon Ingram 5, Jay Taylor 4, C.J. Bradshaw 2. Beddingfield: Corey Taylor 19, Dante Artis 16, Travis Barnes 8, A-Jay Williams 5, Deonta Woodard 3, Deaaron Ward 2.

Rebound leaders: KHS — Denzel Keyes 8, Josh Dawson 6, C.J. Bradshaw 5; WB — Deaaron Ward 5

Assist leaders: KHS — Josh Dawson 8; WB — Corey Taylor 2

Great night for the Vikings! See you guys back here on the blog Friday night for the girls’ semifinal game vs. Bunn

After much waiting, wailing and gnashing of teeth, the NCHSAA has released the brackets for the state playoffs:

• The Kinston boys (20-4) received the third seed in the 2A East and will face 14th seeded Roanoke Rapids (14-9) at home on Monday at 7:30 p.m. If the Vikings are victorious, they’ll host the winner of No. 6 Topsail (16-7) and No. 11 Edenton Holmes (13-8)
• The Kinston girls (21-3) also received the third seed in the 2A East and will 14th-seeded Wilson Beddingfield (6-14) at home on Monday at 6 p.m. If Kinston wins, it’ll host the winner of No. 6 Jacksonville Northside (19-4) and No. 11 North Brunswick (8-14)
• The Jones Senior boys somehow earned a 15th-seed with a 4-16 record and will travel to No. 2 Creswell (17-4) Monday
• The Jones Senior girls (18-2) earned a No. 2 seed and host 15th-seeded Manteo Monday at 7 p.m. If the Trojans win, they’ll host the winner of seventh-seeded SW Onslow (11-7) and No. 10 Gates County (15-8) on Wednesday
• The Ayden-Grifton boys (15-6) are the No. 4 seed in the 1A East; they’ll host 13th-seeded Roanoke South Creek (14-10) at home on Monday at 7 p.m. The winner of that game plays winner of fifth-seeded East Carteret (14-9) and No. 12 Gates County (9-14)
• The Ayden-Grifton girls (7-13) are the 14th seed in the 1A East; they travel to SE Halifax (18-3), the third seed, on Monday

For the complete boys’ brackets, click here.

For the complete girls’ brackets, click here.

My takes: I’ll admit it bothers me that because Kinston’s boys have four losses — all to teams outside the area (including one nationally-ranked team) other than a hiccup against North Pitt, that counts against them. For Kinston — which is ranked second in the STATE to be a third-seed in a four-pod system (effectively saying the Vikings are the state’s 9th-12th best 2A team in N.C.) is a joke.

I’d suggest the NCHSAA come up with a weight system, but it has enough difficulty simply putting together a freaking bracket. The cream will rise to the top, I guess — Tarboro proved this past week that on any given night, any team can win.

If the seeds play out, Kinston could play at second-seeded Croatan (19-2) Friday night. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if 10th-seeded North Pitt (if they’ve got their, ahem, stuff together) emerges to play at Kinston Friday night. This much is true: If it wins, Kinston is guaranteed home games on Monday and Wednesday.

It’s the same for the Kinston girls as a three-seed in the 2A East. Unbelievable they have to face Beddingfield for a fourth time this season, this time in the first round of the state playoffs. That Northside second-round game — also at Kinston — will be intriguing, but that’s a hell of a trip Friday night to second-seeded Pasquotank if the seeds hold up.

I’m monitoring Twitter as I finish this, and it appears we might have some errors in the 4A boys’ portion of the bracket … which means we might have updated brackets. Sweet.