As usual, Kinston's girls will hang their hat on defense

Kinston senior guard Sherice Jones (3) drives to the basket against an Eastern Wayne defender. The defensive-minded Vikings are off to a 3-0 start this season. Bud Hardy/Neuse News

Chris Bradshaw has things going good at Kinston.

Really good.

All five starters return from a year ago.

That’s not so good news for opposing teams on the hardwood this season.

“A very experienced team, just need to work on the little things,” Bradshaw said. “The big things they know because they have been in this system since this is their fourth year. A lot of them already know exactly what we do and what expect to happen.”

Fans, as usual, can expect Kinston to pressure the ball.

The Vikings (3-0 overall) love to speed up the game with their hawking man-to-man defense. The in-your-face scheme causes headaches that not even an experienced apothecarist can cure.

In its most recent outing, Kinston forced Eastern Wayne into 40 turnovers. First-half runs of 12-0 and 13-0 fueled by numerous pick-pocket plays all but put the outcome to rest.

Bradshaw’s team led 43-9 at halftime.

The double-digit advantage allowed Kinston’s coaching staff to work with a couple of different combinations on the floor. They experimented with a small unit and then went big, led by 6-foot-3 junior forward/center Kenya Forbes.

“It’s a pleasure as a coach to be able to coach these girls because now they know your system, they know what you expect during the course of practice every day and then come into the game and do exactly what they need to do,” Bradshaw said. “Some days you can come in a little lazy here or there, but that’s when we’ve got leaders in here who can step up and hold each other accountable.”

Part of that accountability hangs from the rafters at KHS.

The Vikings have won the last two Eastern Carolina 2-A regular-season titles and eight of nine conference crowns since 2011. During that stretch, Kinston is a mind-boggling 97-3 against league competition.

Bradshaw’s last two squads have fallen in the eastern regional championship to Farmville Central (2019) and North Pitt (2018). Kinston finished state runner-up in 2015 and won it all in 2013.

“I think our girls came into the offseason and the preseason wanting to compete each other to get each other better...get that edge,” Bradshaw said. “They know how to play the game. Now it’s a matter of the competitive spirit, the fire, the eye of the tiger that’s coming out of them to where they put teams down and keep them down.”

Kinston plays host to West Carteret on Wednesday.