TARBORO — Tarboro learned a valuable lesson this past Friday night, that you cannot get behind a good team and have to play catch up the remainder of the night. The Panthers of North Pitt High School taught this well to the Vikings of Tarboro High School, as they defeated them by the score of 73-47.

The Vikings got off to a horrendous start, falling behind North Pitt early. After Tommy Purvis scored at the 6:28 mark of the first quarter to make the score 4-2 in favor of the Panthers, the Vikings went over four minutes without putting any points on the scoreboard. Meanwhile, North Pitt was hitting on all cylinders, building a 15-2 lead before Tyquan Lewis made one of two free throws at the 2:18 mark to make it 15-3. A basket by Kelvin Jones of Tarboro with 12.1 seconds remaining in the period did manage to make the score 17-5 at the end of the first quarter.

With Purvis scoring six points and Najee Smith adding five points, the Vikings were pretty much able to hang with the Panthers in the second quarter. Lewis also had two blocked shots to aid Tarboro's cause. However, North Pitt was able to maintain a comfortable double digit lead throughout the quarter, achieving their largest lead of fifteen points, 34-19, at the end of quarter when Shaq Barnes made one of two free throw attempts.

Purvis began the third quarter by hitting a three-pointer and putting in a basket following an offensive rebound, quickly cutting the North Pitt lead to 34-24. When Smith hit a three-pointer with 3:12 remaining in the quarter, the Vikings closed the score to 38-31. This was as close as Tarboro would get for the rest of the game, as North Pitt scored the next six points, eventually taking a 48-36 lead at the end of the quarter.

The last quarter of action proved devastating for the Vikings, as they were outscored 25-11 in the period. Chris Epps contributed six points for Tarboro in the frame, including a powerful dunk at the 4:51 mark, cutting the lead to 55-41. Epps added a three-pointer with 3:14 remaining to make the score 61-47, but that was the last points of the evening for Tarboro. North Pitt added twelve more points while holding the Vikings scoreless, ending the game with the final score of 73-47.

Tommy Purvis was the only Viking scoring in double figures, having a terrific game with 19 points. He also grabbed 8 rebounds to lead in that category. Najee Smith chipped in with 8 points, while Tyquan Lewis had 4 blocks on the evening. One of the Vikings leading scorers, Bryson Bryant, was off of his normal offensive game, managing only one point for the night, while having 4 assists.

 Tarboro was only 50 per cent from the free throw stripe, making 10 of 20 attempts. Tarboro was forced into 18 turnovers, while they managed to force North Pitt into 16 turnovers for the evening.

With the loss Tarboro remains winless in Eastern Plains 2A conference play, with a record of 0-7. Coach Craig Savage and his Vikings take a break from conference action as they travel to Rocky Mount to take on Rocky Mount Prep for an encounter on Wednesday. They return to conference play this Friday night as they travel to Snow Hill to take on the Greene Central Rams, who defeated the Vikings earlier this year in overtime by the score of 87-84.

 

Lady Panthers 57  

Lady Vikings 47



 The North Pitt Lady Panthers one-two punch of Shavon Shaw and Jasmine Barnes proved to be too much for the Tarboro Lady Vikings last Friday night, as they defeated the Lady Vikings by the score of 57-47. Shaw scored 20 points, along with 16 rebounds, while Barnes added 15 points for the Lady Panthers, who remain undefeated in Eastern Plains 2A conference play.

Tarboro came out determined to show that they could play with the best in the conference, and they accomplished just that. After falling behind 7-0 before scoring their first points of the game, the Lady Vikings came storming back to take the lead 8-7 at the 4:05 mark of the first quarter when A'Jah Williams completed a three-point play. At the close of the quarter, with only 0.7 seconds remaining, the Tarboro defense allowed Shaw to score a uncontested basket to give the Lady Panthers a 19-15 first quarter lead.

North Pitt scored the first six points of the second quarter to go up 25-15 before Kelisia Jones of the Lady Vikings made two free throws at the 5:22 mark. When KeAsia Brown of Tarboro grabbed an offensive rebound and followed it up with a basket, the Lady Vikings had cut the Lady Panthers lead to 31-28. Dannell Taylor of North Pitt hit a jumper with only 6.2 seconds remaining in the quarter to make the half-time lead 33-28.

The Lady Vikings Imani Dye scored the first hoop of the third quarter, and when Nyasha Savage canned two free throws at the 6:33 mark of the quarter, the Lady Vikings had trimmed the North Pitt lead to 33-32. But then Shaw became the show for North Pitt, scoring six of their next eight points to stretch the lead back to 41-34. The Lady Vikings, after a basket from Quadasha Ruffin, cut the lead to 41-36. The Lady Panthers increased the lead to eleven, 47-36, before Tarboro's Jones scored with 11.3 seconds to make the score at the end of the quarter 47-38.

The Lady Panthers allowed the Lady Vikings to get back into the game, as they could not muster a point until the 3:25 mark of the fourth quarter. By that time the Lady Vikings had closed the lead to 47-43 by scoring the first five points of the frame, the last two coming on a Jones hoop. From that point on it basically became a free throw shooting contest, as Tarboro's last four points were earned via the charity stripe, while North Pitt scored eight of their last ten points on free throws by Barnes, making the final score 57-47.

Jones was the leading scorer for the Lady Vikings, having a big night with 16 points, which included 8 out 10 from the free throw line. She also added 8 rebounds for the evening. Savage was the only other Lady Viking in double figures as she scored 11 points. Kharlil Perry did not have her normal scoring night but had a stellar floor game, which included 6 assists.

Tarboro had 17 turnovers for the game, which was below their season per game average. They also did an above average job from the free throw line, making 19 of 28 attempts.

Head coach Jamie Willoughby and her Lady Vikings will take a break from conference action next Wednesday, as they travel to play Rocky Mount Prep as they try to avenge an earlier loss.