The Tarboro Vikings have exploded out of their mid-season slump and won three games in a row including beating SouthWest Edgecombe 66-40 Friday night in Tarboro.
Viking Markell Pettaway, who has been on fire as of late, knocked down five 3-pointers and led the Vikings scoring with 21 points. Pettaway was coming off another sensational game against Greene Central where he knocked down seven 3-pointers. Tarboro also beat Northern Nash during their short run.
The Vikings are tied for fourth place with North Pitt in the Eastern Plain Conference. Only four teams in the conference will go to the state playoffs. With three games left in regular season, the remainder of the games will be critical for the Vikings.
“We are still not where we need to be. We've got some work to do,” said Vikings Coach Lashaun Jenkins. “We want to get in on our own merits. We have some tough games left.”
If the Vikings can continue their hot shooting from the perimeter those games may not be as tough as Jenkins suspect. In the last two games the Vikings hit a combined 17 3-pointers. Pettaway led the big bombs by scoring 12 of the 17.
Against the Cougars the senior poured salt on the SouthWest’s wound by scoring the final three field goals which were 3-pointers.
“Markell has been playing inspired,” Jenkins said. “He refuses to let up. He plays hard every night and has set the standards for our team.”
Jeremy Watson added 13 points for the Vikings and William Ruffin 12.
Leading scorer for the Cougars (3-14 overall, 1-7 conference) was Anthony Coley 18 and Ja’Marco Cotton 16. Cotton struggled the beginning of the season but has came around in the last three games when the Cougars needed him most.
SouthWest continues to struggle on and off the court. Playing with only eight players the Vikings handed the Cougars their sixth consecutive loss in a row. The Cougars’ last victory came against conference foe Greene Central.
Wooten said disciplinary actions and academic ineligibility by half of his team has shortened his bench.
The lost was the third against the Vikings this season.
Lady Cougars 49,
Lady Vikings 46
Tarboro Viking Raven White played one of her best games of the season but it wasn’t enough to break the Vikings xx game losing streak.
The Cougars defeated the Vikings 46-49 in an exciting game that went down to the wire.
Jesscia Barnes led the Cougars scoring with 18 poitns. NyNeka Euwell added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
SouthWest, who trailed the majority of the game, defense turned the game around late in the third quarter. The Cougars capitalized on five Vikings’ turnovers and outscored Tarboro 9-2 to tie the game at 40-40 behind a jump shot by Quandera Braswell with 6:32 left in the game. The Vikings committed another turnover on their ensuing possession. Cougar Kayla Hinton turned that turnover into a jump shot that gave the Cougars their first lead since the beginning of the game. SouthWest went up by five points (45-40) and it appeared that the Vikings had lost their fight.
However with one more push Kahlil Perry scored back-to-back baskets and tied the game at 45-45 with 1:12 left in the game. The Vikings offense struggled the remainder of the game.
White scored 20 points including 15 in the first half. Perhaps White’s most spectacular shot of the game when she tossed up a shot beyond half court for a first quarter buzzer beater. But the second half was a totally different story. The Cougars played a box-in-one on the Vikings’ star and virtually prevented another great half.
“We had to do something,” said Cougar Coach Sandra Langley. “She was hurting us in the first half. I thought that we kept our composure at the end. But I have to give Tarboro credit. They played us tough tonight.”
The Vikings were playing again without two of their starters and a very inexperience bench. Jasmine Woodley, who is the team’s second leading scorer and Shanta Fields are out nursing sprained ankles.
With the Vikings' short bench White gave Tarboro the much needed punch that kept the game competitive.
“She couldn’t miss in the first half,” said Vikings Coach Jamie Willoughby. “We needed that type of game from her. I thought that we played a good first half. In the second half we made some youthful mistakes. We didn’t play as well as we could have played.”
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Vikings Pettaway burns Cougars
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Hayes, Harris Co-Players of the Year
When you have two dream players on your team at the same time, a coach can usually build a strong program through those two players. That is what first year Tarboro Lady Vikings head coach Leshaun Jenkins has done with the soccer team with the help of dream players Julie Hayes and Chandler Harris.
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KARATE
The students of Cunnningham Isshinryu Karate represented Tarboro and Edgecombe County well on Saturday, April 28th at the 14th Annual ECU Open Martial Arts Tournament. The tournament was held at the ECU Student Recreation Center and is one of the area’s largest martial arts events. It is open to all martial arts styles and systems. This year, more than 75 martial artists competed for medals.
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Abrams to play at Peace
Tarboro Vikings senior softball slugger Kailyn Abrams had decided to take her talents to the next level and play college softball at NCAA Division III William Peace University in Raleigh.
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Cougars Athletes of the Year
SouthWest Edgecombe Cougars athletes from left, Damien Bryant, Kelsey Page and Alexander Derby were selected as athletes of the year for the school on Monday during the awards banquet..
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Three inducted into SouthWest Hall of Fame
PINETOPS – The SouthWest Edgecombe Cougars honored three distinguished women Monday night during the annual athletics banquet. One inductee was an athlete and the other two spent more than 20 plus years coaching for SouthWest.
All three inductees were very dedicated to the Cougars athletic program and felt very honored to be inducted into the SouthWest Hall of Fame. -
Tarboro eliminated after 4-1 loss
DEEP RUN – Coming off their final regular season game where they didn't get a hit, the Tarboro Vikings were looking to rebound going into the first round of the NCHSAA 2-A state baseball playoffs. Things didn't work out the way Tarboro and first year head coach Justin Smith had planned. They continued to struggle at the plate and ended their season on a 12 inning streak without a hit.
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Tarboro Parks and Recreation softball and baseball scores
The following are scores and results from the Tarboro Parks and Recreation softball and Cal Ripken baseball leagues from this past week.
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Young Vikings struggle; lose 4-1
Coming into the first round of the NCHSAA 2-A state playoffs the Tarboro Lady Vikings were given a No. 2 seed in the East bracket and were looking to make a run in the playoffs. The Franklinton Lady Rams had something to say about that Thursday when the two teams faced off at Indian Lake Sports Complex. The Rams defeated Tarboro 4-1, which puts an end to the Vikings remarkable season under first year head coach Leshaun Jenkins.
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Tarboro Women's Club
Amy Wood Pasquini, marketing director at Our State Magazine, spoke to the Tarboro Women's Club last Thursday about North Carolina travel, history and culture as seen through the pages of the magazine.
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Long is dedicated to tennis
Tarboro Vikings junior, Lane Long has been a dominating force on the tennis courts this season. He has risen as one of the top players in the state in high school tennis. Long finished in fourth place at the Eastern Regionals last week, which earned him a spot in the NCHSAA 2-A individual state championships this weekend in Cary at the Cary Tennis Center. He is carrying a 23-5 record into the championships.
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