Southern Wayne head coach Ricky Lofton, left, watches his team during first-half play against Smithfield-Selma Tuesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Southern Wayne’s McKenzi Strickland, with ball, eyes the basket against a Smithfield-Selma defender. Strickland scored seven points in the Saints’ 52-4 win. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
DUDLEY — Despite missing three starters, Southern Wayne continued its mid-season surge on the hardwood Tuesday evening.
Nevaeh Hines-Bass and Kyren Strong watched in street clothes as the Saints dominated Quad County 3A foe Smithfield-Selma, 52-4, inside “The Halo.” Kymora Stokes poured in a game- and career-high 18 points for Southern Wayne, which improved to 6-8 overall after an 0-7 start to the season.
Hines-Bass and Strong endured injuries against West Johnston and remain sidelined due to concussion protocol. Head coach Ricky Lofton isn’t sure when his key ball-handlers and scorers will return.
“As the season has gone on, we’ve gotten so much better,” Lofton said of his youth-ladened and inexperienced team. “Tonight, I thought they played good … did what they had to do. Right now, we just don’t have any court leaders. Everybody is not sure what they need to do.
“[But] our press [defense] has been much better.”
The harassing, in-your-face pressure bothered SSS early. The Spartans (0-12 overall, 0-4 QCC) consistently struggled to get the ball past midcourt.
Turnovers fueled the Saints, particularly Stokes. She buried two layups off miscues and swished a couple of 3-pointers in the opening quarter.
“She’s been our top scorer since Strong went out,” Lofton said. “She’s been playing really good. It’s been a lot of hard work [for the team] in practice and it’s paying off.”
McKenzi Strickland and Destiny Bullock each provided seven points. Azariah Jordan and Jaycee Hargrove supplied six points apiece.
Southern Wayne improved to 3-1 against QCC opposition this season and 30-5 all-time (including tournament play) since the league’s inception three years ago. The Saints visit Wilson Fike on Friday.
SSS managed just one point through three quarters and converted its lone field goal 19 seconds into the final period. The Spartans have lost 55 consecutive contests since leaving the Greater Neuse River 4A Conference to join the QCC.
