The Kinston Vikings led by Dontrez Styles came out with the win Friday night over the Ayden Grifton Chargers to lock their place in the state tournament.

The Vikings started the year off 3-3 after star UNC commit Styles had a serious neck injury in the first game of the year. He missed the first 6 games of the season which contributed to Kinston’s struggles.

Ayden Grifton and Kinston were both fighting last night for second place spot in the Eastern Carolina 2A conference and ultimately punch their ticket to the playoffs. The game started off as the Dontrez Styles Show as he had 14 points in the 1Q.

The pace of the game was controlled by Kinston the whole game as the Vikings had the lead for almost the whole game. Styles had his third straight 30 point game along with great performances from Jeremy Dixon, Horace Williams, all a few other players. That game puts the Vikings at 9-3 and Ayden Grifton at 5-4 to finish the season.

Sunday the NCHSAA playoff brackets are set to see where Kinston and other teams are seeded.

Final Stats

Kinston

Dontrez Styles - 32 points & 11 rebounds

Jeremy Dixon - 10 points, 8assists, & 5 rebounds

Ayden Grifton

Christian Shearouse - 14points 2rebounds

Quinton Mitchell - 12points 5rebounds