Basketball Game Preview: Pinecrest Patriots vs. Union Pines Vikings

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Previous Games

02/16/24 - Home	78-64 W
01/23/24 - Away	61-51 W
02/13/23 - Home	69-33 W
02/10/23 - Away	63-49 W
01/17/23 - Home	68-51 W
+ 5 more games

Pinecrest has gone 10-0 against Union Pines recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Pinecrest Patriots will be playing at home against the Union Pines Vikings at 7:30 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Union Pines will be up against a hot Pinecrest squad: the team just extended their winning streak to four. Pinecrest secured a 59-55 W over Hoke County on Tuesday. 59 seems to be a good number for the Patriots as the team scooped up a victory with the same number of points in their previous game.

Southern Lee typically has all the answers at home, but on Tuesday Union Pines proved too difficult a challenge. They managed a 77-71 win over the Cavaliers. The victory was all the more spectacular given the Vikings' disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 248th, while the Cavaliers are ranked 64th).

Union Pines had a senior duo take command as Jaylen Kyle went 6 for 14 on his way to 19 points and three steals and Aiden Leonard posted 17 points and five boards. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Leonard has scored all season. Kolby Scruton was another key player, going 5 of 11 en route to 11 points.

Pinecrest has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 11-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 58.0 points per game. As for Union Pines, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 11-5.

Pinecrest strolled past Union Pines in their previous meeting back in February of 2024 by a score of 78-64. Will Pinecrest repeat their success, or does Union Pines have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.