Union Pines comes up short despite Zion Kiser's dominant performance

By Team Reports Jan 22, 2024, 6:33am

Recap: Union Pines Vikings vs. Southern Lee Cavaliers

The Union Pines Vikings's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their fourth straight loss. They suffered a tough 72-47 defeat at the hands of Southern Lee. While losing is never fun, Union Pines can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 364th, while Southern Lee is ranked 90th).

Despite the loss, Union Pines still got an impressive performance from Zion Kiser, who scored 13 points along with two steals. Another player making a difference was Aiden Leonard, who scored eight points along with five rebounds.

Union Pines has been struggling recently, as they've lost six of their last seven games, which put a noticeable dent in their 9-7 record this season. As for Southern Lee, the victory (which was their eighth in a row) raised their record to 15-1.

Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Union Pines will play host again and welcome Pinecrest, where tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Pinecrest has insisted on making their lastfour contests complete nail-biters, turning in a record of 1-3 during that stretch of close contests. As for Southern Lee, they will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against Lee County at 7:30 p.m. Hopefully Lee County focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up ten on Friday.