Basketball Recap: Union Pines Comes Up Short

Union Pines and Northern Nash squared off in some playoff action on Tuesday, but Union Pines had to settle for second. They fell 78-71 to the Northern Nash Knights. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Monday (57), the Vikings still had to take the loss.

Jaylen Kyle

Points

02/07/25 @ Hoke County	29
02/25/25 @ Northern Nash	26
01/09/25 vs Hoke County	26
11/19/24 @ Purnell Swett	25
01/03/25 vs Penrith Group (Penrith, Australia)	22
+ 20 more games

Despite the loss, Union Pines still got an impressive performance from Jaylen Kyle, who went 10-for-15 en route to 26 points and eight boards. Kyle is becoming a predictor of Union Pines' success: when he posts at least 20 points the team is 6-3 (and 8-9 when he doesn't). Another player making a difference was Kingsley Donaldson, who dropped a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Northern Nash got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was CJ Rosser Jr. out in front who dropped a double-double with 17 points and 11 boards. That's the most rebounds Rosser Jr. has posted since back in December of 2024. Christian Barnes was another key player, putting up 16 points and six boards.

This is the second loss in a row for Union Pines and nudges their season record down to 14-12. As for Northern Nash, the victory was the 14th in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 20-5.

Union Pines does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Northern Nash, they will be playing at home against White Oak at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. One thing working in Northern Nash's favor is that they have posted at least 55 points in their last 14 matches.