Basketball Game Preview: Union Pines Vikings vs. Richmond Raiders

The Union Pines Vikings are taking a road trip to challenge the Richmond Raiders at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Union Pines comes in on six and Richmond on ten.

Last Tuesday, Union Pines didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against Pinecrest, but they still walked away with a 46-40 victory. Given the Vikings' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 50th, while the Patriots are ranked 161st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, Richmond strolled past Scotland with points to spare on Tuesday, taking the game 52-33.

Union Pines better keep an eye on Jamyia 'Juicy' Lindsey. She was instrumental in Richmond's win, going 13-for-24 en route to 38 points along with five rebounds and three steals. That makes it four consecutive games in which Lindsey has scored at least a third of Richmond's points. Jasiah 'Jo Jo' Gilchrist was another key player, putting up 11 points.

Richmond pushed their record up to 19-5 with the win, which was their fifth straight at home. Those victories came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.4 points over those games. As for Union Pines, their record now sits at 24-1.

Things could have been worse for Union Pines, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 59-43 loss to Richmond in their previous meeting on February 4th. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Lindsey, who went 6-for-9 from beyond the arc on her way to 39 points in addition to eight boards and three steals. Now that Union Pines knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.