Basketball Game Preview: Hoke County Bucks vs. Pinecrest Patriots

Hoke County is 2-8 against Pinecrest since February of 2020 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Tuesday. The Hoke County Bucks will head out on the road to take on the Pinecrest Patriots 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.

Hoke County fought the good fight in their overtime match against Union Pines on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Vikings by a score of 73-70. The Bucks were up 50-35 in the third quarter but couldn't hold on to the lead.

Meanwhile, Pinecrest didn't have too much trouble with Scotland on Friday as they won 65-46. Given the Patriots' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 171st, while the Fighting Scots are ranked 529th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Hoke County is on a four-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 7-14. Those losses can't be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 57.8 points over those games. As for Pinecrest, their victory bumped their record up to 13-7.

Hoke County came up short against Pinecrest in their previous meeting back in January, falling 59-55. Can Hoke County avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.