The Piedmont Panthers will head out on the road to face off against the Union Academy Cardinals at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Piedmont will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps North Carolina Rankings (they are ranked 246th, while Union Academy is ranked 105th).
Last Tuesday, Piedmont came up short against East Mecklenburg and fell 64-52.
Despite the defeat, Piedmont got a solid performance out of Emily Polk, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and 20 rebounds. Polk has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last three times she's played. Ada Allen was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with 5 assists and 5 steals.
Union Academy has made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won three matchups by 41 points or more this season. They blew past Central Academy 74-7 on the road. The win made it back-to-back wins for Union Academy.
Union Academy's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Jaiden Thompson, who scored 20 points along with 7 steals, and Ranon Suttle, who scored 17 points along with 7 steals. The match was Suttle's third in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Marianna Shine, who scored 13 points along with 8 rebounds.
Piedmont's win bumped their season record to 2-2 while East Mecklenburg's loss dropped theirs to 2-4.
Thursday's game is shaping up to be a scrappy contest: Piedmont haven't given up the ball easily this season, having only averaged 0 turnovers per game. It's a different story for Union Academy, though, as they've been averaging 18.6 per game. Given Piedmont's sizeable advantage in that area, Union Academy will need to find a way to close that gap. Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more basketball content.
Piedmont beat Union Academy 88-81 in their previous matchup back in November of 2017. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Union Academy's Briana Pressley, who scored 26 points along with 9 rebounds. Now that she won't be playing on Thursday, will it be that much easier for Piedmont to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
