The Union Academy Cardinals suffered their closest loss yet this season on Friday. They fell just short of South Stanly by a score of 61-58. While losing is never fun, Union Academy can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 537th, while South Stanly is ranked 230th).
Despite the loss, Union Academy still got an impressive performance from Aidan Scruitsky, who scored 24 points along with five rebounds and two steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Ethan Rangolan, who dropped a double-double on 11 points and ten rebounds.
Even though they lost, Union Academy were working as a unit and finished the game with ten assists. This was only their tenth loss (out of 13 games) when they've passed the ball that well.
South Stanly's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Gavyn Miller, who scored 15 points along with seven rebounds and six assists. Miller hasn't dropped below 15points for three straight games. Drew Gaddy was another key contributor, scoring 17 points along with six rebounds and three steals.
Union Academy has been struggling recently, as they've lost five of their last six matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 3-13 record this season. As for South Stanly, the win (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 14-2.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Union Academy the luxury of staying home another game and will welcome Mount Pleasant at 7:30 p.m. on January 23rd. Mount Pleasant has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 396 points over their last six matchups. As for South Stanly, they will look to defend their home court on Tuesday against Gray Stone Day at 7:30 p.m. Gray Stone Day comes in still looking for their first win of the season.
