The Union Academy Cardinals are taking a road trip to challenge the Lake Norman Charter Knights at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday.
On Friday, Union Academy ended up a good deal behind Christ the King and lost 62-45. While losing is never fun, the Cardinals can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 351st, while the Crusaders are ranked 112th).
Meanwhile, Lake Norman Charter strolled into their game on Friday with a perfect record and they left with the same. They blew past Community School of Davidson 65-40. With the Knights ahead 43-18 at the half, the contest was all but over already.
Union Academy better keep an eye on Reece Long. She was instrumental in Lake Norman Charter's win, almost dropping a double-double with 21 points and nine boards. Long's big performance that evening made it nine games in a row in which she has scored at least 16 points. Another player making a difference was Abby Courtney, who posted nine points and five steals.
Lake Norman Charter smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 19 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in 31 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Union Academy has traveled a rocky road recently, having lost four of their last five matchups. That's put a noticeable dent in their 3-7 record this season. As for Lake Norman Charter, their win bumped their record up to 9-0.
Union Academy came up short against Lake Norman Charter in their previous meeting back in December of 2022, falling 62-50. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Long, who dropped a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Now that the Cardinals know the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
