“There’s no ‘I’ in team,” Patriot guard Donte Henderson said afterward, “so we all try to stick together and play real hard-nosed defense, and try to pick each other up on offense.”
Keith Core and Tramaine Pride with 10 points each came off the bench to provide the Patriots, now 5-0, with some of their strongest inside play of the season. The Vikings dropped to 3-2 with both losses coming on the Patriots’ home court.
On a three-game winning streak, the Vikings made baskets hard to come for the Patriots at the start and created good scoring opportunities of their own. But some missed layups, a technical foul against the Viking bench and early foul trouble for Jeremy Davis contributed to an 11-4 deficit at the end of a quarter.
“Anytime you get into a game like this,” Viking coach Bobby Purvis said, “it’s always important to have some confidence builders happen in the first few minutes. It seemed like everything but that happened to us.”
As he has in all three of the Patriot wins this week, Core lit the fuse for an early run. On the first Patriot possession of the second quarter, he took a pass from Henderson along the baseline and soared in for a dunk. A few minutes later, he connected on a baseline jumper, again from Henderson, making it 18-4.
“He’s a sparkplug,” Patriot coach Mike Apple said of Core. “He’s one of those guys you get in there for an emotional lift and he always seems to provide it. He plays hard and he’s a fun guy to be around.”
The Patriots led 32-15 at halftime. Both teams were cold from the field in the third quarter, but the Patriots broke out with 26 points in the fourth period, including treys by Sean Stout and Perry Brown.
The Vikings got little offensive production from their starters. Sam Wilborn scored a team-high nine points.
“The Pinecrest defense in the half court had us in a rush all the time,” Purvis said. “They make it very hard to get into a comfort zone. Their defense is better than our offense right now. But this basketball team is improved and I’m very confident we’ll get back to it in practice and we’ll be fine.”
The Patriots took 77 shots in the game to only 43 for the Vikings. Pride led the Patriots in rebounds with eight while Henderson was the leader in assists (five) and steals (four). Wilborn grabbed eight boards for the Vikings.
The Vikings travel to Northwood on Tuesday before playing their Cape Fear Valley Conference opener at Overhills on Friday. The Patriots entertain Red Springs on Wednesday. They are on the road for their Mid-Southeastern Conference opener against Scotland County on Friday.
Union Pines 4 11 10 14 — 39
Pinecrest 11 21 12 26 — 70
Union Pines — Wilborn 3 3-4 9, Collins 2 0-0 4, Korver 1 4-6 6, Davis 2 2-3 6, McLean 1 0-0 3, Morales 1 0-0 2, Hatfield 1 0-0 2, Victor 1 0-0 2, Buchan 0 0-0 0, Thomas 1 0-0 2, Verbal 1 0-0 3, Thompson 0 0-0 0. Totals — 14 9-13 39.
Pinecrest — Henderson 4 0-0 8, McDonald 3 0-0 6, McLean 1 5-6 7, Hargrove 2 0-0 4, Eddy 3 0-0 6, Galbreith 1 0-0 3, Galberth 0 2-2 2, Core 5 0-0 10, Pride 5 0-0 10, Stout 1 0-0 3, McDougald 1 0-0 2, Wooten 1 0-0 2, Thomas 2 0-0 4, Brown 1 0-0 3. Totals — 30 7-8 70.
Three-point goals: Union Pines 2 (McLean, Verbal); Pinecrest 3 (Galbreith, Stout, Brown).
