Vikings, Bushmen split home-and-home series

Posted 1/22/25

The Pine Bush boys basketball team avenged a close loss earlier in the week, defeating Valley Central 50-46 at home on Friday to split the home-and-home series between the Section IX rivals.

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Vikings, Bushmen split home-and-home series

Posted

The Pine Bush boys basketball team avenged a close loss earlier in the week, defeating Valley Central 50-46 at home on Friday to split the home-and-home series between the Section IX rivals.

Valley Central (8-3) claimed the first meeting on Tuesday with a 52-47 victory in Montgomery, led by 16 points from Noah Ruiz, 13 points from Nassir Trotter, and 10 points from AJ Brown. The Vikings built a commanding 34-21 halftime lead in that game, but Pine Bush (5-5) stormed back to cut the deficit to 42-40 after three quarters before falling short. Matthew Guzman and Alex Russo each scored 12 points for the Bushmen, while Kumari Pratt added 10.

The rematch at Pine Bush on Friday told a different story. The Bushmen leaned on balanced scoring and strong defense to hold off the Vikings, snapping a four-game home losing streak that dated back to last season. The loss marked Valley Central’s third defeat in its last four games, a tough stretch that has dampened its strong start to the season.

Both teams now face formidable opponents in their upcoming matchups. Valley Central will travel to Washingtonville on Friday to take on the Wizards, who are riding a six-game winning streak. Meanwhile, Pine Bush will host Red Hook on Wednesday, hoping to cool off a Red Raiders team that has won four straight.