The Union Pines girls’ basketball team earned a split on the hardwood this week, claiming a league win Tuesday in Cameron against Gray’s Creek before falling to Chapel Hill on the road Wednesday.

The Lady Vikings simply had no answer for the undefeated 3-A Chapel Hill Lady Tigers squad Wednesday, which improved to 7-0 with the 55-16 blowout win. The Vikes trailed 26-9 at the half and 45-12 through third quarters in the completely one-sided nonconference affair.

On Tuesday the Vikes opened the week with a 3-A Cape Fear Valley Conference contest, coming out the victor by a 53-36 margin over the Gray’s Creek Bears (2-6) at Bob Ward Gymnasium in Cameron.

Union Pines (5-6 overall) improved to 2-1 in CFVC play with the win, while Gray’s Creek fell to 0-1 in league competition.

While Union Pines’ final margin of victory Tuesday was 17, the Bears gave the Vikes an early scare in jumping out to a 10-5 lead through one quarter. By halftime the Vikes had battled back to tie the tilt at 19-all. Then Union Pines used a 17-point third-quarter performance to forge ahead slightly, leading 36-31 as the game entered the final quarter.

Vike freshman Stephanie Johnson scored nine of her game-high 12 points in the second half. The 6-foot center scored four points early in the fourth period as Union Pines extended its advantage to 42-33 with 4:31 remaining on the clock. Less than 40 seconds later Johnson fouled out, finishing with 15 boards to collect a double-double

Despite Johnson’s departure, the Vikings managed to close out the game down the stretch with a 12-1 run. The surge was fueled by the all-around play of junior shooting guard Lexie Coxe, sophomore power forward Charlotte Holder and freshman point guard MaRisa Smith.

Smith finished with 10 points, three steals and three assists, while Coxe chipped in five points on top of six steals and five assists. Holder ended the night with a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.

After the CFVC win over Gray’s Creek Smith spoke about her team’s performance and her role as the starting point guard for the Vikings.

“My job is to work hard, penetrate and create baskets for my team,” said Smith. “I noticed that we started working really hard on defense in the second half and started diving after loose balls, which I felt was a big difference in this game for us.”

Union Pines limited Gray’s Creek to five points and two field goals in the fourth quarter while scoring 17 to help secure the victory.

The Vikings are back in action Dec. 27, in the first of a three-day foray to the 2012 Chatlee Boat and Marine Christmas Shootout hosted by Lee County High School in Sanford. The annual holiday hoops invitational, featuring a winners’ bracket and losers’ bracket with first-place, third-place, fifth-place and seventh-place games all contested on the final day of the tournament, runs through Dec. 29.

Gray’s Creek 10 9 12 5 — 36

Union Pines 5 14 17 17 — 53

Gray’s Creek: J. Taylor 4 1-2 9, T. Williams 3 2-4 8, K. Williams 2 0-1 7, K. Black 2 0-2 4, D. Chavis 1 0-0 3, K. Godwin 1 0-0 2, D. Wade 1 0-1 2, A. Bullard 0 1-4 1. Totals 15 4-14 36.

Union Pines: Johnson 5 2-7 12, Smith 4 2-2 10, Holder 3 4-6 10, D. McCrimmon 2 2-2 6, Coxe 2 0-0 5, M. Harris 1 0-1 2, B. Daley 1 0-0 2, R. Breasseale 1 0-0 2, C. Evans 1 0-0 2, S. Ring 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 10-18 53.

Three-point goals: Gray’s Creek 2 (K. Williams, Chavis); Union Pines 1 (Coxe).