Basketball Game Preview: Apex Cougars vs. Green Level Gators

The Apex Cougars are taking a road trip to face off against the Green Level Gators at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Apex has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the game with four straight losses, while Green Level will come in with six straight wins.

Apex lost 81-56 to Leesville Road on Friday. While losing is never fun, the Cougars can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 268th, while the Pride are ranked 22nd).

Despite the defeat, Apex had strong showings from Michael Jahnke, who went 5 of 9 on his way to 10 points, and Justin Boyle, who posted nine points. Those ten points gave Jahnke a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Jordan Berman, who had four points.

Meanwhile, Green Level beat Fuquay - Varina 68-57 on Monday.

Green Level's victory was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 6-0. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 66.3 points per game. As for Apex, their loss dropped their record down to 1-4.

Apex took a serious blow against Green Level when the teams last played back in February, falling 78-49. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Green Level's Israel Eatman, who made all 8 shots he took racking up 24 points in addition to five boards and four steals. Now that Apex knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.