Basketball Recap: Cardinal Gibbons Comes Up Short

On Monday, the Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders were beaten by the Apex Friendship Patriots 67-34. While losing is never fun, the Crusaders can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 337th, while the Patriots are ranked 56th).

Several Crusaders players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Jaclyn Deis, who posted seven points. Deis is trending in the right direction considering she's improved her point production for three straight games. Another player making a difference was Emma Hughes, who had nine points.

It was another big night for Jasmine Nivar, who went 12 of 23 en route to 32 points in addition to eight steals and seven boards for Apex Friendship. The game was Nivar's 16th in a row with at least ten points. Aulbree Arnold also deserves some recognition as she posted her first assist of the season.

Cardinal Gibbons dropped their record down to 4-10 with the loss, which was their fourth straight at home. As for Apex Friendship, they are on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests, which provided a nice bump to their 13-3 record this season.

Cardinal Gibbons will take on Broughton at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday. As for Apex Friendship, they will face off against Holly Springs at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Apex Friendship is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 56.9 points per game this season.