Basketball Preview: Apex Cougars vs. Leesville Road Pride
The Apex Cougars will face off against the Leesville Road Pride at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Apex has a tough task ahead: they'll enter the contest with three straight losses, while Leesville Road will come in with four straight wins.
Apex fought the good fight in their overtime matchup against Fuquay - Varina last Monday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They took an 83-76 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Bengals. Even though they lost, the Cougars' still made a splash on offense and bumped their average scoring up to 54.8 points per game (they're now ranked -1th in scoring overall).
Apex might have lost, but man, Zaelyn White was a machine: he went 8 for 10 en route to 26 points plus eight rebounds and four steals. What's more, White also posted a 80% field goal percentage, which is the highest he's posted since back in January. Stephen Beatty was another key player, dropping a double-double on ten points and 14 rebounds.
Even though they lost, Apex smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 14 offensive rebounds in three consecutive matches.
While Leesville Road didn't have the best season last year (they finished 9-14), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They came out on top against Panther Creek by a score of 63-53 on Tuesday.
Leesville Road pushed their record up to 4-0 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 67.5 points per game. As for Apex, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-3.
Apex suffered a grim 84-61 defeat to Leesville Road in their previous matchup back in November of 2019. Can Apex avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
