Preview: Apex Friendship Patriots vs. Middle Creek Mustangs
Apex Friendship is 10-0 against Middle Creek since February of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Apex Friendship Patriots will be home for the holidays to greet the Middle Creek Mustangs at 5:30 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Tuesday, Apex Friendship beat Holly Springs 50-38. Given Apex Friendship's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 84th, while Holly Springs is ranked 441st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Ailani Collazo was the offensive standout of the matchup as she scored 19 points along with six steals. That's the first time this season that she scored 15 or more points. The team also got some help courtesy of Emma Cyrus, who scored six points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Middle Creek came tearing into Tuesday's match with three straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 27.7 points) and they left with even more momentum. They strolled past Green Hope with points to spare, taking the game 57-43.
The match pitted two dominant players against one another in Joi Pergerson and Abigail Brown. Pergerson had a great game and scored 21 points along with three steals. Meanwhile, Brown was balling out in the loss, dropping a double-double on 21 points and 16 rebounds.
Apex Friendship's victory bumped their record up to 4-2. As for Middle Creek, their win bumped their record up to 5-2.
Everything came up roses for Apex Friendship against Middle Creek in their previous matchup back in February as the squad secured a 84-53 win. Will Apex Friendship repeat their success, or does Middle Creek have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
