The Apex Friendship Patriots will head out on the road to face off against the Willow Spring Storm at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Both teams come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Tuesday, Apex Friendship beat Northwood 58-51. The win made it back-to-back wins for Apex Friendship.
Jasmine Nivar went supernova for Apex Friendship, dropping a double-double on 33 points and 13 rebounds. That makes it two consecutive games in which Nivar has scored at least 25% of Apex Friendship's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Avery Kiger, who scored 10 points along with 5 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Willow Spring put another one in the bag on Saturday to keep their perfect season alive. They took their game on the road with ease, bagging a 70-37 victory over Knightdale. Given Willow Spring's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 26th, while Knightdale is ranked 215th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Willow Spring's win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Kayleen Grullon, who dropped a double-double on 20 points and 10 rebounds. That makes it two consecutive games in which Grullon has scored at least 25% of Willow Spring's points. Zariah Burnette was another key contributor, scoring 12 points along with 6 assists and 6 steals.
The wins kept both teams' perfect 2-0 season records intact.
Things could have been worse for Apex Friendship, but things could have been a whole lot better as they took a 41-26 loss to Willow Spring in their previous matchup back in November of 2022. Can Apex Friendship avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
