Winning is just a little bit easier when you work as a team to rack up ten more assists than your opponent, a fact the Apex Friendship Patriots proved on Wednesday. They walked away with a 43-33 win over Sanderson. Given Apex Friendship's advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 156th, while Sanderson is ranked 478th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Among those leading the charge was Ailani Collazo, who scored 14 points along with five assists and five rebounds. Those five assists set a new season-high mark for her. The team also got some help courtesy of Amelia Walls, who scored eight points along with nine rebounds.
Despite the loss, Sanderson saw an underclassman step up: Amyah Lynn scored 17 points. Lynn scored a full 51.5% of Sanderson's points, the sixth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Hannah Sayre was another key contributor, scoring six points along with six rebounds.
Apex Friendship's victory bumped their record up to 5-3. As for Sanderson, they have not been sharp recently, as they've lost four of their last five matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-7 record this season.
Apex Friendship won't have much time to rest: their next match is against Southern Durham at 6:00 p.m. on December 21st. Southern Durham will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak. Sanderson won't have much time to rest: their next game is against East Chapel Hill at 3:00 p.m. on December 21st. East Chapel Hill is hoping to put an end to a three-game streak of away losses.
