Basketball Game Preview: Apex Friendship Patriots vs. Panther Creek Catamounts

Apex Friendship has won eight straight games at home, while Panther Creek has won eight straight on the road, but those streaks won't matter much on Friday. The Apex Friendship Patriots will welcome the Panther Creek Catamounts at 6:00 p.m. Apex Friendship knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past six contests -- so hopefully Panther Creek likes a good challenge.

Apex Friendship is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering Green Level just ended the team's six-game winning streak on Wednesday. They fell 65-58 to the Gators.

Apex Friendship might have lost, but man, Jasmine Nivar was a machine: she went 10 for 19 on her way to 34 points and eight boards. The game was Nivar's 21st in a row with at least ten points. Another player making a difference was Jordan Rooney, who posted six points.

Meanwhile, Panther Creek earned a 69-59 win over Middle Creek on Wednesday. Given the Catamounts' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 136th, while the Mustangs are ranked 367th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Panther Creek has also been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine contests, which provided a massive bump to their 12-7 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 55.7 points per game. As for Apex Friendship, their defeat dropped their record down to 17-4.

Apex Friendship and Panther Creek were neck-and-neck in their previous meeting back in January, but Apex Friendship came up empty-handed after a 54-53 loss. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Panther Creek's Malone Hicks, who dropped a double-double on 28 points and 12 rebounds. Now that Apex Friendship knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.