Friendship Christian and Thales Academy Apex are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2021, but not for long. The Friendship Christian Falcons are taking a road trip to face off against the Thales Academy Apex Titans at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.
Last Tuesday, Friendship Christian earned a 56-46 victory over St. Thomas More Academy.
Friendship Christian's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Josh Woodard, who almost dropped a triple-double on 17 points, 12 boards, and nine steals, and Hunter Peed, who posted 30 points and seven rebounds. That makes it three consecutive games in which Peed has scored at least a third of Friendship Christian's points.
Meanwhile, Thales Academy Apex had already won five in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 12.2 points) and they went ahead and made it six on Friday. They came out on top against the Chancellors by a score of 57-48. The score was all tied up 23-23 at the break, but the Titans were the better team in the second half.
Thales Academy Apex found their leader in sophomore Gradyn West, who went 9 for 16 on his way to 26 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points West has scored all season. Devin Cockerham was another key player, putting up 13 points and six rebounds.
Thales Academy Apex is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-9 record this season. Those victories came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 56.9 points per game. As for Friendship Christian, their win bumped their record up to 8-4.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Friendship Christian has been smashing the glass this season, having averaged 24.8 boards per game. However, it's not like Thales Academy Apex struggles in that department as they've been averaging 23.3 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Friendship Christian came up short against Thales Academy Apex when the teams last played last Thursday, falling 46-33. Can Friendship Christian avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
