In the last regular season game of the year, Green Level travels to Apex Friendship today, February 16th at 6pm to take on the Patriots. On Tuesday Night, Green Level clinched the SWAC championship. The Gators are looking to win on Friday and finish their season undefeated. An undefeated season and a SWAC Championship have never been done in school history or in the last 10 seasons in the SWAC. Friendship is looking to play spoiler and pick up a signature win to improve their playoff seeding.
In most sports, Green Level and Apex Friendship is just another conference game. However, in basketball it is very different. This game means a lot to Jr. Isaac Ericksen, Jr. Izzy Eatman and So. Garrett Midkiff as they will be playing against many of their AAU teammates. They play for SW15H Elite and they are coached by Scott Wood. Jr. AJ Gladieux, Sr. Jake Mattachione and Sr. Chuks Ezeonu are the Apex Friendship players who are also on the team.
I asked Ericksen how he deals with playing against his friends, he said, “It gives a competitive edge to the game and makes it more meaningful to us.“
The Gators started off slow vs. Middle Creek on Senior Night, down 22-20 at halftime. They were able to rally in the 2nd half with a big showing from Eatman. Green Level is currently ranked 8th on MaxPreps in the NC 4A division. Finishing the season with an undefeated record would guarantee the Gators at least a top 3 seed in the playoffs, meaning the NC playoffs would run through the Swamp.
Apex Friendship is 6-1 in their last 7 games and are playing good basketball as Gladieux recently came back from injury. Friendship runs an interesting offense and tends to give teams trouble with their outside shooting and off the ball movement. Green Level will need to be focused this week in practice to stop the Friendship system.
