Kenji Ito is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Phoenix Christian for AZPreps365.com. 

After the Phoenix Christian Cougars won the first two games of the Sunnyslope Hoopsgiving Tournament, they lost to the event's host Sunnyslope Vikings, 56-51.

Before coming into this game, Phoenix Christian had a close win against Desert Edge, 58-56, and dominated Cortez, 67-47. Sunnyslope had commanding victories over both opponents in Queen Creek and Thunderbird. The Vikings defeated the Bulldogs, 55-31, and the Titans, 58-32. 

It was an intense game between the two teams, as the Cougars led at halftime by one point. The Vikings changed the game plan and pulled away in the second half.

Junior guard Tommy Randolph and junior forward Bryce Anderson were the impact players of the game for Phoenix Christian. Randolph had 21 points, two rebounds, two assists, and three assists. Meanwhile, Anderson had eight rebounds, 11 rebounds, and two blocks. The connection between the two juniors has not only made the team better but themselves as well.

“On and off the court, we try to be the best people, so we hold each other to the best standards,” Randolph said. “We talk to each other about everything, and we just try to be there for each other, and that correlates to the court.”

Anderson, one of their best players in the frontcourt and on defense, mentioned what it takes to make clutch defensive stops.

“I just lock in and perform that well, and thanks to my teammates and coach for hyping me up before the game and getting me ready,” Anderson said.

Phoenix Christian had three blocks and 11 steals as a team. Head coach Ben Stryczek emphasized defense before coming into this matchup.

“That’s the staple of our program. We can’t choose our team’s identity, but if I were able to, I would like us to be a hardnose, gritty, blue-collared defensive team,” Stryczek said.

As Phoenix Christian drove to the basket and hit their mid-range shots, Sunnyslope was very effective in making threes. The Cougars did not have as much success from the three-point range, but Stryczek thought they had to improve in other areas.

“The pressure situations are hard to simulate in practice with the noisy, packed gyms like this,” Stryczek said. “I could do all sorts of drills to try and simulate the end-of-the-game situations, but there is nothing like experience being in big games like this.”  

Phoenix Christian entered the fourth quarter down 36-34 and had a shaky start. Sunnyslope had an 8-2 run at the beginning of the fourth quarter. After Phoenix Christian called a timeout to regroup, they cut the deficit by hitting a three and went on a 5-0 run later in the fourth. Stryczek mentioned what he said to his players to encourage them during the timeouts.

“I just told them to lock in, stay in it, keep breathing through their nose and out through their mouth, put your chest out, and keep on believing,” Stryczek said. “I believe in these guys more than anything and know that we can compete with anybody.”

The Cougars' next game is against Leading Edge Academy Spartans in Gilbert on December 2nd at 7:30 p.m.