CAMP VERDE — Christian Sanabria had 12 points, six assists and four rebounds, Caleb Bahe scored 16, but Camp Verde was just 17 of 63 from the field offensively in a 66-48 loss to Scottsdale Christian on Tuesday night.

The Cowboys (4-9, 0-1 3A North Central) found themselves trailing 17-5 after the first quarter of play, but outscored Scottsdale Christian 33-24 over the next two periods to trail only 41-38 entering the final period.

“We just told them, ‘Stay patient, stay resilient, stay with the gameplan’ and they did,” Camp Verde head coach Dan Wall said. “Scottsdale has a lot of good players, but that No. 3 kid [Jacob Webber] has been [lighting up the scoreboard], so that was our goal to try and stay attached to him, make his catches tough, his shots tough. Because the kids stuck with it, we were able to creep back in.”

At one point in the third quarter, a Sanabria bucket gave Camp Verde a 26-24 lead and the Cowboys would go on to lead by as many as eight, but Scottsdale Christian used a big fourth quarter to pull away, outscoring the home club 25-10 for the win.

“A lot of credit to Scottsdale, they adjusted well in the fourth quarter. We broke down a bit defensively, and they played smart down the stretch,” Wall said.

Scottsdale Christian head coach John Anderson said his club prepped for this Camp Verde trip often during recent practices.

“Dan, who I have all kinds of respect for, I knew his gameplan was going to be solid. I knew he was going to have the ability to keep it close with his defense. We prepared enough for it to come out and execute right off the bat,” Anderson said, adding that his club got away from their gameplan a bit in the middle quarters.

Scottsdale Christian head coach John Anderson talks with his team during a timeout Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Camp Verde. The Eagles beat the Cowboys 66-48. (Brian M. Bergner Jr./AzPreps365)“To [coach Wall’s] credit, and his players’ credit, they played really solid defense and affected our shots enough,” Anderson said. “We lost that fight that we had, and our head dropped a little bit. So, the second half was more of a, ‘Let’s get back to the gameplan.’”

Michael Fan scored a career high 31 points for the Eagles (8-4, 2-1 3A North Central), grabbed six rebounds and had four assists, while Jacob Webber scored 24 points and Hunter Wales recorded 15 rebounds.

Michael Fan (24) brings the ball up the floor for Scottsdale Christian on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in Camp Verde. Fan scored a career-high 31 points in the 66-48 victory. (Brian M. Bergner Jr./AzPreps365)The Eagles have won five of six games.

“We told our guys, coach Wall is a phenomenal coach, and he will do an excellent job at keeping their team in this game with their game plan,” Anderson said. “So you have to come in mentally prepared for that.”

Other standouts for Camp Verde included Chito Herrera, who grabbed 15 rebounds, but scored just four points on 2 of 12 shooting from the field.

The Cowboys were 8 of 17 from beyond the arc, and were just 6 of 14 from the free throw line.

UP NEXT

Tuesday’s contest against Scottsdale Christian was the first of 12 games this month for the Cowboys, which head to Northwest Christian on Friday, Jan. 6.

Most of those 12 games come against 3A North Central region opponents like the Crusaders on Friday, or Fountain Hills, Bourgade Catholic, Wickenburg and Chino Valley.

“It’s a difficult region. You have some top teams in the 3A like Fountain Hills that we’ll have to contend with. And right away we turn around and get Northwest Christian on Friday,” Wall said. “We told the kids, at this point in January, it’s back to practice the next day, you put it behind you and move on to the next preparation, and we’ll do that.”

Tipoff Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m.

The Eagles are set to play Wickenburg on Friday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. has covered professional, collegiate and high school sports for more than 20 years. Follow him on Twitter @AzPreps365Brian. Have a story idea? Email Brian at bbergner@azpreps365.com.