Stephen Buxton is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Scottsdale Christian Academy for AZPreps 365.

It wasn’t perfect, but Scottsdale Christian’s boys basketball team made it look easy Wednesday night. The Eagles entered the night 10-6 and had already beaten the 9-7 Golden Eagles earlier this year and after a win tonight, possibly secured a first round bye in the playoffs.

Scottsdale Christian was led by its defense, freshman forward Elijah Williams and senior guard Adam Mosher.

The defense showed up early, holding the Golden Eagles to just 13 points in the first half. Going in to the forth quarter, Bourgade Catholic still hadn’t gotten to thirty.

Eagles head coach John Anderson praised the execution on defense and said it is something to build on.

“Our defense should win the games," Anderson said. "Our offense should make it more fun … I was happy with the effort especially on the defensive side.”

Scottsdale Christian’s offense didn’t really get going until early in the first quarter Mosher hit a corner three. After that, the Eagles never looked back. They had an early 13-2 lead and leaned on their passing to open up shots.

“We felt good for sure. Ball movement is what makes the defense shift more. It gets more guys open which, it’s easier buckets,” Mosher said in regards to the team’s passing.

Both Mosher and Williams benefited from the shifting all night. The senior hit four three pointers tonight en route to scoring 18 points.

Williams, who had 19 points, said the team felt good and wasn’t really worried about a specific team. He thought the team played well on defense and just wants to focus on competing.

“Really just go out there and like, work on the stuff that we need to for playoffs … there are good teams in the division but I think we can compete with them," Williams said.

Going forward, Anderson hopes the team can continue to see guys step up.

When teams try to take away a certain player double teaming him as Bourgade Catholic did to freshman shooting guard Jacob Webber, Anderson emphasized making teams pay for that.

“They want to take away something we’ve got," Anderson said. "We should have enough talent to make them pay for the way they’re gonna play.”

Going forward, everyone commented on the rebounding and the fact that they need to do better securing the ball for thirty two minutes.

The Eagles face off against Chino Valley at home on Feb. 9 for their final game of the regular season.