Jeremiah Sosa is a student at ASU's Cronkite School of Journalism assigned to cover Phoenix Christian High School by AZPreps365.com

Turnovers plagued the Phoenix Christian Cougars in their game Tuesday night, as they fell 75-54 to the No. 1-ranked 1A Maricopa team, the North Valley Christian Lions. 

The Cougars, now 3-10, started the game off defensively stout, holding the 8-1 Lions to only six points in the first quarter, but the lid was taken off of the rim in the second quarter for the Lions. 

Senior forward Rayj Ramon lit up the Cougars with three quick 3-pointers to go along with a couple of 3-pointers from senior forward Josh Walker. 

Ramon and Walker were two of the three players that the Cougars were focused on slowing down entering the game, the other being senior guard Braeden Roberts. 

“We really made a conscious effort to try to lock Braeden down. He did a pretty good job at first, but that kid can score and he got his at the end of the game,” said first-year head coach Ben Stryczek. 

Score he can, as Roberts ended the night as the Lions' second leading scorer with 14 points, 13 of them coming in the second half. 

Of course, it was the Cougars' turnovers that sparked the offensive showcase by the Lions. 

The Lions initiated a full-court press starting the second quarter which sped up the tempo of the Cougars, leading to turnovers. 

“That was one of our focal points going into this game, was minimalizing turnovers,” said Stryczek.

The Cougars were not able to follow the game plan, as they turned the ball over seven times within the first few minutes of the second quarter. 

Cougars big man Ryan Walker thought that his team could have done a better job in limiting turnovers, saying, “We just got to slow it down, we’re just rushing in with our eyes on the basket not thinking to pass the ball. We have to slow it down and run our plays.” 

Although the Lions had control of the game for most of the last three quarters, that did not stop the Cougars from playing with intensity. 

Senior guard Howard Russell got into a few staredowns with some of the Lions players throughout multiple points in the game. 

When asked about his intensive play, Russell said that he had history with a few players on the Lions team, including Roberts and Roman. Russell played in a club basketball league with Roberts and Roman a few summers ago, so Russell said that Tuesday night's game against the Lions was a “friendly rivalry” for him. 

Stryczek thought that his team did a good job of matching the Lions' intensity out of the gate, but having a few inexperienced freshmen put a damper on the team's intensity late in the game. 

Looking forward, Stryczek wants his team to play better, saying, “Our number one goal is to minimize turnovers. I feel like a broken record at this point. I keep saying it. But yeah, I think if we minimize the turnovers and win the rebound battle, I think we have a good shot at cracking a spot in the postseason.”

The Cougars' next game is Friday night against the Santa Cruz Valley Dust Devils (0-7).