Basketball Recap: St. John Paul II Catholic Takes a Loss

After soaring to 56 points the game before, St. John Paul II Catholic was a bit more limited in their contest on Tuesday. They had to suffer through a 61-30 loss at the hands of the Tempe Prep Knights. While losing is never fun, the Lions can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Arizona basketball rankings (they are ranked 271st, while the Knights are ranked 69th).

It was another big night for Austin Sampson, who almost dropped a double-double on 27 points and nine steals for Tempe Prep. Sampson has been hot for a while, having posted four or more steals the last 19 times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Cyalan Cotton, who posted nine points and eight boards.

St. John Paul II Catholic has been struggling recently as they've lost six of their last seven matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-8 record this season. As for Tempe Prep, the win keeps them at an undefeated 7-0.

St. John Paul II Catholic wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next game, a 65-35 defeat against Santa Rita on the 13th. As for Tempe Prep, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 56-46 loss against Gilbert Classical Academy on the 12th.