After flying high against the Sequoia Pathway Academy Pumas last Friday, the Tempe Prep Knights came back down to earth. Tempe Prep fell 54-45 to Chandler Prep on Tuesday. Tempe Prep has not had much luck with Chandler Prep recently, as the team's come up short the last two times they've met.
When it comes to explaining why Tempe Prep lost, one person who can't be blamed is Austin Sampson. Despite the final result, he scored 19 points along with seven assists and five rebounds. That was a full 42.2% of Tempe Prep's points, marking the third time in a row he's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Chris Milner, who scored 11 points along with seven rebounds.
It was another big night for Noah Ruiz, who scored 20 points along with six assists and six steals for Chandler Prep. Ruiz has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last 11 times he's played. Grant Hopper was another key contributor, scoring nine points along with five rebounds and two blocks.
Tempe Prep's defeat was their sixth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 5-13. As for Chandler Prep, the victory (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 11-6.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Tempe Prep will square off against North Phoenix Preparatory Academy at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. As for Chandler Prep, they will head out on the road to challenge Horizon Honors at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Horizon Honors focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 18 last Friday.
