Prince James Story is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Desert Edge High School for AZPreps365.com

In a battle between two of the top teams in the 4A division, Desert Edge defeated visiting Bradshaw Mountain, 68-48, Monday night.

Going into the game, both teams boasted 7-1 records. The Scorpions were ranked 6th in the state, and the Bears were ranked 10th.

“Go do you, do what we do,” that was the message Scorpions coach Scott Lovely had for his team.

The Scorpions forced six turnovers in the first quarter as Desert Edge built a 13-4 lead. 

“It’s all about pressure on the basketball and pressuring every outlet pass from the ball. That was the focus,” Lovely said. 

“For whatever reason, we didn’t play with confidence at all,” Bears coach Blair Hillig said. “We were too passive in attacking some things, and they kind of fed into that. It was like a shark smelling blood in the water, and they took advantage of that.” 

The Bears fought back in the second quarter, led by 6-foot-8 center Nathan Summit, who had 14 points in the first half. Summit hit his season-high on Monday with 27 points. 

The Scorpions outscored the Bears 20-16 in the second quarter to take a 33-20 halftime lead. 

The Scorpions came out of halftime on fire as they went on an 18-7 run. At 3:02 in the third quarter, Desert Edge was in full control of the game with a 51-27 lead.

Jake Clapper sparked the run in the third quarter with two 3-pointers from the left corner. He led the Scorpions with 21 points.

 “I was just feeling confident," Clapper said. "My coaches, my family, my mentors, they raised me to be confident in myself, and that’s what came through tonight.” 

Scorpions point guard Adrian Banuelos shared the hot hand with Clapper. He finished with a season-high 16 points and made four 3-pointers.

Going into the game, Carter John, a senior guard for the Bears and the team’s leading scorer, was averaging 18.6 points per game. On Monday night, the Scorpions' defense held him to five points. 

“We put Amarei Hunter on him, and we told him; do your job,” Lovely said. 

Hunter was the runner-up for defensive player of the year last year in the 4A West Valley Region. 

Hunter is a candidate for defensive player of the year this year, too, Lovely said. “The kid is a lockdown defender.”

The Scorpions didn’t make many mistakes, but free throws were an issue. The Scorpions shot 33 percent from the free-throw line (5 of 15). 

“The guys are good shooters," Lovely said. "We will go through practice, we’re hitting our free throws, and we’re doing well. We were up and down the court so much I think they were a little tired at the free-throw line, and they weren’t focusing, so we will talk about that tomorrow.”

Desert Edge (8-1) will try to extend its win streak to seven games when they play at Estrella Foothills (6-1) at 7 p.m. Tuesday. 

Bradshaw Mountain (7-2) will host Lee Williams High School (4-5) at 7 p.m. Tuesday.