Sunnyslope brought a glossy 9-1 record this week to the Visit Mesa Basketball Challenge, but its first game took some shine off the first 10 games. A 15-point beat-down at the hands of Davis County UT on Monday brought a touch of humilty to the Vikings.

However, as good teams should, Sunnyslope bounced back Tuesday to defeat Pinnacle, 64-51, in a tourney game at Mountain View High School.

"We felt the sting of the loss last night (Monday) to a good Davis team," Sunnyslope coach Ray Portela said. "We challenged them to come back."

Sunnyslope answered with the two-pronged attack of 5-foot-11 inch senior point guard Oakland Fort and 6-8 senior forward Elijah Saunders bringing the leadership. Fort tallied 30 points and Saunders poured in 21. Saunders added 10 rebounds to his effort giving him two double-doubles in the two games so far.

The game was controlled by Sunnyslope, which gradually pulled away from a 14-all tie midway through the first half and eventually to a 32-24 advantage at halftime. Pinnacle stayed within single digits must of the first half of the second half, but the Vikings were steady enough to keep the lead to the finish.

"We have two great players, and we have to use them both to be successful," Portela said. "At times we get away from them."

That didn't happen in this game. Fort scored 15 of his 30 in the first half and Saunders 10 of his 21. 

Pinnacle had two players score in double figures led by Bryce Ford's 15. Joey Grady added 11. Duce Robinson in his first action of the season scored eight points off the bench - all in the second half.

Pinnacle's next game in the tourney is Wednesday and opens a full schedule of eight games at 10 a.m. The Pioneers face Davis (Kaysville, (UT). Sunnyslope plays the final game of the day on Wednesday taking on Salpointe at 8:30 p.m.

Sunnyslope has its pre-game warm-up delayed as the net gets snagged prior to facing Pinnacle. (Azpreps365 photo)