Stephen Buxton is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Scottsdale Christian Academy for AZPreps 365.

The Eagles might’ve just found the right time for everything to start clicking. Scottsdale Christian Academy’s boys basketball team is coming off two dominant victories, and Eagles head coach John Anderson likes what he sees from the team .

“I think tonight was a pretty good representation of the capabilities that we have … As we get close to playoffs, we spend a little more time on film, a little more time critiquing all those little things.” Anderson said after his team's win over Rancho Solano. “You can’t just expect to have one big quarter in the playoffs and win. You’ve got to play for 32 minutes if not more."

Anderson also spoke about his team using every practice and game as an opportunity to prepare for the playoffs. He said he’s talked to the team about it for the last couple weeks.  The team has gone through a lot of adversity and Anderson thinks that it has helped them grow to start playing their best basketball in the most important time.

The team is going to need to get their best out of each other going forward. Sitting at 11-6 overall and 10-4 in conference play, the Eagles are currently the eighth ranked team in 3A. 

Two players they will lean on for this run will be freshmen Elijah Williams and Jacob Webber. Webber a 6-foot-4 shooting guard has been an offensive force this season, and has broken the school’s scoring record twice. He and Williams, a 6-foot-6 forward, have been able to embrace their spot on the team and Webber said that the team’s selfless approach has been the key.

“They don’t care who goes off," Anderson said. "Anybody can go off any night. Anybody can have 30. So it doesn’t matter as long as we pull out the win, it doesn’t matter who gets the points.”

Senior point guard Michael Fan has a chance to leave a three-time state champion, and when asked about looking to the playoffs he said the team has thought about it since the start.

“We want to make a run, especially with the new additions to our team, Jacob and Elijah," Fan said. "We feel like we can compete in 3A and make a deep run in the playoffs. But we hit adversity a little this year and we’re growing as a team so we’re gonna have to lock in and get ready for playoffs.”

From a senior’s perspective, Fan spoke highly of the contributions from his freshman teammates. He called the pair a “juggernaut on offense” and said they’re play will help push them forward.

Everyone had a common theme when talking about the playoffs. Play 32 minutes of quality basketball, move the ball around and keep the energy up.

Anderson said that their performance against Rancho Solano showed the team executing the smaller details in every quarter, the team didn’t have to “wait till the next quarter” for someone to make a play or for the defense to make a stop.

As a team they feel this progress along with the adversity they’ve faced has prepared them well for the moment.