Defense made the difference in Brophy's 53-50 basketball victory over defending state champion Basha three weeks ago. That's a Broncos staple.

Now it's time for the offense to step up for the No. 1 ranked team in the state when the two meet again Tuesday.

The 53 points the Broncos were held to in their last matchup marked their third lowest scoring margin of the season at the time.

“Our predominant offense against a man defense relies on not only cutting but hard cutting,'' said senior forward Jaxson Baker. "If you’re not open the guy behind you is going to cut and get open. I think we all know that if we make hard cuts, we’ll not only play a better game against [Basha], but be better over the course of the season.”

Brophy's height advantage will also be a focal point of the game. The Broncos have 11 out of 14 players on their roster that stand at or above six feet tall. Basha has just five.

Baker, the tallest man on the Brophy roster at 6’8, will also have a three-inch height advantage on Basha’s lengthiest player, Jackson Santos.

Of course, the Broncos will bring their signature defense.

“I think in general for us our defense is always our key, and hopefully we can get some stops and run the floor a little bit to help build our offense,” said coach Matt Hooten. “If we can start with success on the defensive end we feel like we can win some games.”

The Broncos come into the game 17-1, with their one loss in late December against an out-of-state opponent (Federal Way High School in Washington). They have won six consecutive games and remain undefeated in league play.

Basha, which ended last season ranked No. 1 in the state, is not looking like the championship caliber team it was last year.  The Bears (10-13) didn’t get off to a hot start in league play, dropping their first three contests.

But the Bears have bounced back, emerging victorious in their last two games against Chandler and Mountain Ridge.

“We have a tremendous amount of respect for Basha and coach [Mike] Grothaus,” said Hooten. “They obviously won a state title last year for a reason, and his program is really strong all the way through.”

Added Baker:  “Basha is no team to underestimate. They are greatly coached and their players work extremely hard. That was the main reason that last game was so close,” said Baker.

Basha lost nine seniors to last year’s club, including their top five scorers.  However, the few returning players have had significant impact on the Bears season.

Hooten touched on the experience of Basha’s senior guard Bryan Baptiste, who played in every game for the Bears last season during their title run. Baptiste has come into his own this year. He leads in points per game (11.8) and is second in assists  (1.7) and steals (0.8).

The Broncos have played their share of nail-bites this season, with six of their 18 games resulting in a win by five points or less.

Brophy senior guard Ian Burke knows the importance of Tuesday's game with  the playoffs creeping up.

"I think it’s going to be really helpful for us when we make our playoff run. It won’t be new to us at all.”

Tip-off is 7 p.m. at Brophy Prep.