3 takeaways from Valley Christian's boys basketball win over rival Scottsdale Christian

Chandler Valley Christian and Scottsdale Christian have both been hit by the injury bug to key players in the first half of the season.

With both teams getting back closer to full strength Friday night, Valley Christian was the stronger, longer and more physical team building a 21-point lead and cruising to a 69-56 win Friday night at Mesa Community College.

This was the second game of the Christian Challenge presented by Monarch Sports. It was also the AIA boys basketball game of the week. Gilbert Christian, which plays Valley Christian on Saturday night, defeated Phoenix Northwest Chrsitian 67-36 in the first game.

The road to the 3A title will again run through defending champion Valley Christian (19-1), which is simply refueling since last year's title win over Coolidge with another Shaw front and center. This is SCA's first year in 3A after winning the 2A title last year. But are the Eagles (10-5) rebuilding or reloading behind two talented freshmen?

Here are three takeaways from Friday's showdown:

Another Shaw making impact

Junior guard Luke Shaw says he doesn't feel like he has to pick up where his brother Caleb left off in leading the Trojans. Caleb, bigger than the 6-2 Luke, a junior, made The Republic's All-Arizona team last year and is averaing 20 minutes this season at Northern Colorado.

Luke is a different player than Caleb, relying more on a deft 3-point shooting stroke. A knee issue caused him to miss five games, including the team's only loss against a California school. He recently returned and looked like he's dealing with the recently diagnosed Osgood-Schlatter's disease well. He had 31 points Friday to lead Valley Christian, including converting a four-point play after being fouled on one of his four made 3-pointers. Osgood-Schlatter's disease causes pain and swelling around the knee joint.

"It's actually good news, because my growth plates are still wide open," Shaw said.

Coach Greg Haagsma said, "We can rest him after this weekend."

Valley Christian takes on Gilbert Christian (7-6) on Saturday.

"This is a tough weekend," Haagsma added. "We're trying to get him through it and then we're going to rest him."

SCA's impactful freshmen

Scottsdale Christian relies on two phenomenal freshmen — 6-6 Elijah Williams (the son of Suns coach Monty Williams) and 6-4 Jacob Webber, a scoring machine.

Williams has missed much of the season, including lopsided losses to Santa Fe Christian (Solana Beach, California) and Fountain Hills, due to a back issue. Webber was The Republic's Player of the Week two weeks ago when he had two games in a row in which he broke single-game scoring records.

But against Valley Christian, Webber was held to five points. Williams, who returned this week from the injury, had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Williams already has a strong physique. Webber will keep filling out and get stronger. By the time they're seniors, they could be two of the best in the state and in the nation.

Other than point guard Michael Fan and 6-7 wing Hunter Whales, they didn't get much help Friday against a Valley Christian team that dominated the glass and was draining 3s. Whales had 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Eagles.

"They kind of took us out of our flow," said SCA coach John Anderson, whose team fell to 9-5. "We were missing a lot of shots today.

"They're an unbelievable matchup nightmare. They can score on every possession."

Haagma's impression of the SCA freshmen? One thing, he noticed, is that they have really long arms.

"I thought we had to shut Webber down," Haagsma said. "I thought we did a really good job on that tonight. We can do better offensively than we were tonight. It's two really good ballteams who know how to coach. John is one of best coaches around. We're a little older. Their two freshmen are a problem and they're only going to get a lot better."

Trojans will only get stronger

Forward Grant Woods, a 6-5 junior who transferred from Gilbert Christian, played his first game for Valley Christian after having to sit out the first half of the season due to the AIA transfer rule. He's going to help. It's hard to judge from the first game. But his athleticism was apparent when he came into the game. He's another long defender who is going to give scorers fits. Give these guys time to get used to Woods and the role he'll play.

"Our stuff wasn't as smooth as normal, because we had five guys playing together that hadn't played together," Haagsma said. "Woods hadn't played until tonight. But he's really going to help us."

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 3 takeaways from Valley Christian's boys basketball win over rival SCA