St. Mary's basketball sees how far it needs to go in loss to Georgia power Milton

Phoenix St. Mary's got beat on transition, forced shots, made turnovers and looked out of sorts in a 73-49 loss to Milton (Georgia) on Tuesday at home.

But this is exactly what the Knights needed before heading to Las Vegas for the Tarkanian Classic. The Georgia power, which went 2-0 in the Hoophall West last weekend in Scottsdale and improved to 9-0 behind sophomore Josh Dixon's 24 points, showed them how to defend, score quickly in transtion and handle the ball late in the second quarter and in the final two quarters.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

1. Phipps trying to put team on his shoulders

St. Mary's junior point guard Styles Phipps scored 20 points, but, like the rest of his teammates, shots he usually makes weren't falling. He is putting so much into every single possession that at times he appears out of control. He's as talented as any guard in Arizona, but the Knights can't ask him to make every single play down the court.

"Probably a little too much at times," St. Mary's coach Damin Lopez said about having Phipps carry this team. "But, at the same time, those other guys have to step up. We didn't hit shots we normally hit. We missed a lot of wide-open 3s. We were missing layups inside, bunnies."

2. Caspian Jones will be special

Sophomore forward Caspian Jones had 13 points for the Knights. At times, Phipps and Jones played well off each other. This will be St. Mary's 1-2 punch down the stretch when they try to make a run in the Open Division tournament. Jones is 6-foot-7 with skills and athleticism.

"He's got great tools, great mechanics," Lopez said. "We just have to teach him to use those mechanics, what he learned in practice and translate it into the games."

3. These are learning lessons

St. Mary's rallied to beat rival Phoenix Brophy in the final quarter to win last weekend at Scottsdale Chaparral in the Hoophall West, bouncing back from a 71-61 loss to South Carolina's Gray Collegiate Academy. Right now, with everybody figuring their roles, the Knights are taking one step forward and one step backwards. They were withou four rotation players in the season-opening 83-77 loss to Scottsdale Notre Dame.

Forward Seydoiu Tamboura recently returned from an injury and still working his way into shape. He was held to four points. He will be much better in a month.

"It's a good learning experience," Lopez said. "We'll be fine. I think we let their defensive physicality get to us. We've got to learn to play through those things. There's no team that plays defense like that so it was great to experience it. We've just got to get better."

In other games Tuesday:

- Peoria senior guard Andrew Camacho poured in 40 points on 14 of 21 shooting, including 6 of 10 3-pointers, in an 82-63 4A win over El Mirage Dysart. Camacho is the school's all-time leader in made 3-pointers. He also had eight assists and four steals against Dysart.

- Marshall Kerley had 29 points on 10 of 17 shooting, making 5 of 11 3-pointers, leading Phoenix Thunderbird to a 71-52 rout of Goodyear Estrella Foothills.

- Cody Williams had 28 points, leading top-ranked Gilbert Perry to an 89-55 rout of Anthem Boulder Creek, which was a 6A final four team a year ago. Perry improved to 10-0 on the season.

- Yuma Kofa beat rival Yuma 78-67, as Joaquin Anaya had 24 points and nine rebounds and Adrian Gamez had 13 points and 10 assists.

- Scottsdale Desert Mountain edged Peoria Sunrise Mountain 70-65 to improve to 10-1.

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: Loss shows St. Mary's basketball how far it needs to go