Christopher had two bad quarters against Brookside Christian, falling 53-40 to take second at the Bulldog Chase Saturday.
The Cougars were held to 15 points between the second and third quarters against the Knights, who took a 13-point lead heading into the final frame.
Christopher held a one-point lead late in the first quarter when Kameron Vales hit a bucket to give the Knights their first lead of the game that they never gave up.
Christopher never got any closer than three points.
“They got out and ran,” said coach Eric Davis. “We might have had some fatigue, a little bit, from guys having so many minutes, but that’s the way it goes. We were in the championship game and there’s a reason we got there.”
Brookside kept the accelerator down heading into the second half, going on a 9-0 run for an 18-point lead and held the Cougars back the rest of the game.
Shane Suttles tried to get Christopher back in the fourth quarter when he sank a pair of 3-pointers to pull within 10 points.
But Brookside answered with an 8-0 scoring run to retake an 18-point lead.
Suttles finished with a game-leading 16 points and added six rebounds.
Evan Shapiro, returning from injury, added 10 points, including five in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Kenyon Williams led the Knights with 14 points, including eight in the fourth quarter, going 4-4 from the line.
Jashandeep Kahlon led both sides with 11 boards.
Davis said the game is an opportunity to continue to see where the team needs to improve.
“We competed for most of the tournament. We started to compete for four quarters and we improved,” Davis said. “We took seventh place in the (Bob) Hagen (Tournament) last week, so we want to build on that. We wanted to stay positive and improve.”
Christopher will next take on Gilroy 7 p.m. January 2 in the final game before the start of league play.
