Game Recap: Universal Academy

By: Steven Pham

Photos by: Kobi Russom

Wichita, KS. - Defense. Defense. Defense. Last night, Sunrise Christian Academy dominated defensively against Universal Academy and won 85-38. Luke Barnwell’s starting lineup had one change for this game as Dillon Hunter slid into the lineup along with Scotty Middleton, Gradey Dick, Mark Mitchell, and Cam Corhen.

The game started sluggishly for both teams on offense. Sunrise had three steals within the first minute of the game. After a couple of defensive stops, Dick nailed a three-point shot to give Sunrise their first points of the game and then followed with another three next possession. Corhen later cashed in another three and towards the end of the first quarter, Dick cashed in his third three-point shot.

Mitchell closed out the quarter with an emphatic block on a three-point attempt from Universal. Sunrise led 16-6 at the end of the first quarter with 12 of their 16 points from three.

Dick continued his hot shooting from downtown with two more threes to start the second quarter. Universal started dominating the offensive rebounds and that created extra possessions that led to easy points. Sunrise struggled at the free-throw line in the second quarter and Universal took advantage of missed points. Universal went on a run of their own led by Kai Jordan who had 11 points in the quarter.

Sunrise continued to force numerous turnovers that led to easy transition points and vehement alley-oops and dunks. Sunrise went into the locker room with a 34-22 halftime lead.

Corhen provided a spark to start the third quarter, with an offensive rebound, putback, and a three-point shot. He had 10 of his 18 points in this quarter. Turnovers and technical fouls from Universal kept adding up and Sunrise took advantage and started to pull away in the third quarter. Sunrise went on a 23-7 run in that quarter and led 57-29 at the end of three quarters.

Impeccable ball movement from Sunrise to start the fourth quarter that led to open looks and makes. Throughout the quarter, Universal had a couple more technical fouls and Universal’s head coach Terrelle Woody got ejected from the game. The game started to get out of hand and Sunrise would put the finishing touches on Universal with a 28-9 run in the fourth quarter.

Dick was the leading scorer for the second game in a row with 26 points (6-10 from three) and turned defense into offense. “Getting the energy off the defensive side really just helped me propel into my open shots and just having the energy to do what I had to do on offense,” Dick said. “Bothering them on defense and getting into our offense really helped us.”

The next leading scorer was Corhen with an efficient 18 points, shooting 80% from the field and 8-8 from the free-throw line. Mitchell was all over the floor on offense and defense with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block.

Overall, Sunrise shot 53% from the field, 66% inside, and 44% from three. They had a season-high 10 offensive rebounds and 15 steals that helped create extra possessions on offense.

Our next game will be at home against Colorado Prep on Thursday, November 18th at 7 p.m. Skip the line and purchase tickets before the Colorado game or any future home games here! If you missed this game or cannot attend a future home game, be sure to tune in on our livestream coverage on our YouTube.