The Phoenix Pirates earned a “ship”, taking honors in the Christmas Classic in the process.

Phoenix put together a 3-0 record to win the championship at the eight-team event at Cascade Christian High School December 21-23. The three-game sweep improved PHS to 7-3 on the season, hiking the Pirates to sixth in the state Class 4A rankings in the process.

Solid defense and team-first offense sparked the week’s effort, which included match-ups with a trio of teams ranked in the top 10 of the 3A classification. After an overtime win against 5A Ashland on December 16, the Pirates dropped a 10-point decision at Douglas before running off the trio of wins in the Classic.

The Pirates closed 2023 with a 68-36 cruise past visiting Etna on December 29. The win improved Phoenix to 8-3 heading into 2024 when it will hit the road often, including trips to Cottage Grove on January 2 and a visit to top-ranked Junction City on January 6.

Following are game summaries from the Rogue Valley Times. Subscribe to the Times here. 

PHOENIX 49, HARRISBURG 39: A third-quarter surge helped Phoenix separate from Harrisburg and secure the championship title in the Christmas Classic at Cascade Christian High on December 23.

Tobias Akpan led the Pirates (7-3) with 22 points and Robin Trenbeath added 11, with Vicente Ponce knocking down two 3-pointers during a 20-13 run in the third quarter.

HARRISBURG (39): Herrera 3, Crabb 3, Baker 0, Lidbeck 24, Baird 0, Davis 4, Bellinger 5. Totals: 15 5-10 39.

PHOENIX (49): Trenbeath 11, Ponce 6, Decker 2, Williams 0, Hernandez 0, Harper 8, Akpan 22. Totals: 18 10-12 49.

Harrisburg 14 4 13 8 — 39

Phoenix 17 5 20 7 — 49

3-point goals — Harrisburg 4 (Lidbeck 2, Herrera 1, Crabb 1), Phoenix 3 (Ponce 2, Trenbeath 1).

PHOENIX 49, PLEASANT HILL 43: Phoenix opened with a dominant first quarter and then held on to win the Christmas Classic semifinal at Cascade Christian High on December 22.

Tobias Akpan scored 19 points and Robin Trenbeath added 13 points for the Pirates (6-3), who opened a 21-7 lead through one quarter.

Phoenix will play Harrisburg at 7 p.m. Saturday in the championship game.

Gavin Inglish scored 21 points for Pleasant Hill (8-2).

PHOENIX (49): Trenbeath 13, Ponce 3, Decker 0, Williams 6, Hernandez 2, Harper 6, Akpan 19. Totals: 18 8-15 49.

PLEASANT HILL (43): Neely 3, Nguyen 6, Melvin 10, Inglish 21, Dudley 3, Ireland 0, Hazel 0, Heacock 0. Totals: 16 6-7 43.

Phoenix 21 7 11 10 — 49

Pleasant Hill 7 15 11 10 — 43

3-point goals — Phoenix 5 (Williams 2, Trenbeath 1, Ponce 1, Akpan 1), Pleasant Hill 5 (Melvin 2, Inglish 2, Dudley 1). Fouled out — Trenbeath.

PHOENIX 59, SANTIAM CHRISTIAN 41: Tobias Akpan led three Phoenix scorers in double figures with 19 points and the Pirates limited Santiam Christian to single-digit scoring in three of the four quarters to open the Christmas Classic at Cascade Christian High on December 21.

Amaru Williams knocked down three 3-pointers and finished with 16 points for Phoenix (5-3), while Dylan Harper added 12 points to push the Pirates into the championship semifinals.

Santiam Christian trailed 28-11 at halftime but was able to close the gap with a 21-11 surge in the third quarter, only to see the Pirates answer back in the fourth.

Josh Riddle scored 12 points for the Eagles (0-7).

PHOENIX (59): Trenbeath 5, Ponce 3, Decker 0, Dobbins 0, Williams 16, Hernandez 4, Garcia 0, Harper 12, Akpan 19. Totals: 20 13-18 59.

SANTIAM CHRISTIAN (41): Fosdick 7, Rahn 5, Boshart 4, Riddle 12, Fitzpatrick 0, Slegers 9, Hill 0, Ball 2, Knox 2, S. Smith 0. Totals: 16 5-7 41.

Phoenix 13 15 11 20 — 59

Santiam Christian 6 5 21 9 — 41

3-point goals — Phoenix 6 (Williams 3, Trenbeath 1, Ponce 1, Harper 1), Santiam Christian 4 (Riddle 2, Rahn 1, Slegers 1).

DOUGLAS 69, PHOENIX 59: At Winston, it was a battle of duos as a combined 42 points between Tobias Akpan and Dylan Harper were not enough for Phoenix to beat Douglas as Jace Page had a game-high 33 points and Dylan Manuel added 20 points on December 19.

Akpan finished with 22 points while Harper supported him with 20 points for the Pirates (4-3), who led 16-9 through one quarter but couldn't sustain that edge.

PHOENIX (59): Trenbeath 3, Ponce 0, Decker 3, Williams 4, Hernandez 7, Garcia 0, Harper 20, Akpan 22. Totals 23 9-15 59.

DOUGLAS (69): Dunstan 2, West 8, Manuel 20, Driscoll 0, Rincon 4, Page 33, Stiler 2. Totals: 22 19-29 69.

Phoenix 16 8 14 21 — 59

Douglas 9 16 24 20 — 69

3-point goals — Douglas 6 (Manuel 5, West 1), Phoenix 4 (Akpan 2, Decker 1, Harper 1).

Feeling like maybe they fumbled away an opportunity Tuesday in a loss at Eagle Point, Phoenix’s boys basketball team was looking to get back on the right track on December 16 against Ashland at Lithia Motors Pavilion.

The host Grizzlies, however, weren’t about to make that an easy proposition.

Ashland shook off a late fourth-quarter deficit before overtime was forced during the nonconference affair. The Grizzlies, however, couldn’t hold off the Pirates in the extra session as Phoenix dug in for a 52-49 overtime victory.

“Considering what happened on Tuesday, it was a great response,” said Phoenix head coach Troy McNichols. “We killed ourselves on Tuesday but I’m really, really proud of my kids for sticking with it today. I think that they showed a lot of composure down the stretch this game, and I think we learned from some of our mistakes.”

Robin Trenbeath scored all five of his points in overtime for Phoenix (4-2), including a 3-pointer that offered the Pirates an early five-point advantage and put Ashland (4-4) in comeback mode.

Dylan Harper also added four of his 15 points in extra time for the Pirates, who played without junior standout Tobias Akpan down the stretch.

“Tobias had fouled out so we kind of rolled the dice in overtime and went with all of our kids who have played for us for the last couple of years,” McNichols said of the lineup. “We’ve been in that position before where it’s been close games, and they played great defense and they protected the ball real well and we were able to execute and got a couple layups out of it.”

Ashland had the ball and a chance to possibly force a second overtime, but Phoenix defended the final stretch well and didn’t give the Grizzlies much room for an open look.

“We were able to kind of clamp down on defense there at the end,” said McNichols.

Quillian Tourzan scored 14 points and Jaydan Hermogenes added 11 points for Ashland, while Danny Cooper had seven of his eight points spanning over the fourth quarter and overtime sessions.

PHOENIX (52): Trenbeath 5, Pyeatt 0, Ponce 5, Decker 5, Dobbins 0, Williams 6, Hernandez 8, Harper 15, Akpan 8. Totals: 22 6-12 52.

ASHLAND (49): Harrower 4, Cooper 8, Marsdorf 3, Hermogenes 11, Hernandez 0, Bloodworth 3, Tourzan 14, Wieczorek 0, Rountree 6. Totals: 16 8-10 49.

Phoenix 12 9 9 13 9 — 52

Ashland 10 15 8 10 6 — 49

3-point goals — Phoenix 4 (Trenbeath 1, Ponce 1, Decker 1, Hernandez 1), Ashland 6 (Hermogenes 3, Matsdorf 1, Bloodworth 1, Tourzan 1). Fouled out — Harper, Akpan.