MANSFIELD - The Phoenix boys found the going rough on the road Friday as Columbia Basin Secondary School (CBSS) was sent home with a 52-39 loss at the hands of the Kernels.

The game was nip and tuck in the first half of action as the Phoenix trailed by a point, 23-22 at intermission.

"We played a scrappy first half and actually led by four, 22-18, with a minute remaining," coach Bob McCaffery said. "But three costly turnovers and subsequent buckets by the Kernels gave them the one point lead at the halfway mark."

Mansfield went on a 21-4 run in the third quarter of play as CBSS couldn't find its shooting touch. The Phoenix did outscore the Kernels 13-8 in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late to turn the game in their favor.

"We came out cold in the third quarter," McCaffery said. "But we played them pretty much even the rest of the way. We are showing improvement in many areas. We out rebounded them 39-25, but had twice as many turnovers. We are a very inexperienced team, but are showing signs of 'clicking'. However, we need to start putting four good quarters together instead of just playing a good quarter or a half."

Niklaus Lennartz led the way for CBSS with 17 points. Devon Hartman added 12, Chris Gonzalez had 3, Austin Cochran, Jacob Moreno and Xavier Garcia finished with 2 each and Jarred Record had 1.

The Phoenix are back in action Wednesday when the team travels to Thorp for a game against the Tigers.