Playing loose. That’s how Northwest Christian won Wednesday to move on to the second round of playoffs.

The Crusaders took the lead early in the game and kept that momentum going until the end to beat San Tan Foothills 56-41.

“These guys are pretty loose,” said coach Jason Cook. “I thought we were too loose during practice this week but that’s how these guys work.”

Two players stood out. Senior Dustin Inness scored 13 points and junior Eddie Van Sant scored 10.

“Dusty scored some points for us, he hit two threes and Eddie shot the ball pretty well,” said Cook.

“We had fun out there,” said Inness “We played together, we played hard and we got the dub so that’s all that matters”.

Van Sant added:“It was a great atmosphere, great to be out there with my teammates and we came out and got the W. It  felt good.”

Northwest Christian (18-9) moves on to play Gilbert Christian Saturday at Desert Vista High School.