Tucson prevailed over Cienega 78-74 Thursday night at home in a game defined by major runs by both squads. The Badgers took an early 10-2 lead only to see Cienega slowly pull away to an eventual 48-33 lead midway through the third quarter. Cienega led 55-47 heading into the fourth quarter but the Badgers stormed back to take a 58-57 lead with 5:52 left in the game and momentum flipped back to Tucson.

The 25 to 9 run to climb back into the lead made for an exciting finish with the Badgers holding on for the 78-74 victory. Tucson (9-2 in power-ranking games) came into the night ranked No. 11 in the 6A Conference and Cienega (8-3) was No. 11 in the 5A Conference. Both squads were on the edge of the Open Division with Tucson coming in at No. 27 and Cienega No. 32.

The interconference match should prove beneficial to both teams down the stretch and the large crowd in the legendary Tucson High gymnasium witnessed some great action from several players including Tucson senior Antoine Green, who finished with a game-high 25 points. Jeremiah Luna added 16 points for Tucson, Adam Bernal had 11 and Quintin Ragland scored 10. Cienega was led by junior Moses Bahige, who finished with 19 points. Ben Kmak had 16 points, Conner Bailey scored 11, Mason Tippett scored 11 and Gabe Proctor had nine.

Tucson will play No. 34 Marana (2-8) at the MLK Classic on Monday taking place at McKale Center on the University of Arizona campus. There will be eight games played at the Classic and each game counts as far as power points are concerned.

Cienega will host No. 44 Desert View (0-9) on Tuesday in a 5A Sonoran Region game.