With 3 minutes, 20 seconds remaining and her team trailing by a basket on Monday evening, Alexis Cortez walked off the McKale Center court to the visitors bench with a look of frustration on her face.
The 5-foot-11-inch Tucson High senior — one of the top players in the state — had just fouled out at the worst possible time. But instead of folding, the Badgers found a way, and Cortez was able to smile once again.
Junior guard Alize McCormick hit the go-ahead basket late and finished with a game-high 20 points as fourth-ranked Tucson rallied for a 60-53 win against No. 13 Cienega, in what very well could be a preview of a Division II state tournament matchup next month.
“I’m really hard on myself,” said Cortez, who finished with 16 points. “As a senior, I know my team needed me, and I’m just happy they were able to pull through and get the win.
“With this win, now we’ll be able to sleep at night.”
The victory marked Cortez’s first in three appearances at the MLK Classic. She and teammate Marissa Miller — the only other senior on the team — talked about the importance of the game, which was something Miller had running through her mind as she sank five clutch free throws late in the fourth quarter.
“It feels great, especially knowing that it’s our senior year and we weren’t going to play here anymore,” Miller said. “Me and Lex have had our eyes on this game for a while now. To actually get the victory, it’s a great relief.”
For a while, it looked the Badgers were about to leave McKale Center with a foul taste in their mouth once again, despite leading most of the game.
Cienega, which had won 10 straight, went on an 11-0 run and tied the game at 48 with 6:22 left in the fourth quarter when Savannah Shawler hit a putback. Less than a minute after that, the sophomore guard sank a go-ahead jumper to give the Bobcats the lead.
Trailing 50-46, McCormick made a basket with 4:26 remaining to give Tucson its first field goal since Cortez hit a layup in the final minute of the third quarter. The Badgers continued to fight their way back into the game, despite losing Cortez a minute later. Just 18 seconds after their star took a seat on the bench, junior guard Andreena Chavez snagged an offensive rebound and scored to tie the game at 50.
“I have so much confidence in our team, it didn’t really faze me,” Tucson coach Annette Gutierrez said about Cortez fouling out. “I was just trying to find someone that was going to go in there defensively and be able to get us some key rebounds.”
Tucson (18-2 overall) got the lead back for good when McCormick hit her eighth and final field goal of the night with 1:50 remaining. Then a series of free throws from Miller and Chavez pushed the Badgers out to a 57-50 lead with 15.3 seconds remaining.
“This is just something we can add in our book of good things,” said Cortez, who has signed with East Carolina. “We’re definitely not going to celebrate for long, because we have a long season ahead of us.”
