No. 23 Chandler led No. 22 Tucson 46-24 with 3:38 left in the third quarter, and it felt like the Wolves were ready to coast to a win on the road in the 6A Play-In Tournament Thursday night, but the Badgers had other plans. Tucson went on a wild 14-2 run to cut the lead down to 48-38 with 5:15 left in the game and the mood in one of the oldest gymnasiums in Arizona started to shift.

Freshman guard Destiney Brown finished with a game-high 20 points and 12 of those came in the fourth quarter including two 3-pointers and an old fashioned 3-point play to cut the Chandler lead down to 52-49 with 1:03 left in the game. The Wolves went up 53-49 with 34.8 seconds left and Brown cut the lead down to 55-52 with 26.6 seconds left on the clock.

A turnover gave the ball back to the Badgers, giving Brown one more opportunity to tie the game with 17 seconds left but her offering was off by about an inch and the Wolves escaped with a win. The miss was meaningless in a game where Brown did all she could to lift her team to the opening round of the 6A state playoffs slated for next Wednesday.

Badger senior Gabriella Sanchez ended the night with 11 points and senior guard Makayla Luna added eight. For Chandler (7-12 in ranking games), freshman Averi Mehlberg finished with 14 points and her four points in the fourth quarter might have been the difference for the Wolves. Fellow freshman Markayla Shirley added 12 points and seniors Kaela Whitehair and Autumn Rodriguez scored eight each.

Tucson finishes the year 14-13 overall and the Badgers will lose five seniors to graduation. The Wolves will find out where they will be placed on the 6A state bracket on Saturday.