In what amounted to the biggest win in school history, No. 3 Tucson Pueblo defeated No. 2 Tucson Sahuaro 57-52 Tuesday night in the first round of the girl's Division II/Section II playoffs.

Ismael Galindo took over a struggling Pueblo program three years ago and, as the losses started to build up, he entertained thoughts of stepping away. He was a club coach who wasn't used to losing but someone had to change the direction of the program.

Galindo won four games that year and then 10 the next. But the losses kept on coming. Pueblo's last winning season came when his current group of standout freshmen and sophomores were all in the second and third grade.

"It's been a roller coaster these last three years," said Galindo. "I wanted to give up but I knew we could do something here. We have a young squad and we lost to Sahuaro in overtime last time. I told the girls they weren't playing with heart but I told them tonight this is what happens when you play with heart."

Sahuaro led 19-15 after the first quarter and 31-28 at the half. Sophomore guard Elena Arriaga was on fire and hit on four 3-pointers to pace the Cougars but the team failed to score over the last 4:33 of the second quarter and gave up 31-21 lead.

Freshmen Ilyssa Galindo and sophomore Araceli Loya scored 10 each and freshman Alicia Reyes added seven more to keep Pueblo in the game.

"It's been over 20 years since Pueblo went to the playoffs," Ilyssa explained. "This is all exciting and I like the pressure. I knew we would come back."

Pueblo outscored Sahuaro 14-6 in the third quarter to take a 42-37 lead but Sahuaro was far from over. Arriaga finished with 23 points on the strength of seven bombs and one of those tied the game up at 42-42 with 6:25 left in the game.

"I think some of them were lucky I guess," said Arriaga. "But I knew they had great shooters and we had to mix it up instead of driving to the basket so I tried to keep it close."

Arriaga scored a regular bucket to make 49-47 Pueblo with 3:38 left Reyes responded with a 3-pointer of her own to open up a 52-47 lead and the team never looked back.

Sydney Harden scored a tough 10 points for the Cougars and, like a true competitor, she felt this was one Sahuaro let get away.

"We should have won this game," she explained. "I feel like we have to start over. We need to work harder. We really need a short memory and go from here."

Galindo finished with 23, Loya added 20 and Reyes put in 13. If you're counting, that's 56 of the teams' 57 points.

Pueblo will face No. 1 Vail Cienega Saturday in the section championship game to be played at Tucson Cholla High School. The Bobcats weren’t too kind to Pueblo the last time the two teams played but they shouldn't take it personally. Everyone loses to Cienega and for good reason.

Under first-year coach Matt Ruiz, Cienega (28-0) is the top-rated team in the state and they defeated No. 4 Douglas 71-44 in the second game to set up the championship against Pueblo.

Douglas led 26-21 in the second quarter but the Bobcats went on a massive 26-0 run to end any and all threats.

In other action, Piper Mali scored the winning bucket in overtime over No. 2 Marana (53-51) to send No. 3 Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge to the D-II/S-VI championship against No. 1 Tucson High. The Badgers outlasted No. 4 Casa Grande 51-47 in their game.

In Division III, No. 3 Oro Valley Pusch Ridge defeated No. 2 San Carlos 43-41 and No. 4 Tanque Verde upset No. 1 San Tan Valley Combs 38-36 in overtime.

No. 1 Tucson Desert Christian will play No. 3 Patagonia in D-IV action as will No. 3 Chandler Prep and No. 4 Oro Valley Immaculate Heart. Immaculate Heart upset No. 1 Tohono O'odham 32-30. That win alone might be enough to give the squad an at-large bid to the 24-team state playoffs.