The varsity basketball team played a hard fought battle last night, as they held on to defeat Canutillo 55-52 in their last game of the regular season. The team finishes 8-8 in district play, and place themselves in a three-way tie with Austin and El Paso High for the last playoff spot.

“You know, this is a huge win for us. We needed to come in here, we needed a win in order to put ourselves in position for that last playoff spot,” head coach Daniel Martinez said.

The two teams went back and forth with each other, as Bowie’s largest lead of the game was only 10 points. Canutillo, who also needed a win to land in the potential three-way tie, kept fighting back to keep their season alive. They outscored Bowie 24-20 in the second half, but the Bears would not give up the lead that easily.

“They show tremendous character, we’ve been up and down and it seems like we are playing our best basketball now when it matters most. These guys have fought all year long and it seems like they are coming around at the right time,” coach Martinez said.

The Bears needed help from other district games as well, but knew that they needed to take care of what they could control first. The win against Canutillo, along with with an Austin loss to El Paso High, was enough to get them into the three-way tie for the last playoff spot.

“We have to ride the momentum right now. These kids are playing well and I think we’ll continue to play well if we keep our identity on the court,” coach Martinez said.

The Bears will face off against El Paso High Friday, Feb. 15, at El Paso High School. The winner of that game will play against Austin High School Saturday, Feb. 16, for the last playoff spot.