Cactus Shadows senior-laden lineup took care of business Friday going on the road for their second region meeting with McClintock as the season's third week of play wraps us.

With six seniors sharing the ball and running the offense efficiently, Cactus Shadows jumped to an early lead and maintained it throughout in a decisive 60-46 victory over McClintock in a 5A Northeast Valley Region game at McClintock. The game marked the seventh time the teams have met since becoming region rivals in the 2018-2019 season. Cactus Shadows has won four of the seven and three have been decided by one point.

Scoring came from every direction as Cactus Shadows swept its season series with McClintock. The teams met in the season opener with the Falcons nearly blowing a 12-point lead in the final quarter and rallying to win in the final minute, 66-65. Six-foot-seven post Connor Benson ended up the Falcons' top scorer with 14 points - 10 in the final period. Carson Woods and Tate Roderick contributed 12 points apiece. Nate Williams had eight and Cole Caruso six for the winners. Woods had the decisive plays in the first win hitting a three and a nearly length of the court glide to the basket for the eventual game winner.

"The theme of the night for us was attack," Cactus Shadows coach Zach Washut said. "We shot it better tonight then we had. We lean on our seniors. Connor finished up strong for us."

Cactus Shadows (5-1, 4-1 region) never trailed. The Falcons led 16-8 after one and 31-16 at halftime. Little changed in the second half (41-27 edge through three quarters) although McClintock briefly pulled within 47-39 with just less than four minutes to play. Cactus Shadows rode Benson the rest of the way. He owned the paint scoring eight of his 10 final-quarter points off nice feeds or via putback.

High percentage shots were the order of the day for Cactus Shadows. Every basket save two threes in the opening half were tallied deep in the paint. The Falcons shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and 44 percent the second half. McClintock (2-5, 2-4) wasn't as fortunate making 6 of 25 shots in the first half. The Chargers shot better in the second half, but not nearly enough to manage a real threat.

Junior guard PJ Volz led McClintock with 15 points. Junior forward Jaylen Wesley had 12 points and sophomore forward EJ Scroggins finished with 11. 

The game marked the seventh time the teams have met since becoming region rivals in the 2018-2019 season. Cactus Shadows has won four of the seven and three have been decided by one point. The teams met three times last season with the Chargers knocking the Falcons out of the state tournament in the opening round via a one-point win.