Tournament MVP Kayden Prince scored 12 points in the final four minutes to rally the Caddo Lady Bruins past Durant, 47-42, for the Madill Winter Classic championship on Saturday night.
The Lady Lions led 34-27 and appeared firmly in command after Caddo missed five of six three point attempts to begin the fourth quarter before the Lady Bruin sophomore stalwart heated up in a hurry.
Prince canned back-to-back treys sandwiched around a Durant turnover to immediately close the gap to just a point. Jordyn Nichols followed with a bucket ahead of two more Prince field goals that capped a massive 12-0 scoring blitz with 1:46 remaining.
Durant closed within 3937 ending the drought on an Emma Green trey but the Lady Lions could not get any closer.
Prince tallied 19 points to lead all scorers and was joined on the All-Tournament squad by teammate Jaycie Nichols as well as Durant’s Ella Sorrels.
Jordyn Nichols finished with nine points, Jaycie Nichols had eight, Belle Hookom scored five while Brilee Tyson and Anna Adair tossed in three apiece.
Sorrels pitched in 18 points and Iyana Wilson contributed 15 in leading the Lady Lions offensively. Zoe Lee chipped in five, Green added three and Abriana Freeman notched two points.
Caddo
The Class A second-ranked Lady Bruins crushed Harding Prep, 57-29, in the tournament opener and then outdistanced Purcell, 52-36, in the semifinals.
Against Class 4A Harding, Caddo built a 17-6 edge after one stanza behind the one-two offensive punch of Prince and Jaycie Nichols, who combined for 15 of the points. Prince tossed in another 10 in the second frame as the lead ballooned to 34-10 as the Lady Bruins coasted the rest of the way.
Prince racked up 20 points, including 17 prior to the half, in fueling the scoring surge. Jaycie Nichols ended with 14, Hookom had eight and Adair scored seven.
Caddo raced to a 19-5 edge after one period behind a redhot start from Prince while cruising by Purcell in the semifinals.
The Lady Dragons used narrow scoring advantages to narrow the gap to 41-32 after three stanzas but couldn’t get any closer.
After pouring in 13 in the first, Prince added 11 over the final three quarters to tally 24 points for the game.
Jaycie Nichols notched 11 with Harlee Taylor contributing seven.
Durant
The Lady Lions shook off a slow start to dispatch Hugo, 54-40, in the tournament opener, eventually taking the lead midway through the second period.
Sorrels finished with a game-high 21 points and was the only Durant player in double figures.
Rachel Cordell added a season-best nine points with Freeman and Chloe Corley each tossing in eight. Green scored six and Anslee Morse rounded out the scoring with two.
Durant survived a wild 4442 overtime thriller over host Madill in the semifinals as Wilson connected on a pair of free throws with 0.8 seconds left in the extra frame to win it.
The Lady Lions got off to a quick start against the athletic Lady Wildcats, snagging a 16-11 edge after one frame spurred by Freeman’s five points.
Madill answered to tie the game at 22 going to halftime, but Durant utilized a big third quarter to take a 35-27 cushion early in the fourth as Sorrels and Wilson combined for 11 of the Lady Lions’ 13 points in the stanza.
The hosts again responded to tie the game at 42 at the end of regulation and then held the ball most of the overtime period attempting to play for the final shot.
Durant held tough, however, and Wilson sealed the victory after getting fouled in the waning seconds, tying Sorrels with team-high scoring honors with 15 points. Freeman posted eight, Morse had six and Zoe Lee added three points.
