In a highly emotional return from the holiday break, the Durant basketball teams posted arguably their best performances of the season in front of a packed house Jan. 7.
The Lady Lions exploded for a season-high 76 points in their first game since losing head coach Will Robinson in a tragic accident to blast rival McAlester, 76-31, in the district showdown to improve to 7-4 on the season.
On the boys’ side it was sophomore Carson Robinson, who warmed up in his father’s jersey, that erupted for a season-best 15 points in spurring Durant to the 64-45 triumph over the Buffaloes to move to 6-5 for the year.
After seeing tournament action at McAlester weathered out to close the week, the Lions return to district play this week and will host Tulsa Rogers on Friday night.
Girls
In an inspired performance under the direction of Tony Robinson, the Lady Lions turned up the intensity early and dominated from the opening tip-off while showcasing its best offensive execution of the season.
Durant raced to an 18-5 first quarter edge behind a balanced assault but wasn’t finished there as the Lady Lions kept the throttle to the floor during a second quarter burst that saw them reel off 25 points. Iyana Wilson pumped in 10 of those while Emma Green contributed eight and Abrianna Freeman added seven as they carried a massive 43-14 lead to the halftime break.
There was little let up after that with Ella Sorrels and Wilson com- bining for 15 points as the hosts produced a 17-12 scoring advantage in the third stanza as well to continue pulling away.
They then outscored the visitors 16-5 in the fourth to finish strong with their largest victory of the entire season by a wide margin. The Lady Lions’ previous high water mark was a 25-point win over Plainview.
Four Lady Lions all reached double figures led by Wilson’s 25 points. Green tallied 14 with Sorrels and Freeman each connecting for 13 points.
Rachel Cordell sank a pair of three pointers to contribute six, Chloe Corley had three and Zoe Lee scored two.
Boys
A tight first quarter resulted in a 15-all deadlock through the opening frame as Kolton Mason poured in over half the Lions’ offensive total with all eight of his points for the contest.
Durant tightened things up defensively in the second period, yielding just seven points in the frame to carry a 28-22 cushion to intermission. Both teams heated up out of the break as the Buffaloes tallied a narrow 21-20 scoring edge with Tashaun Williams and Robinson combining for 13 of the DHS total in the period.
Leading 48-43 going to the fourth, the Lions then turned a stifling final stanza to outscore the visitors by a 16-2 margin fueled by Leon Stone’s all 10 points of the game.
While Robinson sparked the offensive charge with a team-high 15 points, Durant rode outstanding balance with Williams and Stone each connecting for 10.
Mason chipped in eight, Ryder Jones scored seven, Callaway Nabors pitched in six, Joseph Flores had five and Brady Thomann rounded things out with three points.
