Following semifinal losses for each, Durant’s girls bounced back to take third place while the Lions claimed fourth in the Atoka Wampus Cat Classic last weekend.
TheLadyLionsopenedthetournament by pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 38-31 victory against Pauls Valley before suffering a 51-44 loss to Kingston in the semifinals. They rebounded, edging host Atoka by a 48-43 count on Saturday to move their record to 11-5 on the season.
Durant’s boys, meanwhile, started their tournament journey with a 55-35 win over Madill ahead of a tough 51-46 defeat to long-time rival Ardmore in the semifinals. The third-place contest went double overtime with Kingston, but the Lions came out on the short end of a 5754 verdict in falling to 7-9 on the season.
The Lions will return to district play on Friday when they travel to Tulsa Rogers.
Girls
It took a while for the Lady Lions to shake upset-minded Pauls Valley in the first game as the Lady Panthers held an 8-6 advantage through one quarter, 15-13 at halftime and 25-23 entering the fourth.
That’s when Durant sprung to life however, hitting key free throws and adding a clutch three pointer from Emma Green during a 15-6 closing flurry.
Green canned three treys in the game to finish with a team-high nine points. Ella Sorrels contributed eight and Iyana Wilson checked in with seven with five apiece coming from Anslee Morse and Abrianna Freeman. Sheraya Struble added three.
Kingston’s pressure defensive style caused Durant some problems in the semifinal battle, forcing some turnovers which the Lady Redskins capitalized upon. It was 18-11 Kingston through one quarter, 31-21 at intermission and 42-31 following the third stanza.
Wilson had a strong outing offensively to keep the Lady Lions within striking distance, totaling 21 points along with 13 from Sorrels. Freeman also checked in with eight points.
Durant claimed an early lead in the third-place matchup but could never pull away from the Lady Cats for the entirety of the contest.