The Durant Lions definitely showed a flare for dramatics last week, getting clutch free throws in the final seconds to pull out a pair of nail biters in District 5A-4 action on the road last week.
Coach Aaron George’s club utilized a pair of Kolton Mason charity tosses with 9.5 seconds left to beat Pryor, 38-37, after Callaway Nabors had the key free throws down the stretch to topple McAlester, 5655, earlier in the week.
Durant leveled its league record at 2-2 while improving to 5-3 overall and will look for a third straight district road victory to close this week’s action at Tulsa Edison.
Coach Will Robinson’s Lady Lions came up short at Pryor in a 41-33 loss but posted a pivotal win earlier in the week, taking a 44-35 decision at McAlester for the first time since 2011. They also evened their district mark at 2-2 while sporting a 5-3 overall record as well.
Girls
In a tight game through three periods at McAlester, the Lady Lions took command in the final frame with an impressive 12-4 run that secured the elusive win.
Ella Sorrels and Emma Green each knocked down three pointers while Iyana Wilson added the remainder of the Durant points in the quarter.
The score was knotted at 10 after one frame with the Lady Lions surging in front 23-18 at intermission. McAlester rallied to within one at the end of the third ahead of the decisive flurry.
Sorrels pumped in 15 points and Wilson added 13 as Durant’s offensive catalysts. Green tossed in nine, connecting on three treys for the game.
Abrianna Freeman scored four while Anslee Morse, Chloe Corley and Zoe Lee all pitched in two points.
Durant struggled to get much going offensively on a cold shooting night at Pryor as they never tallied a double figure scoring quarter until the fourth frame.
Pryor led 6-5 after one period, 19-12 at halftime and 32-18 through three stanzas.
The Lady Lions finally found a bit of rhythm in outscoring the hosts 15-9 in the fourth but the deficit was too much to overcome.
Wilson’s nine points and Sorrels’ eight were the top scoring numbers for Durant on the night. Morse added five, Freeman had four as Rachel Cordell, Corley and Sheraya Struble posted two apiece.
Boys
Facing McAlester, the Lions rode a huge 24-point second quarter for a double figure halftime lead but had to hold on over the final two stanzas as they were limited to just 16 total points after the break.
Carson Robinson was the offensive spark plug in the massive frame, pumping in eight points in the period while Leon Stone also added five as seven different players all contributed points.
The shooting dried up after the break but the Lions hit just enough shots down the stretch.
Robinson fueled the wellbalanced arsenal with a team-high 14 points. Ryder Jones also reached double figures with 10 as Stone and Nabors each scored seven, Mason, Brady Thomann and Joseph Flores had six apiece with Tashaun Williams chipping in two.
Points were at a premium in a low-scoring battle at Pryor as the Lions trailed 7-5 at the end of one period but rallied to notch a narrow 1210 edge at halftime with Jones scoring eight of the DHS total.
Each team heated up a bit in the third frame but Durant still held a 28-24 advantage going to the fourth period.
That set the stage for a tight fourth quarter as Pryor canned three treys to get back in the mix and eventually take the lead, setting the stage for Mason’s heroics.
Jones posted 12 points to lead all scorers. Robinson posted nine with Williams and Nabors adding six each. Mason finished with three and Stone had two points.
