A 3-0 victory over McAlester on Friday night punched the state playoff ticket for the Durant Lady Lions as they placed fourth in District 5A-4.
The Lady Lions split matchups last week, falling to Bishop Kelley by a 3-0 count on Senior Night to move their final regular season mark to 7-5.
Durant’s boys dropped both contest to close with a 2-12 overall record, falling to Bishop Kelley, 3-0, as well as McAlester, 7-3.
The Lady Lions will visit District 5A-3 champion Claremore in the Class 5A postseason opener later this week.
Girls
Alex Martinez had a solid game in goal for the Lady Lions in the Bishop Kelley loss, making 19 saves, but Durant’s offensive chances were limited throughout the contest.
J.J. Patten and Aubree Wise each had a shot on goal.
Things went much better for the Lady Lions against McAlester, spurred by Patten with a pair of goals and one assist on eight scoring opportunities.
Avery Blackburn tossed in a goal on three shots and had one assist. Lily Ruiz notched one assist with four shots on goal while Wise, Kira Hoffman and Marigold Moore all ended with one shot on goal.
Martinez tossed the shutout in goal while making 13 saves in the victory.
Boys
Following a tough shutout loss to Bishop Kelley, Durant fought back against McAlester, but couldn’t keep pace with the host Buffaloes offensively.
Joseph Flores was outstanding on the Lion attack, posting a hat trick with three goals in the game.
“We gave Kelley all they wanted and I was proud of the way the boys fought,” head coach John Wilmoth commented. “McAlester has a lot of seniors and is going to go deep into the playoffs. This has not been the season that we wanted but we played a lot of young players and will hopefully learn from that experience going into next year. We are only losing three starters.”
