Playing in front of a packed house in the Class 5A Regional Tournament, the Durant Lady Lions fed off plenty of emotion to topple Bishop Kelley, 32-28, to win the school’s first regional title since 2012.
The Lady Lions drilled Guthrie, 53-21, in the tournament opener and ran their record to 18-6 and within one area playoff victory this week of returning to the state tournament for the first time in 16 years.
Durant’s boys, meanwhile, saw their season end with a 73-64 regional loss to Tulsa East Central.
Girls
It was a fairly tight battle with Guthrie for a quarter before Durant took complete command with a 17-0 scoring edge in the second frame.
The Lady Lions carried a 30-6 cushion to the break and extended that even more with a 43-14 lead following the third stanza.
Ella Sorrels paced the Durant scoring charge with 15 points as Emma Green tallied 13, which included four three pointers. Zoe Lee notched nine with Iyana Wilson adding eight and Anslee Morse posted five points.
Neither team could gain much of an advantage in the finale as Kelley snagged a 10-5 lead through one stanza before the Lady Lions answered to narrow the gap to 15-13 at intermission in the defensive slugfest.
Durant finally moved into the lead late in the third stanza and rode a stellar defensive effort the rest of the contest. Morse scored five straight points with a trey and two charity tosses to build the Lady Lion edge to 30-23 with 2:52.
Kelley would not fold however as they got a three- pointer and steal and layup with under a minute to go.
That’s when Wilson grabbed full control, especially on the defensive end. She made it a two possession game with a layup of her own before forcing back-to-back turnovers to hold the Lady Comets at bay.
Wilson was the scoring catalyst with 12 points while Abrianna Freeman totaled eight and Morse had five.
Boys
The Lions got solid offensive production, including a 24-point fourth quarter eruption but it wasn’t enough to overcome an athletic group of Cardinals and double figure first half deficit.
East Central held a 15-10 edge through one period and reeled off 24 points in the second frame themselves to grab a comfortable 39-26 advantage through one half.
Tashaun Williams pumped in eight third quarter points as Durant battled toe-to-toe with the Tulsa powerhouse as each notched 14 points.
Durant responded in the fourth with the late charge, keyed by a pair of three pointers by Kolton Mason along with six more points from Carson Robinson.
Four players reached double figures for the Lions with Williams contributing 19 points. Robinson had 12, Joseph Flores tossed in 11 and Mason ended with 10. Ryder Jones added seven, Leon Stone posted three and Jace Baily scored two.
