Purcell opens postseason play on the hardwood Saturday night at Bridge Creek.

The girls game is ticketed to tip off at 6 p.m. with the boys to follow around 7 p.m.

In two previous meetings this year, coach Toney Cooper’s Dragons knocked off the Lady Bobcats, 72-29 in January and 89-16 in February.

Coach Roger Raper’s Dragons have come up short in their two meeting with the Bobcats, 72-57 January 2 and 59-46 at home February 2.

With victories over Marlow and Lexington last week and a loss Monday at the hands of Washington, Cooper’s Dragons finished the regular season with a record of 18-5.

Haven Buchanan led the Dragons in scoring in both the Marlow and Lexington games. She cut the strings for 11 points in the 38-34 victory over Marlow and canned 16 points including four treys in the opening quarter in the win over Lexington.

“In my short time at Purcell I have not experienced what I consider to be an ugly win,” Cooper said of the Marlow victory. “Well this game was just that.

“We were not strong offensively, our defense was spotty and it made for a much harder game than it had to be. We were extremely careless with the ball at times committing 13 turnovers. Although we forced 26 turnovers we did not convert near enough of those into points. That aside, we did find ways to win the game.”

Alyssa Thompson and Ella Resendiz both hit timely buckets down the stretch that allowed the Dragons to hold onto the lead.

“Great growth for our team as there will be nights that shots don’t fall, and things don’t seem to go our way, but in those moments we have to stay the course,” Cooper said. “We did that and left Marlow with a win.”

Junior Bri Wren with 10 joined Buchanan in double figures against Lexington with 10.

“It’s always a good environment when we travel across the bridge to Lexington,” Cooper said.

“Our kids were locked in from the tip and never let up. Haven Buchanan came out on fire knocking down four three’s in the first quarter,” the coach said.

“Bri Wren, who has battled a knee injury most of the season, was able to knock down some shots and finished with 10. We all were excited to see her have some success on the court.

“For me, though my favorite moment was in the first quarter Ella Resendiz took a vicious elbow to the mouth, forcing her to leave the game and be taken to the hospital.

“By the fourth quarter after being stitched up, she was back asking to go back in and of course I did not hesitate,” Cooper said. “It was a good moment for our team. That level of toughness and commitment will help us as we look ahead to playoff basketball.”

The Dragons had three players in double figures in their 61-57 loss at Washington Monday night.

“It was another classic game between our programs,” Cooper said. “I was extremely proud of how hard our girls competed from tip to final buzzer.

“We all felt our best efforts were not on display when we saw them earlier in the year at Purcell. Kenna Esparza found her scoring groove again.

“Hannah Whitaker gave us solid minutes off the bench with stellar defense and timely buckets to keep it a one possession game late,” the coach said.

“In the end, we missed some key shots down the stretch that could have given us a much deserved victory.

“We wanted to compete in this game and we did just that. We have a lot of positives to take from this game and yet some things we have to clean up as we head to the playoffs.

Kenna Esparza led the Dragons with 16. Haven Buchanan finished with an even dozen and Tinley Winters chipped in 11.

Coach Roger Raper’s Dragons picked up a 75-63 victory at Lexington and didn’t execute down the stretch in a 54-44 loss at Marlow.

Kobe Freeman led the Dragons with 15 and was joined in double figures by Jaime Resendiz with a dozen.

“We played decent on the road at Marlow and were again in the game late only not to execute in the fourth quarter, something we have struggled with all year,” Raper said.

“Our defense was good enough but we struggled to be consistent on the offensive end.’

Kylen DeFreeze had a team-high eight rebounds.

“Offensively we had minutes of incredible execution and unselfish play. That was really good to see but then we would just fall apart for a few minutes and turn the ball over or take bad shots.

“We would get our rhythm back and then look incredible again. It becomes frustrating because of how good we can look and then how bad we can look all within the same quarter.

“If we could somehow manage to stay at more of an even keel throughout a game we will be a very dangerous team because our good is really pretty dang good,” Raper said.

Purcell had three players in double figures in the Lexington victory led by Freeman’s game-high 27.

Seth Bunch poured in 19 and Jaime Resendiz had a career-high 17 points against the Bulldogs.

“We are a much better team when Seth gives us some offensive punch,” the coach said.

Resendiz grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds to lead the team in that category while DeFreeze pulled 11 boards.

After Monday’s 59-54 loss to Washington, the Dragons are 11-12 heading into the District Tournament at Bridge Creek.

Freeman’s 22 points led the team at Washington with DeFreeze also in double digits with 14.