Bristow sinks Dragons in Area

The 2023-24 basketball season came to a close in the first round of the Area Tournament at Okmulgee for the Purcell Dragons with a 57-51 loss at the hands of Bristow.

Led by Haven Buchanan and Ella Resendiz, Purcell built a 31-19 lead at intermission.

Buchanan scored nine of her team-high 17 points in the opening half while Resendiz poured in eight of her 10 points.

But the second half belonged to the Pirates when they out-scored Purcell, 38-20.

Bristow camped out on the charity stripe shooting 34 foul shots in the contest, making 24.

Meanwhile, the Dragons were 6-15 at the line.

“You will not win by putting a good team on the line that often,” head coach Toney Cooper confirmed.

“We were truly excited to still be playing this late in the year,” the coach continued. “We felt extremely confident going into the game.

“But the game was a tale of two halves. In the first half we controlled the pace, and executed on both ends of the floor. In the second half they controlled the pace and simply out executed us down the stretch,” Cooper said.

Purcell saw its 12-point halftime lead erased in a 20-7 third quarter won by the Pirates.

“This team all season has struggled in the third quarter to get going,” the coach said. “We typically have such a large lead at the half that we can absorb it. It definitely hurt us in this contest. Regardless, we were still in the game until the very end.”

The Dragons finished the season 20-7.

Season recap:

“I am super proud of our kids and all they accomplished this season,” Cooper said.

“They handled the jump to 4A well. We followed up last year’s campaign with another 20 win season and finished the regular season ranked again.

“We faced some adversity along the way but they stayed focused and competed throughout our season,” he said.

Cooper said he is “extremely proud” of seniors Alyssa Thompson and Jenna Avery.

“They are leaving this program in good shape with a stronger foundation for others to build on. We will have a deep senior class next year and I know those kids are ready to take the program to the next level, with their competitive nature alone. I have no doubt they will,” he concluded.