Stellar defense and Ella Resendiz on offense was a recipe for success on the basketball court for Toney Cooper’s Dragons last week when they mugged Pauls Valley and Comanche to run their season record to 6-0 heading into the holiday.

Resendiz led all scorers with 19 in the 61-37 dismantling of Pauls Valley and turned the trick again with 13 in the 49-25 beat down of Comanche last Friday night for the first two home games of the season.

“Two words sum up the Pauls Valley game,” Cooper said. “Ella Resendiz.”

In addition to her 19 points, the junior pulled in eight rebounds, had an assist and two steals.

“Her energy was felt the moment she stepped on the floor and simply took over the game,” the coach said.

“Hadleigh Harp chipped in eight points but was a leading factor defensively with a team-high five steals,” Cooper said. “We had 18 steals as a team which led to easy buckets in transition.”

Resendiz was at the top of her game in the Comanche contest pulling six boards and grabbing a pair of steals on the defensive end to go with her game-high 13 points.

Winters also had six rebounds in the game with a pair of steals to go with her nine points.

“Comanche stayed in a zone most of the game and our two bigs took advantage of it,” Cooper said of Winters and Resendiz.

“Our team was extremely patient on the offensive end. We only committed one turnover versus having 14 in our game against Pauls Valley. It was a major point of emphasis going into this game,” the coach confirmed. “Our girls handled their zone well and stayed locked in defensively only giving up 25 points for the game.”

Cooper said his club is continuing to work hard to improve.

“Going into the break is always better with a win,” he said.

After losing a heart-breaker to Pauls Valley 42-40 early in the week, coach Roger Raper’s Dragons bounced Comanche, 66-29 to head into the Christmas break 3-3.

Joining high-point scorer Kobe Freeman’s 26 point were Jamie Resendiz and Seth Bunch both with 10 apiece.

Freeman led all scorers in the Pauls Valley contest with 28.

“We head to the break having lost two games by a total of three points,” Raper said. “We battled Pauls Valley and played really well defensively. We just struggled scoring. We need others to contribute on the offensive end on a more consistent basis.”

To go with his 26 points, Freeman secured nine caroms on the night. Kylen DeFreeze was active on the offensive boards with four and had several blocked shots as well.

“With such a young team I know we will improve throughout the season especially with how hard this group works,” Raper continued.

“Ryder Ward has had three great games coming off the bench helping us with great depth,” the coach said. “Also, we will add Aaden Troxel to the mix next semester as he has been cleared after having a head injury in the early fall.”