Dragons hike record to 16-4

Purcell’s No. 15 ranked Dragons ran their season record to 16-4 last week with victories over Pauls Valley on the road and at home over Bridge Creek.

Senior Jenna Avery led the offense in the 51-38 victory over Pauls Valley leading all scorers with 19 points. Joining her in double digits was junior Hadleigh Harp with 10.

“Pauls Valley is always a tough place to play,” head coach Toney Cooper said. “We started out of the gate pretty well but they were able to get on a little run toward the end of the first quarter.

“But in the second quarter Jenna Avery took over the game,” Cooper continued. “They had no answer for her scoring 12 of our 18 points in the quarter.

“She was aggressive attacking the paint and was rewarded by getting to the line. We needed a spark and she delivered. I was extremely proud of her and her leadership.”

In addition to her 10 points, Harp was sharp on the other end of the court playing stellar defense on the Panther point guard.

“Wins on the road this late in the season are going to be tough but necessary. I was happy with our effort and being able to close out the game late,” Cooper said.

On Senior Night Purcell’s offense exploded and the defense was a wrecking crew in its 89-16 demolition of Bridge Creek last Friday at The Reimer Center.

Cooper had a dozen players score including four in double figures led by senior Alyssa Thompson’s career-high 26. Avery knocked down 16 points followed by juniors Kenna Esparza and Haven Buchanan with 11 each.

“It was a great environment for our game,” Cooper said. “Senior Night is always special and our seniors for sure owned the night.

“Alyssa was amazing,” Cooper said. “Known for her three point shot, she finished several around the rim. Jenna followed her performance against Pauls Valley with another double digit night.

“Defensively our girls were locked in. We wanted to make this an incredible night for our seniors and I felt we did just that,” the coach said.

Coach Roger Raper’s Dragons came up short in their games with Pauls Valley and Bridge Creek, dropping to 10-10 on the season.

Despite a 29-point performance by Kobe Freeman, Purcell fell to the Panthers, 66-53.

Coach Roger Raper had three players in double figures against Bridge Creek led by Freeman’s 16. Also scoring in double digits was Kylen DeFreeze with 12 and Jaime Resendiz with 10.

“We are in a rough spot right now and not playing as well as we are able,” Raper said. “The Pauls Valley game was not a good outing for us at all. We have got to come out and compete at a higher level for 32 minutes.

“Friday night against Bridge Creek we competed tougher but we didn’t shoot the ball very well,” the coach continued. “We had a one point lead with one minute remaining in the third quarter and ended up down six to start the fourth.

“A couple of controversial calls went against us and Bridge Creek made six threes in the quarter and we didn’t recover.”

Purcell’s last three regular season games are on the road at Marlow, Lexington and Washington.

Dragon notes:

Junior Kobe Freeman went over the 1,000 career point mark as a Dragon in the Bridge Creek contest.

“Unfortunately, we were not able to celebrate both a win and his accomplishment,” coach Roger Raper said.