Coach Matt Lohn’s Dragons finished as tournament runners-up at the Madill cage tournament last weekend.

Purcell opened with a 53-40 dispatch of Durant, the first meeting of the two schools since 1947, and knocked off the host Wildcats in the semifinals, 52-33.

Class A No. 2 and returning State Champion Caddo topped the Dragons in the finals, 42-35.

“I was excited for my guys to earn the opportunity to win a championship,” Lohn said. “You know you’ve played well and you know you will have to beat a quality opponent. It was a packed house, so the atmosphere was pretty electric. That’s what it’s all about.”

Lohn said his club was 100 percent in and executed the game plan for  the better part of three quarters.

After the two teams came out of the halftime locker room knotted at 17 each, the Dragons eventually pulled away for an eight point advantage at 28-20.

“But, Caddo tightened the screws on us and we allowed fatigue to get the best of us down the stretch,” the coach reported.

“I give all the credit to Coach Johnson and his boys, as they made winning plays possession after possession for the last 10 minutes of the game,” Lohn said.

That led to a 20-7 run that led to the loss.

“I know we all want that fourth quarter back,” Lohn said. “My hope is that it will be a teaching tool as we continue the season. I believe that each loss holds little nuggets of wisdom we can use to improve and grow as a team. This loss is no different, except that we got a lesson in what it takes to be a champion. We will be better for it, I have no doubt.”

Senior Jaime Resendiz led the Dragons in scoring knocking down 35 points in the three games.

Right on his heels was junior Drew Blair who pumped in 32 points, followed by senior Maddox Ward who added 18. Senior Canaan Colburn finished with 11 points for the tournament.

The Dragons rocketed out of the chute in the Durant contest out-scoring the Lions 14-9 in the first period.

Purcell led at halftime, 26-23.

“We lost our lungs and legs a bit in the second quarter, but bounced back and responded well coming out of halftime,” Lohn said. “Durant is very disciplined, so I was pleased with our energy to win the game. It was a great effort for game one of the new season.”

The Dragons backed up that early intensity against Madill jumping on the Wildcats 19-12 in the opening quarter and built the lead to 36-19 at the halftime break, led by Blair’s 17 points.

Resendiz was the leading Dragons scorer in both of the other two tournament outings with 11 against Durant and 18 in the finals.

“I loved the energy from our guys coming out against the home team.

“We transferred what we learned from game one to game two, playing a very dominant first half,” Lohn confirmed.

Lohn said the Dragons’ attention to detail paid dividends for his squad.

“Madill has two guys who can really shoot it. We refused to give them any airspace and that was crucial to our success. I would like to see a more consistent effort on the offensive side of the ball in half number two, but the defense was stingy and held down the fort,” he concluded.

Coach Toney Cooper’s Dragons jumped all over Era,TX in the tournament’s opening round of the Madill Tournament but lost in their final two games to Deer Creek and Durant.

Junior Halle Buchanan, who was named to the All Tournament Team led the Dragons with 37 points in the three games.

She canned a team-high 13 in the 49-22 victory over Era. Buchanan led the squad with six points in a 51-29 loss at the hands of Deer Creek. Her 18 points led Purcell in a 37-32 loss to Durant when a Dragon comeback fell just short.

Sophomore Rylee Peoples scored 28 points in the three games including a dozen in both the Era game and the Durant contest.

“Our season began against a solid team out of Texas. Era had already played a handful of games so they were already in full season mode,” Cooper said.

First game jitters dominated the first half of play. Shots were not falling and we had turnovers galore,” Cooper continued. “We only scored 13 points but thankfully our defense was strong and we held them to 11.”

Purcell played much better in the second half.

They were led by Buchanan, who controlled the paint. To go with her team-high 13 points she finished with a double-double with 11 rebounds.

“Rylee Peoples, despite sitting much of the second and third quarters due to foul trouble, came alive in the fourth to close out the game out,” Cooper said.

She followed Halle with 12 points.

“Taygan Winters was a spark off the bench and chipped in seven points. It was a great win to start the tournament and our season,” the coach said.

6A Deer Creek was led by their 6’4” post player Radjnovic.

“We knew we had our work cut out for us,” Cooper said. “Our girls started off great and took a 14-9 lead into the second quarter. Lyric Harding and Rylee Peoples knocked down some big three’s to open the game and we were able to move the ball on the much bigger opponent.’

However, turnovers began to happen in bunches in the second quarter and Deer Creek took advantage of it.

“They carried that momentum into the second half and we did not slow them down. Our shot selection was not good and they simply overwhelmed us to get the victory,” Cooper said.

Purcell started off the Durant game like a herd of turtles and dug themselves a hole trailing 12-5 heading into the second quarter.

Durant eventually opened up a 22-14 lead at intermission before the Dragons mounted a fourth period rally that finally fell short.

“Durant is an extremely disciplined team both offensively and defensively. Despite the deficit our kids continued to fight. One of the things we learned in the previous games was that we did not do a good job being the aggressor. We settled for threes verses attacking open gaps and getting the easier shot or drawing contact and getting to the line,” Cooper said.

The coach said his club was much better in the game with the Lions.

“Unfortunately we did not capitalize on our trips to the line and it cost us,” Cooper said of Purcell 8-15 performance at the line.

“I was so proud of our kids how they bounced back from an ugly loss the day before to give ourselves a chance to win in our next game.

“Overall, I felt our kids played well. We are young in some areas, inexperienced in others so I anticipated the inconsistencies as shown in this tournament.

“We simply want to continue growing as a team. I was so proud of Halle Buchanan. We are expecting big things from her this season and she came out of the gate showing she is ready to take her game and this team to the next level,” Cooper concluded.

Up next for both clubs are road contests with Bridge Creek, Blanchard and Anadarko December 16, 18 and 20.