Senior Ryder Ward turned thief and hero at the same time December 9 at The Reimer Center.

Ward, who finished with six points in the barn-burner contest, stole the rock and turned the turnover into a lay up to defeat Washington 54-52 in overtime.

Twin brother Maddox Ward led the Dragons with 15 points. He was joined in double digits by Kyeston Martin with a baker’s dozen.

Postman Jaime Resendiz was sidelined early due to a cut on his chin and scored only two points.

The victory lifted Purcell’s season mark to 3-1 heading into Tuesday road game at Bridge Creek.

Head coach Matt Lohn didn’t start off his remarks about the game with anyone on the basketball team.

Instead, Lohn heaped praise on the PHS student section.

“First off, I need to shout out our student section for bringing their A game, the Purcell second year head coach said. “Those kids knew the assignment and they knocked it out of the park with their chants and relentless energy. I love the home court advantage they provide!

“This game had everything one wants in a rivalry,” Lohn said. “I thought even though we started slow, we really performed well defensively.

“It is out of character for us to give up 19 points in a quarter, let alone the first. We have to give credit to Washington for their execution and aggressive play on the offensive end.”

Washington eventually stretched their margin to a 29-20 advantage at intermission.

“They simply came out with a better approach and that is on me to fix,” the coach admitted.

“We also faced some adversity with Jaime exiting the game injured, but I liked how we embraced the “next man up” mentality.

Drew Blair chipped in eight points with Canaan Colburn right on his heels with seven.

We got some quality minutes from our bench, and Ryder Ward made a tremendous play in the final moments of OT with his steal and score that sealed the game,” Lohn said.

“It’s moments like that you love to see as a coach… kids making things happen  in crucial moments. It was a gutsy win. These kids needed to win a close one,” Lohn concluded.

Coach Toney Cooper’s Dragons took it on the chin by the Warriors, 76-24.

Halle Buchanan and Rylee Peoples led Purcell in scoring with each canning eight points.

The Dragons fell behind 27-8 at the end of the first quarter and never threatened. Washington led 47-16 at intermission and out-scored the Dragons 29-10 in the second half.

“It is rare for me to struggle to find positives in losses,” Cooper said. “This may be the first game that I feel that way about.”

“From the start we did not match their intensity. Turning the ball over 27 times, will always lead to a lopsided loss,” he confirmed.

“Taygan Winters gave us a spark off the bench with five. We were all so disappointed with everything about this game. We are such a better team than what we showed. I expect us to play better and have no doubt our kids will do just that,” Cooper concluded.

The girls took a 1-3 record to Bridge Creek Tuesday.

The Dragons play at Blanchard tonight (Thursday) and at Anadarko  Saturday night to close out the pre-holiday portion of their schedule.