Purcell came out on fire last Saturday night at Marlow scoring nearly 30 points in the first quarter alone to smother the Lady Outlaws, 85-44.

The Dragons had a trio of players knock down treys during the scoring frolic.

Kenna Esparza, Haven Buchanan and Hannah Whitaker all had three baskets from downtown with Whitaker leading all scorers with 17.

Esparza chipped in 13 while the Buchanan sisters both finished in double figures. Haven finished with a dozen while Halle added 10.

That victory, coupled with a 60-30 victory over Comanche February 4 lifted the Dragons record to 11-9.

Esparza led all scorers in the Comanche victory with 19. She was joined in double figures by Tinley Winters with 11.

Winters led the Dragons in scoring with 12 in a 68-41 loss at Washington last Friday. The contest Saturday at Marlow was a make up game from a game missed in December.

“It is always such a unique opportunity anytime you can play one of the best teams in the state. Going in felt our girls were ready for the challenge. Washington came out aggressive and never let up.

“Their pressure forced us into season high turnovers and never allowed us to find a rhythm. Defensively, we could not string together enough stops to keep us in the game.

“We for sure did not play anywhere close to our best, against strong teams we have to match their intensity, their effort and their execution to have a chance to win,” Cooper said.

Playing back-to-back coming off the Washington game was a challenge,” the coach said. “Given the outcome of the previous night’s game we had to quickly turn the page and not carry it into a young, but hard working Marlow team.

“Shots were falling much better and much more frequent, which usually leads to a good performance by our team. We had balanced scoring from our starters and bench players. It was a good bounce back game and I was extremely proud of our effort,” he concluded.

Coach Matt Lohn’s Dragons beat up on Comanche, 58-36 behind the red-hot shooting of Jaime Resendiz with 19 and Seth Bunch with 11 points.

The Dragons came close but couldn’t get over the hump in losses to Washington and Marlow on Friday and Saturday nights.

The Dragons dug themselves into a big hole out of the gate at Washington but battled back only to come up on the short end of a 42-38 count. Brayden Tharp led the offense with 10 points.

Marlow pinned a 53-49 loss on the Dragons despite 10 points from Canaan Colburn.

“We didn’t start the game the way we wanted,” Lohn confirmed.

“Washington was the aggressor and much more physical than us. But the young men I coach never surrender.

“They spent the next three quarters killing themselves to get back in the game and as always, they dug their heels in on the defensive end. It was a heartbreaker, but it’s the little things when playing quality competition and rivals. Our margin for error is small and it got us against Washington,” Lohn said.

Purcell is 8-11.