With the clock ticking down in the first quarter, Solon basketball player Delainey Durr received the ball in the right corner against Cascade.
Durr beat the closing defender, splashing a go-ahead 3-pointer at the buzzer. That shot broke a tie and gave the Spartans a three-point advantage entering the second frame.
It was a lead that the home team hung on to the rest of the way.
Backed by a 26-point performance by Durr, the Spartans (12-7) secured a 57-38 victory over Cascade (15-5) on Feb. 9.
Durr converted six 3-pointers.
“Honestly, I’ve just been really struggling from 3 a lot,” Durr said. “I think I made like one (3-pointer) in the past two games. I shoot a lot, spend a lot of time on it. I mean, numbers don’t lie. It’s just a matter of time before I make some shots again.”
Tenley Levin followed Durr with 16 points, while Laney Johnson chipped in nine.
The Spartans snapped the Cougars’ four-game unbeaten streak while ending their own two-game skid.
Solon looked vulnerable in the first quarter. Its offense looked feeble while its defense was called for five fouls in the first eight minutes. Somehow, the Spartans’ defense held the Cougars to eight points and two field goals in the opening frame.
Durr retaliated with her long-range shooting at a time when the home team needed juice. The senior accounted for all 11 of Solon’s points in the first quarter.
She converted two free throws and went 3-for-3 from deep in the first quarter, punctuated by a buzzer-beater from long range.
What followed was a complete shift for the home team. By the second quarter, the Spartans got the ball in the high post, collapsed Cascade’s defense and sprayed the ball out to open shooters.
Durr knocked down her fourth 3-pointer in a row in quarter two. She entered Monday’s contest averaging 14.8 points per game, a total that she nearly matched by halftime. She scored 14 of her 26 points before the break.
The Spartans held a 28-20 lead at halftime before that advantage ballooned to double digits in the second half.
Durr has led the team in 3-pointers over the past two seasons. She’s a long-range sniper who keeps defenders’ heads on a swivel — the type of knockdown shooter that commands a double-team.
She’s just as fierce on the opposite end of the court. She flashed her gritty, in-your-face defense in a fourth quarter where Solon held Cascade to three points in the last four minutes.
Durr has gained a reputation for her 3-point shooting, with a defense that is just as respectable. She’s a veteran for the Spartans, having played in 81 varsity games with 38 starts over the past four seasons.
That experience is proving valuable for the Spartans as they chase a deep postseason run in Class 4A.
“She was on two state tournament teams (and) a state title team and played for a state title,” said Solon coach Jamie Smith. “We’re going to miss her, so we’re kind of trying to hang on as long as we can. She means a lot.”
The win boosted the Spartans’ stock and gave Durr a surge of confidence in the final week of the regular season.
“We had a lot of frustration after the loss (to Independence on Feb. 6) so we just needed some confidence back,” Durr said. “Coach, he made a really good point before the game. He said, ’We need that confidence going into postseason,’ so I think that’s really going to help with that.”
Marc Ray is the high school sports reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He can be reached at MARay@gannett.com , and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Delainey Durr shines in Solon girls basketball’s win over Cascade
Reporting by Marc Ray, Iowa City Press-Citizen / Iowa City Press-Citizen
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