On the heels of an 18-4 regular season – led by coaches Al and Constance Mitchell – Durant’s girls basketball team sprung into the 7A District 7 tournament as the bracket’s top seed.
“This group is one of our more talented teams, skill-wise,” coach Al Mitchell said. “They play as a unit, as a complete team, unselfish and very conscious of each other. They love to move the ball, they love to score, they rebound well, they defend well. No. 1 in the state in scoring, No. 9 in steals, they kicked butt this year. This was a good squad.”
The team’s success largely came on the back of their four star juniors, Maggie Lauber, Miani Mejia, Ki’Ajanae Gordon and Sophia Flair. All four girls averaged over 13 points per game this season, with Lauber leading the way with 17.5 points per game in addition to a team-high 3.6 assists per game. Flair’s 13.5 points per game and 9.5 rebounds per game left her just shy of averaging a double-double for the year.
“These are my sisters,” Lauber said about the group. “We’ve grown up together since the summer of freshman year, I love them all. The way they work, they don’t give up, they don’t put their heads down, I love them.”
With their No. 1 seeding, the Cougars earned a bye through the quarterfinal round, matching up with fourth seed Lakewood Ranch. With a district championship appearance on the line, Durant cruised past Lakewood Ranch, coming away with a 69-49 victory.
The charge was led by a pair of stellar double-double performances from Mejia and Flair. Mejia finished the contest with a team-high 23 points on 53 percent shooting from the field with a staggering 17 total rebounds, but Flair wasn’t far behind with 21 points and 14 rebounds of her own. Fellow junior Maggie Lauber also finished the game with double digit scoring, racking up 13 points on 75 percent shooting, while senior Kendra Davis added 10 rebounds.
Heading into the district final, it was yet another installment of the always-exciting Durant/Newsome rivalry. Just a week after Newsome had eliminated both Durant’s boys and girls soccer teams from their own respective district tournaments, Durant’s girls basketball team was able to exact revenge and claim the team’s first district title since 2016-2017 with a thrilling 55-52 win.
“It was a lot closer than we would have liked, but Newsome is an awesome team. They’re a great team,” Al Mitchell said. “Every year when we play Newsome, every game, they always give us a tough battle. No matter how good we are during the season, Newsome is always right there with us.”
“It’s been like this for the entire time that we’ve been coaching at Durant,” Constance Mitchell added. “I think it’s more mental than anything but it’s always been a struggle. Thank God we pulled it out this time.”
Durant started fast, opening the contest on a 9-2 run before Newsome charged back with a 12-point run of their own en route to a 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter Durant caught fire. A pair of 3-pointers from Davis and Mejia highlighted the run as the Cougars jumped out a seven-point lead in the period before ultimately taking a 25-22 lead into halftime.
The third quarter was a battle, with Newsome finding opportunity after opportunity to narrowly pull ahead while Durant clawed away to constantly keep pace with the Wolves’ scoring efforts. At the end of the third, Newsome had regained their advantage and found themselves with a 38-35 lead, just eight minutes away from securing the upset.
Davis opened the quarter with a huge 3-pointer to tie the game at 38-38 and two free throws from Mejia on the following possession took the lead back. As the fourth wore on, Durant looked as though they would finally pull away, building a 48-42 advantage before Newsome answered with a seven-point run and a 49-42 lead.
Tied 52-52 with 12.7 seconds remaining in the contest, Davis was fouled and sent to the line with a district championship hanging in the balance. After converting one of her two free throws for a slim, one-point lead, Durant was able to find one more crucial defensive stop before two more free throws from Lauber secured the 55-52 win.
Lauber finished the game with 13 points, just behind Mejia’s team-high 17.
“Tonight was absolutely crazy and I couldn’t have done it without my team,” Lauber said. “They definitely had my back, I had their back, the bench had our back by cheering and hyping us up, I couldn’t ask for a better team. I love all of my girls so much and I’m just so amazed, so proud of this season and how hard we’ve worked.”
Durant will kick off their regional tournament as the fourth seed, hosting five seed Riverview Sarasota on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m.