As the only senior on the Solon Spartans girls’ basketball team, every shot, every celebration, and every huddle means Delainey Durr is one step closer to the end.

So the fact that her three point shot had gone cold over the last few games didn’t sit well with her. She was 1-for-4 from deep at Williamsburg last Monday, and 0-for-7 against Independence on Friday.

“I shoot a lot. I spend a lot of time on it,” she said. “It was just a matter of time before I made some shots again.”

With the shot clock on her high school career winding down, Durr bounced back and scored 26 points to power Solon to a 57-38 win over #14 Cascade on Monday night.

Less than two minutes into the game, Durr knocked down her first triple. And then she did it again 40 seconds later.

“When the ball goes in, [offense] looks a lot better,” Head Coach Jamie Smith said. “Looked pretty good tonight.”

With each shot, the crowd’s cheers grew louder, orange and black pom-poms stayed waving in the air longer, and Durr’s confidence grew.

Six points turned into eight, which became 11 after a last second three at the end of the first quarter. When the Spartans returned to the bench, Durr was the only one in the scoring column. Solon led 11-8.

“I was really frustrated after the game on Friday, so I was just ready to come out and destroy someone,” she said.

In the second quarter, Durr came out the break creating havoc on defense, coming up with two steals in the first 90 seconds before Tenley Levin became the second Spartan to find the bottom of the basket.

Durr canned her fourth three-pointer shortly after. A four-for-four start from deep. 14 of the first 16.

Coming out of the halftime break, she expanded her shot making catalog to the midrange, free throw line, and fast break, adding an additional six points to push her total to 20.

Then in the fourth, she drilled two more threes, bookending a stretch of four in a row for the team that took the game from competitive to a blowout.

Even though the Spartans’ white and orange warmup shirts say “PTM,” standing for “Program, Team, Me” in order of importance, Smith took a moment after the game to highlight Durr as an individual.

“She’s meant a lot to me. I mean, I’ve been with her since she was in fifth grade,” Smith said. “We’re gonna miss her so we’re kind of trying to hang on as long as we can.”

Solon built off Monday’s performance by dismantling the winless Vinton-Shellsburg Vikings 82-12 on Tuesday. Tenley Levin led the way with 21 points, while Durr scored 19 with a team high seven assists on her senior night.

Then, the Spartans finished up the regular season on Thursday night, where they beat Urbandale (3-18 on the season) 52-45 with a 29-point performance from Levin including four three-pointers.

Attention in Solon now shifts to the postseason, where they’ll look to make a run to the state tournament. The Lady Spartans are in Class 4A Region 6 this season. Fort Madison (13-8) and Keokuk (14-7) and Marion and Grinnell (both 7-14) squared off Wednesday, Feb. 18 in the quarterfinals. Central DeWitt (21-1, No. 6) and Solon (14-7, No. 12) will face the winners Saturday, Feb. 21.