Durst heeds coach’s advice and lets it fly, scoring career-high 27 points in crosstown showdown

QUINCY — Jenna Durst didn’t feel the vibes. 

“I didn’t really think the first two I shot were very good,” the Quincy Notre Dame junior forward said of her 3-point attempts from the left wing and the top of the key in the first 35 seconds of Tuesday night’s game against the Quincy High School girls basketball team. “I didn’t think they were going in.”

Raiders coach Eric Orne had a different view.

“Those first two looked pure,” Orne said.

So did the third and the fourth and nearly every shot Durst attempted thereafter in the Raiders’ 66-55 victory at Blue Devil Gym.

“I’ve had a lot of fun playing basketball in my life,” Durst said. “But that may be at the top of my list now.”

Understandably so. Durst made five 3-pointers, scored a career-high 27 points and helped the Raiders gain needed separation in the second quarter that snowballed into holding the lead the remainder of the game. QND’s advantage grew to as many as 17 points in the second half before QHS pulled within 58-53 with 2:40 to play.

Durst answered, delivering a picture-perfect bounce pass to the post as Tristan Pieper scored uncontested at the rim to spark the Raiders’ 8-2 closing kick.

“We always try to get everybody involved,” Durst said. “Each person on our team played a big role in the win tonight. Even if it wasn’t points, they played good defense, rebounded, moved the ball really well and created shots for everyone.”

Specifically, they got the ball in Durst’s hands.

She buried those first two 3-point attempts, jumpstarting a 10-2 game-opening spurt. Trailing 17-15 after the first quarter, QND opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run with Durst hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Raiders a 20-17 lead.

QND never trailed again.

“They started going in and my teammates kept getting me the ball,” Durst said. “The more shots that go in makes it really encouraging. After I saw a few go in, I thought I could probably keep shooting.”

It was the message Orne delivered in the days leading up to the crosstown showdown.

“I’ve been talking to Jenna that maybe this is the night you turn it loose,” Orne said. “We knew they were going to guard Tristan hard. We knew Sage (Stratton) was going to have a tough assignment that would make things hard. So I thought Jenna would be able to get her shot off.

“The most important thing she did tonight was she initiated it early. She took that advice and let it fly. She had really good form and really locked in on what she was supposed to do when she got the ball.”

With the Blue Devils more intent in the second half to take away open 3-point looks, Durst began using dribble penetration to get to the rim and get quality looks from the field.

“It was really an all-around game,” Orne said.