Photo by Jacques Morin
On Saturday, Hector Garrido found his inner-Stephen Curry in the clutch against Apex.
On Monday, he found his inner-Nikola Jokic.
Garrido came three rebounds away from earning Orange’s second triple-double of the season. He finished with 25 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds as the Panthers defeated Carrboro 78-51 in the consolation round of the Southeast Alamance Holiday Hoopla Tournament in Haw River.
Orange (2-8) will face East Chapel Hill in the fifth place game at 2:00 on Monday afternoon.
On Saturday, Garrido drained a 3-pointer at the end of regulation as Orange roared back from a 20-point deficit to send its game against Apex to overtime. The Cougars would get a 3-pointer from Justin Boyle at the buzzer to break Orange’s heart 67-66 in the opening round.
The Panthers never trailed against its new Big 7 Conference rival, shooting a season-best 49% from the field. Orange hit eleven 3-pointers and had 22 assists on 28 field goals.
Senior J.T. Gray had a career-high 21 points. Orange shot 13-of-18 from the field in the second quarter, including five 3-pointers
Jake McGrath led Carrboro (0-10) with 21 points. The Panthers forced 19 turnovers. Garrido started the gam with a lay-in assisted by Gray. McGrath stuck a jumper on the next possession, leading to the game’s only tie.
Gray drained the first of his six 3-pointers on the day, which put Orange ahead for good. It was also Garrido’s first of a career-high 13 assists. Carrboro’s Finn Lewis knocked down a shot from downtown to reduce the Orange lead to 18-17 with 1:03 remaining in the first quarter.
The Panthers went on a 12-0 run to put the game away, starting when Jalen Crayton accepted an entry pass from Garrido for a lay-up. Garrido canned a 15-footer to end the opening stanza.
Gray scored 12 points in the second quarter, starting with a 3-pointer on the wing assisted by fellow senior Logan Edwards. Gray then assisted on a basket by Garrido in transition to increase the Panther lead to 27-17, an advantage that would remain in double digits the rest of the day.
Gray ended the first half with a 35 foot jumper that was ruled to have beaten the second quarter buzzer, sending Orange to the locker room with a 47-27 lead.
Orange would push the lead to 59-33 with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter after another 3-pointer from Gray. Crayton finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, five blocks and four steals.
Women’s basketball: Orange 56, Southern Alamance 10
Sophomore forward Kassidy Tolliver continued a strong tournament with 16 points and seven rebounds as Orange easily defeated former Central Conference rival Southern Alamance in the consolation bracket of the Southeast Alamance Holiday Hoopla Tournament on Monday morning.
The Lady Panthers (5-4), coming off a disappointing loss to Green Level, will face Green Hope in the fifth place game on Tuesday afternoon at 12:30.
Tolliver had 17 points against Green Level on Saturday. It was just two short of her career-high of 19 points, which came against Person when she played for Cedar Ridge last year.
After Southern’s Evelyn Garrison scored the opening field goal, the Lady Panthers scored 12 straight points and didn’t trail again. Senior point guard Maura McMurtry scored Orange’s first five points, including a 3-pointer assisted by Tolliver. In the waning minutes of the first quarter, Tolliver scored six straight points while the Orange defense held the Patriots without a point for over 4:30. Sophomore Kaylee Allen hit a 3-pointer to close the quarter to put Orange ahead 17-5.
Orange scored 20 unanswered points in the second quarter, starting with a jumper from senior Natalie Roberson off a pass from freshman Mia Albright, who finished with a career-high six assists. Tolliver scored three field goals in the second quarter. Kyla Mehl ended the first half with a lay-in off an assist from Allen to put Orange ahead 37-6 going into halftime.
Orange’s largest lead came after Mehl scored late in the third quarter to put Orange ahead 52-6 with 1:49 remaining in the third quarter.
This is the third straight year Orange has played in the Southeast Alamance Tournament. In each of the last two years, the Lady Panthers have finished in seventh place. Tuesday’s game will be its first-ever meeting against Green Hope.
