Photo by Jacques Morin
OXFORD–In an unpredictable women’s basketball conference race, Orange is now in first place in the Big 7.
Triggered by five 3-pointers in the first half from senior point guard Maura McMurtry, the Lady Panthers scored a season-high 50 points in the first half against Webb in Oxford on Friday night. Orange would put four players in double-figures to defeat the Warriors 76-36 inside Warriors Gymnasium.
Orange is now alone atop the Big 7 Conference with a 4-0 league mark following an eventful Friday night. While Orange took care of business in Oxford, just south of Interstate 85 in Creedmoor, South Granville upset Seaforth 41-25, knocking the Hawks into a tie for second place.
It was just the second conference loss in the four-plus year history of Seaforth High School. The Hawks are now 61-2 in conference games, winning its first 52 league games before falling to Southeast Alamance last February.
Orange will host Seaforth for its first-ever conference meeting on Tuesday night in Hillsborough.
Webb (4-10 overall, 1-4 in the Big 7) was led by Jasey Lee with 15 points. Lee was beset by foul trouble throughout the game.
After Webb’s Irayland Strickland scored on a jumper to put the Warriors ahead 6-5 in the opening minutes, Orange responded with a 16-4 run and was never challenged again. McMurtry opened the game with a 3-pointer assisted by fellow senior Natalie Roberson. McMurtry scored off a pass from junior Lily Wilson for a lay-in to put the Lady Panthers ahead for good.
Orange sophomore Kassidy Tolliver earned her fourth straight double-double and nearly earned her first triple-double. Tolliver finished with 16 points, ten rebounds and seven steals.
Senior Kyla Mehl came off the bench and cashed in on one breakaway lay-in after another throughout the second and third quarters to finished with a season-high 15 points. Mehl fell just short of her career-high of 18 points, set against Discovery Charter School last January.
Orange (9-5) earned a win in its first trip to Oxford since 2017.
Men’s basketball: J.F. Webb 73, Orange 70
There’s a theater stage adjacent to the floor inside Warriors Gymnasium. Considering the comedy of errors that unfolded in the game management of J.F. Webb’s first conference tilt with Orange in nine years, it would have made the Three Stooges and Forest Gump wince.
The scoreboard malfunctioned no less than three times, most notably when Orange was making a rally in the final minute after trailing practically the entire night. After Logan Edwards scored on a lay-in to reduce the Warriors lead to 72-65 with :21.2 remaining. Orange called timeout, but then the scoreboard malfunctioned again, completing erasing the score along with the time. The people who keep the scorebooks told the officials that there should be :21.2 remaining, the officials ordered 15 seconds.
Which made all the difference in the world when the Warriors threw the ball away on the subsequent inbounds pass, leading to Jalen Crayton scoring one free throw with :11.2 second left to cut the Warriors lead to 72-66.
Webb’s senior guard Daniel Wright surpassed 1,000 career points with a free throw midway through the second quarter. The Warriors (7-7, 4-1 in the Big 7) played only six players but was unfazed. Donovan Yancey scored 23 points as Webb knocked Orange out of the ranks of the undefeated.
Orange was ridden by foul trouble in the first half. It’s two top scorers, Hector Garrido and Jalen Crayton, each picked up three fouls in the first half. Garrido led the Panthers with 19 points before fouling out in the final minute.
The Warriors built a 20-point lead but Orange senior J.T. Gray scored seven consecutive points in the third period, including a four-point play. Gray would finish with 18 points.
All wasn’t loss for Orange. The South Granville men upset Seaforth on Friday. Going into this week, Orange, Seaforth and J.F. Webb are all tied for first place in the loss column in the Big 7 with one conference loss. The Panthers will host Seaforth on Tuesday night in Hillsborough.
