The secret to walking away in style on any stage is leaving the audience wanting more.
In his final game at Orange High on Monday night, Panther senior J.T. Gray did exactly that.
With members of his fan club sitting in the front row of Orange’s student section, Gray scored a career-high 31 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field as the Panthers defeated Cedar Ridge 69-46 in the opening round of the Big 7 Conference Tournament on Monday night.
Orange (10-14), the #4 seed, advances to face Big 7 Regular Season champion Seaforth in the semifinals on Tuesday night in Pittsboro. It will be the second meeting between the Panthers and the Hawks in five days. Last Thursday, Orange upset Seaforth 40-39 when Hector Garrido hit a free throw with :2.9 left.
It was Orange’s 12th straight win over the Red Wolves.
James Faubert had nine points to lead Cedar Ridge, who end the season 6-17.
Gray hit two 3-pointers in the opening six minutes as Orange roared out to an 11-0 lead. Jack Kelsey, in his final game, provided an unlikely end to the dry spell with a 3-pointer with 1:49 remaining in the opening quarter, which triggered a 12-3 Red Wolf run bridging into the second quarter.
Senior Kevin Ntim scored off an offensive rebound to cut the Panther lead to 15-12, but Cedar Ridge was called for the first six fouls of the second quarter. Junior A.J. Seymore was ticketed for his third foul, which ruined the Red Wolves momentum. Nonetheless, a 3-pointer from Cedar Ridge’s Tripp Beasley cut Orange’s lead to 32-22 at halftime.
Orange started the second half on a 22-3 run, starting with 3-pointers from Gray and fellow senior Logan Edwards. Orange shot 14-of-19 in the third quarter, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range to built a 55-25 lead following a dunk by Jalen Crayton, who finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
Late in the third quarter, Garrido came up gimpy after a hard fall over Cedar Ridge’s Karter Wilson. It may have cost Garrido a chance at a triple-double. He sat out the fourth quarter after registering eleven points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Women’s Basketball: Orange 67, Cedar Ridge 29
Coming off a disappointing loss to Seaforth last Thursday that cost them the Big 7 Regular Season championship, the Orange women scored on its first six possessions and never trailed to open the Big 7 Conference Tournament against Cedar Ridge in Panther Gymnasium on Monday night.
Junior Lily Wilson tied the school record with seven 3-pointers to finish with 21 points as Orange, the #2 seed, improved to 16-7. The Lady Panthers will face South Granville in the semifinals at Seaforth High School on Wednesday night.
Cedar Ridge (3-19), the #7 seed, received nine points from sophomore Elliott Weisenfeld to end the season.
Orange drained eleven 3-pointers to force a running clock midway through the third quarter. Senior Maura McMurtry drained four shots from downtown to finish with 14 points. Senior center Alexis Stephens was the third Lady Panther in double figures with eleven points.
Stephens scored nine points in the opening quarter as Orange built a 22-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Wilson knocked down five 3-pointers in the second quarter as Orange started to pull away late in the first half.
Last week against South Granville, Wilson established her career-high with 25 points.
Cedar Ridge sophomore Kennedi Fearrington scored all five of her points in the second quarter.
Orange defeated Cedar Ridge for the sixth straight time.
Kassidy Tolliver, who played for Cedar Ridge as a freshman before transferring to Orange, finished with nine points for the Lady Panthers. Reserve Mia Blake came off the bench to score three points.
It was the final game for Cedar Ridge forward Hailey McLeod and guard Elaria Kamel.
