PITTSBORO–By now, the Orange women’s basketball team knew the routine against South Granville.
After scoring 42 and 41 points in her previous two games against Orange, Vikings forward Lilah Penigar has long established herself as largely a one-woman team.
When the Lady Panthers and the Vikings met in the Big 7 Conference Tournament semifinals on Wednesday night, Orange coach Josh Underwood employed a triangle-and-two defense to defend Penigar to open the game.
This time, she finished with 39 and the Vikings played its most competitive game against Orange.
Once again, the Lady Panthers depth was too much against a South Granville squad that dressed just six players.
Lily Wilson, who scored 21 points against Cedar Ridge in the quarterfinals on Monday, finished with 23 off 7-of-15 shooting from 3-point range as Orange defeated South Granville 66-58 at Seaforth High School on Wednesday night. The Lady Panthers, seeded #2, advance to face Big 7 Regular Season champion Seaforth on Thursday night at 6 in Pittsboro.
On Wednesday, Seaforth rolled past Carrboro 76-35 in the other semifinal.
Last week, Wilson had a career-high 25 points at South Granville in a 71-50 Orange win.
On Wednesday, the Vikings led 48-47 early in the fourth quarter after Avery Wilson scored on a lay-in off a pass from Lisa Duke. Lily Wilson took a skip pass from Natalie Roberson for a 3-pointer to put the Lady Panthers ahead 50-49. It triggered a 11-2 Orange run that led them to its 17th win of the season.
On the next possession, South Granville’s Piper Van Ninjen fouled out, which cost the Vikings its top rebounder. With only one substitute available, the Vikings got worn out. Stephens finished with 10-of-13 from the foul line and scored 16 points. Sophomore Kassidy Tolliver had 2 points and four rebounds.
Wilson scored on a jump shot to increase the Orange lead to 56-51, which was followed by a layup by Tolliver off a long pass from Natalie Roberson.
Penigar, the third-highest scoring player in the state, fouled out in the final 30 seconds and South Granville actually finished the game with only four players on the floor.
Seaforth and Orange went into the final night of the regular season tied for first place in the Big 7 last week. The Hawks defeated the Panthers 59-36 in Pittsboro.
Big 7 Tournament Men’s Semifinals: Seaforth 49, Orange 36:
Four days after beating Seaforth in Pittsboro, Orange struggled offensively in a rematch against the Hawks in the Big 7 Tournament semifinals on Tuesday.
Campbell Meador scored 15 points as the Hawks shot 8-of-15 from 3-point range to defeat the Panthers to advance to the tournament championship game. Seaforth (16-6) will face South Granville for the Big 7 Tournament championship on Thursday night.
Employing a 1-3-1 zone trap, the Hawks forced ten steals as Orange finished with its second-lowest point total of the season.
Junior center Jalen Crayton was the only Panther in double-figures with 19 points.
Orange didn’t score a field goal in the opening quarter. Seaforth led 14-5 at the end of the first quarter as all of the Panthers offense came from the foul line. Meador, one of six Seaforth seniors, opened with seven points in the opening quarter. Junior center Jackson Butcher scored five points early before being ticketed for two fouls.
Orange reduced its deficit to 25-17 at halftime behind Crayton, who finally scored Orange’s first field goal with 5:36 remaining in the first half. Garrido drained the Panthers only 3-pointer of the first half.
Seaforth built its lead to 16 points in the third quarter behind two 3-pointers from junior Duncan Parker, who was the Hawks’ quarterback on the gridiron last fall. Only three Panthers scored the entire game. Hector Garrido finished with eight points while senior J.T. Gray finished with nine.
Senior Declan Lindquist, the Hawks’ leading scorer, finished with eleven points.
Seaforth has already captured its second conference championship in men’s basketball, joining its 2023 team.
Orange will go into the 5A State Playoffs with a 10-15 record.
