Not only will the Orange women’s basketball team be in the 3A State Playoffs for the fourth time in five years, but head coach B.J. Condron will get to go home again.
On Saturday night, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association released its field of 64 for the 3A State Tournament. Orange received the #20 seed and will face #13 Southern Wayne in Dudley on Tuesday night.
Condron is a graduate of Southern Wayne High School and has joked he would wear his old basketball jersey on the sidelines if the Panthers faced the Saints in the state playoffs.
The winner of Orange-Southern Wayne will face the winner of #4 Cape Fear vs. #29 West Brunswick.
Last week, it appeared Orange was in position to play conference rival Walter Williams in the opening round of the state playoffs. It would have been the fourth matchup between the Lady Panthers and the Bulldogs this season. Southern Wayne, however, was one of several teams to shake up the playoff picture by winning its conference tournament.
The Saints captured the Quad County Conference Tournament on Friday night when they upset Fike 61-51 in the championship game. Fike captured the Quad County regular season championship after they went 13-1 in league play, which included wins over Southern Wayne by five and 21 points, respectively, during the regular season.
Southern Wayne (19-7) opened the year with four straight wins. They finished second in the Quad County Conference with a 12-4 mark.
Orange (14-12) is coming off one of its best halves of the season against Northwood in the semifinals of the Central Carolina Conference Tournament last Wednesday in Pittsboro. The Lady Panthers led CCC regular season champion Northwood 27-26 at halftime. The Chargers came back to win 63-53 behind Te’Keyah Bland, who scored 23 points. Guard Skylar Adams added 17 points.
On Friday night, Northwood completed its stint in the CCC (they will move to 2A next season) by beating Western Alamance 61-49 to take the CCC Tournament championship. Northwood ended its run in the conference by winning 42 consecutive league games, dating back to the Big 8 Conference. Northwood’s last conference loss came on January 7, 2020, when they fell to Chapel Hill.
Last Wednesday, Orange shot 8-of-10 from the field in the first quarter against the Chargers. That included 3-of-8 from 3-point range. Senior Nikayla Whitted finished with 13 points, including nine in the first quarter. Orange had only one turnover in the first quarter and led 19-13 at the end of the opening eight minutes.
Of course, Orange won’t travel to Dudley looking to just make the playoffs. In its last three playoff appearances, the Lady Panthers have been eliminated in the first round. Last season, the Lady Panthers had a excruciating loss to Fayetteville 71st where they played without center Erin Jordan-Cornell. Yet Orange dominated the Falcons early with dynamic 3-point shooting from senior Samantha George and freshman Evelyn George. The Lady Panthers led 40-23 at halftime.
Then Orange couldn’t buy a shot after halftime. 71st stormed back to outscore the Lady Panthers 45-13 in the second half to win 68-53.
Orange’s last win in the state playoffs came in 2017, when they defeated Havelock to reach the third round of the 3A State Playoffs.
Overall, five teams from the Central Carolina Conference reached the state playoffs.
Northwood, the defending 3A State Champions, received the #7 seed and will face nearby rival Lee County on Tuesday night in Pittsboro. Western Alamance will host a playoff game after they finished runner-up in the conference tournament. The Warriors received a #12 seed and will face #21 Wilson Hunt in Elon.
Walter Williams also will face a home game. The Bulldogs will host C.B. Aycock in the opening round in Burlington. Eastern Alamance, seeded #22, will travel to Fayetteville and take on Terry Sanford on Tuesday night. Orange defeated Eastern Alamance twice over the course of three days last week, which led to Orange getting a higher seed for the state playoffs.