It came down to manpower in the first-ever conference matchup between Orange and Seaforth.
While Orange’s defense contained Seaforth’s top scorer, the Hawks had the bodies to win in Hillsborough for the first time.
With a share of first place on the line in the Big 7 Conference, Seaforth’s Campbell Meador scored 18 points, including some clutch free throws in the final minute as the Hawks defeated Orange 48-43 at Panther Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
Seaforth is now tied with J.F. Webb for first place in the Big 7 at 6-1. Orange, which entered the game coming off a loss to J.F. Webb in Oxford, fell to 3-2 in conference play, 4-12 overall.
With senior guard J.T. Gray out with the flu, the Panthers had just eight players healthy. It left no room for Orange to have its top two scorers, Hector Garrido and Jalen Crayton, get in foul trouble. Sure enough, that’s the trap the Panthers fell into in the second quarter.
The Hawks overcame another dominant defensive performance by Crayton, who finished with eight blocks.
Garrido led Orange with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Crayton finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
The tandem of Garrido and Crayton pushed Orange out to a 10-5 lead with Garrido scoring three field goals in the opening quarter. Declan Lindquist, the leading scorer for Seaforth, was sidelined after two fouls in the first quarter.
The Hawks outscored the Panthers in the Panthers 20-6 in the second quarter. Meador started a 10-0 Seaforth run when he threw in a jump shot from the middle of the lane off a pass from Patrick Miller. Lindquist tied the game following an off-balance lay-up on a drive through the lane. Seaforth’s Cole Davis immediately stole the ball from Garrido, which led to a lay-in from Jackson Butcher off a smooth bounce pass from Lindquist.
Garrido was the only Panther to score in the second frame.
Seaforth built its lead to 38-27 going into the fourth quarter but Orange junior Weston Cheek hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. A free throw by Emerson Laskey cut the Hawks lead to 43-40 with 2:35 remaining. Garrido had a chance to tie with 1:48 remaining but missed a 3-pointer. Lindquist responded by shooting over Crayton on a 7-footer and scoring. Cheek drained a 3-pointer with 1:14 to cut the Hawks lead to 45-43, but Meador drained free throws in the final minute and Orange didn’t score again.
Women’s basketball: Seaforth 43, Orange 39
There’s a three-way tie for first place in the Big 7 Conference women’s standings going into the second half of the conference slate.
Katherine Leonard sank a 3-pointer, completing a 3-point trip with 3:00 remaining in the fourth quarter to put the Hawks ahead for good as Seaforth shook off a rare conference loss against South Granville by beating Orange in Hillsborough. In a defensive struggle, Orange got a field goal from Alexis Stephens off a stickback basket to go ahead 38-36 with 4:24 remaining, but didn’t get another field goal.
Leonard, who finished with 25 points, tied the game with a drive to the basket while getting fouled. Lariah Rodgers grabbed the rebound off a missed free throw and found Leonard for a 3-pointer on the wing.
Seaforth’s tight defense allowed just one field goal in the opening quarter, yet Orange only trailed 5-4 after the opening eight minutes.
Orange (9-6, 4-1) was led by Stephens with 13 points. Sophomore Kassidy Tolliver finished with ten points and 15 rebounds, her fifth consecutive double-double.
Orange senior guard Maura McMurtry drained a 3-pointer to give Orange its first lead at 8-5 with 4:08 remaining in the first half. McMurtry knocked down another 3-pointer at the first half buzzer to send the Lady Panthers into the locker room with a 13-12 lead, the last of six lead changes in the second quarter.
Orange, South Granville and Seaforth are tied for first place in the loss column in the Big 7 going into the final week of January.
