MCLEANSVILLE–In the state basketball playoffs, the future is always uncertain and the end is always near.
For much of Tuesday night, it appeared Orange would make a quiet, swift exit in the opening round of the 5A State Playoffs. Trailing 50-40 against Northeast Guilford with 4:51 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Panthers started a late rally when senior Logan Edwards drained two 3-pointers to trim the Panther deficit to 52-46.
Then it got really dire.
After a blocked shot by Panther center Jalen Crayton, senior guard J.T. Gray drove in the lane and collided with Northeast’s Quamari McLeoud. Crayton grabbed the loose ball and scored, but Gray injured his right shoulder. He didn’t return.
Leading 52-48, the Rams milked the clock by taking the air out of the ball, but sophomore Carson James jumped an inbounds pass, stole the ball and laid it in to cut the Rams’ lead to 52-50 with one minute remaining. After a held ball, Orange’s Hector Garrido fouled out when he tried to block a shot from Savion Brooks.
Without Garrido and Gray, the Panthers were without their leading scorer, their best outside shooter and top two ball handlers.
Yet they still wouldn’t quit.
After Weston Cheek had a 3-point attempt nearly blocked into the parking lot by the Rams’ Zay Nixon, Cheek grabbed a loose ball on the inbounds and found Edwards for another 3-pointer with 36 seconds left.
Orange fouled Logan McMichael, who hit two free throws. The Panthers nearly threw the ball away on the subsequent inbounds, but James gathered the ball in and raced up court and fired up a 15-footer. It turned into a double clutch shot after Nixon got in his face. After the shot bounded off the rim, it rolled out to freshman Jakob Silinski, who fed Edwards. Amid the scramble, Edwards returned it to Silinski, who fired in a 3-pointer to send the Orange bench into a frenzy, tying the game with :14.1 left.
A late heave by Northeastern’s Brennan Foster missed, sending the game to overtime.
Orange could find a 3-pointer without Garrido and Gray. Managing an entire four-minute overtime period proved to be a whole new matter.
McMichael swirled in a 3-pointer on the opening possession of overtime and the Rams didn’t trail again, winning 69-61. The Rams, seeded #11, advanced to face #6 seeded Croatan on Thursday night in the round of 32.
Brooks led the Rams (18-9) with 19 points while Jamari Sheppard fouled out with ten points.
Garrido was the leading scorer for Orange with 15 points. Edwards, in his final game for Orange, finished with 12 points.
Orange ends the year 10-16.
“Resiliency,” said Orange coach Derryl Britt. “It’s something that I’ve been preaching all year long. It was something that I talked about when we came here. This team has been fighting through adversity all year long. From before tryouts even started, we’ve been fighting through adversity. Everything that we’ve gone through this year came to a head at the end of the season.”
This squad was under adversity dating back to last April’s basketball banquet when three-year starting point guard Kai Wade didn’t show up, a less-than-subtle indication he wouldn’t return for his senior year. He eventually left for Green County, Kentucky. Britt wasn’t anticipating a complete overhaul at the guard position, but that’s what he wound up with after backup Kamaal Smith departed for Eastern Alamance.
Yet the Panthers still found a way to stun Seaforth, the Big 7 Regular Season and Tournament champions, in the final week of the regular season when Garrido hit the game-winning free throw with :2.9 seconds left in a 40-39 win in Pittsboro.
“This team did a lot of growing up,” Britt said. “It’s tough to see your growth as you’re going through the adversity. But once you get through it and reflect back, we’re gonna be good. Because of the things we went through this year, this team will build for the future.”
