Friday night was the first time Orange and Hillside faced each other in a boys basketball conference game since 2004.
But milestones took a backseat for Panthers Coach Greg Motley. It was no substitute for teaching a lesson—-with a lengthy substitution.
“We had a lack of effort, “ said Motley. “We felt we had to work way harder than they were working, and we didn’t. We gave up too many second chances. If we had cut down on those, we could have made it a better game.”
When Hillside scored four times from offensive rebounds off missed dunks. Motley delivered a lesson about effort.
He benched his entire starting five with 4:01 remaining in the third quarter. They didn’t return until there was 3:36 left in the game.
When the starters left, Hillside led 46-31 after Orange went the first 4:05 without scoring. Behind reserves Machai Holt, Ryan Sellers, Jason Franklin, Eli Haithcock and Zyon Pettiford, the Panthers narrowed the deficit to 38-31 early in the fourth quarter.
By the end, Traylen Warren sank free throws and the Hornets, coming off a double overtime loss to Chapel Hill, defeated the Panthers 58-45. Warren led Hillside with 15, while Deontrae Brown had nine.
Mitch Portman paced Orange with ten, the only Panther in double figures. Haithcock, in his first game of the year, and Holt had eight each.
Despite the loss of Connor Crabtree and Logan Vosburg from last season, Orange is still a transition team. But Hillside was the rare team that could not only run with the Panthers, but they could rebound in transition.
“We knew they were a good transition team,” said Motley. “That was what we prepared for. We just turned the ball over too much against token pressure. They really didn’t pressure us that hard, we just didn’t do a good job holding on to the ball.”
Hillside also had superior depth. Hornets Coach Thurman Jordan played 13 players, ten of whom scored.
Orange jumped out to a 10-2 lead behind a three-pointer from Joey McMullin. The Panthers had only one more three-pointer the rest of the game, and McMullin was held to four points.
Hillside’s transition game cranked up in the second half, outscoring the Panthers 21-10. Warren scored six points in the frame and led 25-19 at the half
In the third quarter, Orange didn’t get any points from its starters. After Tarvarest Hargraves scored on a stickback basket off a missed dunk by Xavier Young, Motley benched his starting five.
Holt and Haithcock kept the Panthers in the game, along with a three-pointer from the freshman Franklin.
Orange is now 4-2, 1-1 in the Big 8. Hillside improved to 2-3, 0-1 in the Big 8.
Orange hosts Cedar Ridge on Tuesday at OHS.
HILLSIDE 58, ORANGE 45
ORANGE: Marquis Phelps 4, Mitch Portman 10, Morgan Paschall 4, Joey McMullin 4, Machai Holt 8, Eli Haithcock 8, Ryan Sellers 2, Jason Franklin 3, Matt Atherton 2.
HILLSIDE: Traylen Warren 15, Xavier Young 4, Damon Sanders 7, Brian Bullock 5, Deontrae Brown 9, Jysson Slate 4, Rod Bailey 2, Tarvarest Hargraves 4, Ja’lyn McIntosh 4, Drake Thompson 4.