Recently, a big night from Mitch Portman has been a requirement for Orange to stay competitive in tight games.
Not so on Friday.
Portman had 21 points against Southern Peninsula in the quarterfinals, 22 against South Granville last Friday and 22 against Cedar Ridge, was held to a season-low three points against Northeast Guilford.
However, Joey McMullin and Morgan Paschall were there to fill the void.
Mullin scored 16 while Paschall had a season-high twelve as the Panthers defeated the Northeast Guilford Rams 57-48 in the semifnals of the Eastern Guilford Christmas Holiday Tourmanent in Gibsonville.
For the second year in a row, Orange will face Eastern Guilford for the tournament championship. On Friday night, the Wildcats defeated Graham 83-47.
Last year, Orange fell behind 17-2 to Eastern, but stormed back to win 74-60 behind 27 points from Connor Crabtree and 24 points from Logan Vosburg.
McMullin’s total was his best since opening the season with 37 points against the North Carolina School of Science and Math.
For Orange, Marquis Phelps had four points, Matt Atherton two, Machai Holt two, Eli Haithcock 6, Kendall Whitted 6, and Ryan Sellers 3.
Orange will face Eastern Guilford at EGHS at 8:30 on Saturday night.