Grace Andrews has won a state softball championship playing in near-100 degree temperatures at N.C. State’s Dail Field. She’s won conference championships in basketball while enjoying macaroni and cheese as her favorite meal.
After Friday night, she can confidently say she has a hockey mentality.
Andrews chipped her front tooth during a scramble for a loose ball against Vance County at a point in the game when Orange was struggling. Her uniform was bloody, and while she briefly left the game, there was no consideration about calling it a night.
Not with the Lady Panthers already shorthanded at it is.
Without guard Mary Moss Wirt, the Lady Panthers finished with a 29-4 run in the final eight minutes to defeat Vance County 60-45 in Hillsborough on Friday night.
Orange sophomore guard Aaliyah Harris scored 20 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. Harris also had a season-high eight assists, six steals and six rebounds. It was the third time this season that Harris had 20 points or more in a game.
The Lady Panthers trailed 41-31 going into the fourth quarter after Vance’s Yumyah Hargrove scored a lay-in off a chest pass from Nashiya Branch at the end of the third quarter. Branch led the Vipers (7-5, 1-1) with 17 points, but she didn’t score in the second half.
Orange (7-3) won its third straight game to even its Big 8 Conference mark to 1-1.
“Really happy with the all around scoring we had,” said Orange coach B.J. Condron. “Erin Jordan-Cornell battled all night. We finally found her more in the 4th. She scored all 9 of her points in the 4th quarter.”
Jordan-Cornell, a freshman, scored all nine of her points in the fourth quarter. Andrews, Jarmil Wingate, and Jala Rainey also added nine points. Wingate had a career-high 14 rebounds.
Wirt, who injured her knee in the second quarter of the Carrboro game on December 12, missed her sixth straight game. Her absence has left an already young Orange team without a scorer who played in all 26 games as a freshman last season.
“She’s probably our best shooter, one of our better ball handlers and decision makers, and a leader on the court,” Condron said. “Right now she’s doing a great job being a leader off the court and other players are having to step up.”
Trailing 41-31, Orange opened the fourth quarter with 14 consecutive points. Harris assisted on the opening field goal by Jordan-Cornell, then Harris scored on back-to-back field goals off assists by Andrews, including a 3-pointer. Freshman Katelyn Van Mater took a pass from Harris and drained a six-footer to give Orange the lead for good. Wingate sank a critical 3-pointer from the corner off a relocation pass from Jordan-Cornell to increase Orange’s lead to 48-43.
It was a peculiar game offensively. Orange started the game on a 8-0 run off field goals from Andrews, Harris and Jala Rianey. After building a 16-6 lead, the Lady Panthers didn’t score a field goal in the second quarter, and went over ten minutes without a buckets overall. Vance reeled off a 22-5 run to take a 28-21 lead to the locker room. Branch hit a 3-pointer in the final minute of the second quarter.
Orange will host Cedar Ridge on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. Tipoff will be at 6. It was be the second game of a triple header. The junior variety boys game tips off a 4:30.