By her standards, it had been a quiet night for Nikayla Whitted.
Facing the stifling, unrelenting, perimeter-focused defense of Eastern Alamance, Whitted had only mustered four shots from the field in the final minute of Orange’s Central Carolina Conference quarterfinal matchup against the Eagles in Mebane on Monday night.
With time running out in a game tied 31-31, Whitted took a skip pass from freshman Addie Atkins and drove past Eastern Alamance guard Tashawna Garner. Whitted attempted a running one-hander down the lane and ran into the arms of the Eagles’ Makayla Thompson, who was called for her fourth foul with :19.5 left.
Whitted had not attempted a free throw all night, but it didn’t stop her from calmly sinking both tosses to put Orange ahed 33-31
On the Eagles’ next possession, Thompson took the ball from forward Aliya Trollinger and found teammate Nicole Hester with a diagonal pass on the low right block. Orange center Erin Jordan-Cornell, trailing the play, got a piece of the ball from behind. It sailed over the rim and into the arms of Evelyn George.
A late, desperation 3-pointer by Garner missed at the buzzer, and Orange secured its second win over Eastern Alamance in three days.
The Lady Panthers (14-11) secured a spot in the semifinals, where they will travel to defending 3A State Champion Northwood on Wednesday night. The win also guaranteed Orange its third consecutive winning season.
Jordan-Cornell led the Lady Panthers with 18 points, 14 rebounds, two blocks and two steals. In an obligatory rockfight against Eastern Alamance, the Lady Panthers 2-3 zone infused headaches throughout the game for the Eagles, who nearly won despite shooting 18% from the field, including 1-of-15 from 3-point range.
The Lady Panthers built a 15-7 halftime lead, the largest by either squad on the night, after they held the Lady Eagles (13-12) to one point in the second quarter, which featured Eastern Alamance missing all seven of its field goal attempts.
George assisted on each of Orange’s opening two field goals of the second quarter, starting with a lay-in by Jordan-Cornell. After George blocked a shot by Thompson, she fed Maura McMurtry for the Lady Panthers’ only 3-pointer of the game. Seniors Katelyn Van Mater and Jada Reed each added baskets to push the Lady Panthers lead to 15-6. Only Garner’s free throw with 3:29 remaining in the first half kept the Eagles from getting shut out.
Eastern Alamance went over 15:50 without a field goal, yet still erased its eight-point deficit in just three-and-a-half minutes to open the second half. Thompson triggered a 10-2 run with a lay-in off a pass from Trollinger. Marion Scott’s two free throws evened the game at 17-17 with 5:44 left in the third quarter.
Garner missed the final minutes of the third quarter after she picked up her third foul, which allowed its guard more passing latitude to Jordan-Cornell and George in the paint. Jordan-Cornell scored a second-chance basket after an offensive rebound from George to put the Lady Panthers ahead 21-19 with 3:42 remaining in the third. Jordan-Cornell scored again off another stickback basket, but Scott struck back with a 15-footer. George ended the third quarter with her only field goal to put Orange ahead 25-21 at the end of the third quarter.
Orange jumped out to a 29-23 after Jordan-Cornell scored on a lau-up with 5:50 left in the game. Trollinger responded with the Eagles’ only 3-pointer of the night, followed by a free throw from Hester.
With Orange ahead 31-27 with 1:35 remaining, Garner took an offensive rebound and scored on a coast-to-coast lay-in while getting fouled by Jordan-Cornell. Garner completed the three-point play. Eastern Alamance’s Jada Graves grabbed the rebound after a missed Orange 3-pointer and Garner was fouled by Reed on a drive to the basket on a borderline call under the basket. Garner hit the first free throws to tie the game 31-31, but missed the second. Trollinger got an offensive rebound in the backcourt. After Eastern coach Tim Krotish called timeout, Trollinger missed a shot from the foul line that would have given the Eagles its first lead since it was 6-5, and George grabbed the rebound.
Orange has now won back-to-back games against the Eagles. Before the Lady Panthers’ win over the Eagles last Friday in Hillsborough, Eastern Alamance had beaten Orange six straight times.
ORANGE 33, EASTERN ALAMANCE 31
ORA: 6 9 10 8–33
EA: 6 1 14 10–31
ORANGE: Evelyn George 2, Nikayla Whitted 4, Jada Reed 6, Erin Jordan-Cornell 16, Maura McMurtry 3, Katelyn Van Mater 2.
EASTERN ALAMANCE: Tashawna Garner 8, Aliya Trollinger 9, Marion Scott 4, Nicole Hester 4, Makayla Thompson 6.
3-pointers: Orange (McMurtry) Eastern Alamance (Garner)
FOULED OUT-none.
REBOUNDS: ORANGE 42 (Jordan-Cornell 14), Eastern Alamance 37 (Hester 8)