Orange Women’s Basketball

There was a loud roar among the Orange women’s basketball players as the clock wound down in its 52-27 win over Northeast Guilford on Wednesday. They gathered around head coach B.J. Condron, who earned his 100th career win. Condron, an East Carolina graduate, has taken Orange to the state playoffs four times and won the 2017 Big 8 Conference regular season and tournament championship with a 26-2 record. More valuable than the wins has been the relationships Condron has developed with his player over the years. That was evident throughout this past week during the Eastern Guilford Basketball Showcase. On Wednesday, former Orange center Mia Davidson was on hand. Davidson, a starter on Orange’s 2017 state title team, is the all-time leading home run hitter in Mississippi State softball history. On Monday, former guard Grace Andrews was in attendance as Orange defeated Reidsville. Condron will start pursuit for another win on Tuesday when Orange, which is won seven of its last eight games, hosts Cedar Ridge inside Panther Gymnasium. You can hear that game on Hillsboroughsports.com starting at 6.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior basketball guard Aaliyah Harris. On December 7, Harris scored a season-high 18 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out seven assists as the Lady Panthers defeated Carrboro 68-36. That continued a string of eight straight games with double figure points, a streak that is still active. Against Riverside on December 10, Harris scored 13 points in a 62-16 victory over Riverside. Last week, Harris announced her commitment to play college basketball at Randolph-Macon College. So far this week, Harris has been impressive as Orange has won both of its games in the Eastern Guilford Holiday Showcase. On Monday afternoon, Harris scored 17 points as the Lady Panthers defeated Reidsville 74-50. On Tuesday night, Harris led all scorers with 22 points as the Lady Panthers defeated Eastern Guilford 71-45. Harris been a regular rotation player for Orange since her freshman year. This morning (Wednesday), Orange will face Northeast Guilford to conclude the Eastern Guilford Holiday Showcase. Orange coach B.J. Condron will go for his 100th career victory.

GIBSONVILLE–Playing the first game after Christmas in a holiday invitational can be a challenge.

Even the most seasoned squads can sometimes experience a holiday hangover after all the Christmas shopping, family get-togethers, days off and countless meals have faded over time and it comes time to play some basketball.

For Orange, that wasn’t the case in the opening round of the Eastern Guilford Basketball Showcase in Gibsonville on Monday. The Lady Panthers faced Reidsville in the first of six games on the Monday slate. While things grew tight in the second half, there was no holiday hangover to be found for Orange.

Instead, they greeted the early wakeup call with open arms. The players got up early for a shoot around in the auxiliary gymnasium at Eastern Guilford High School. This came a week after a pre-Christmas workout at the Cedar Grove Ruritan Club in order to keep their legs fresh.

“To be honest with you, I kinda liked it,” Orange women’s coach B.J. Condron said of playing the 11AM game. “We worked out for about an hour to get the rust off. The facilities here are so nice here, it was good to get here early. When you play the first game, there’s definitely a concern. We were kind of the first team to wake up.”

Senior guard Aaliyah Harris, who committed to Randolph-Macon College last week, scored 22 points as Orange (7-3) defeated Reidsville 71-45.

Orange led 42-26 with 4:50 remaining in the third quarter, but the Rams’ Kieva Perkins sparked a 14-2 run with a banked-in 3-pointer. Reidville’s Gracious Wise completed a 3-point play to cut Orange’s lead to 44-40 with 57 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Rams had a chance to cut Orange’s lead down to a single-basket, but were called for a 3-second violation. Subsequently, Jada Reed found Orange’s Samantha George on a diagonal pass, which led to a foul. George sank both free throws, followed by a steal and lay-in by Harris. From that point forward, the Lady Panthers finished the game on a 25-5 run.

Kieva Perkins led the Rams (2-2) with 21 points. Wise added 12 points, but the Rams scored only five points in the fourth quarter.

Perkins sank a running one-hander to cut Orange’s lead to 50-42, but the Rams didn’t score a field goal in the final 5:58. Orange freshman Evelyn George, who finished with ten points, sank a key 15-foot jumper on the next possession that jump started a run and put the game away. It was the fourth time this year that George has finished in double figures.

“Evelyn is putting herself in a position to get more time,” Condron said. “She’s one of our hardest workers and she’s shown that in practice time-and-time again and it’s really starting to pay off.”

The game also marked the return of All-Conference center Erin Jordan-Cornell, who last played against East Chapel Hill on November 30. Jordan-Cornell suffered a leg injury against the Wildcats, which caused her to miss seven games.

Against Reidsville, Jordan-Cornell started but found herself in foul trouble all day. She was limited to seven points and four rebounds.

“I think she did a good job,” Condron said. “Just getting her back in the grove of things, it was good to get her back out there.”

After the two teams finished the first quarter tied 16-16, the Lady Panthers held Reidsville to two field goals in the second quarter. Harris scored eight of her 22 points in the second frame, including two breakaway layups that pushed Orange’s lead briefly into double-digits.

This year, the Eastern Guilford Basketball Showcase isn’t a tournament, but simply three games between nonconfernece opponents across three days. The Lady Panthers, who finished 2nd in the Granville Central Holiday Tournament in 2019, will face Eastern Guilford on Tuesday night at 7:30. Orange will wrap up the event against Northeast Guilford on Wednesday morning at 11AM.

ORANGE 71, REIDSVILLE 45

ORANGE–Samantha George 13, Aaliyah Harris 22, Jada Reed 4, Jarmil Wingate 12, Erin Jordan-Cornell 7, Samantha George 10, Aisha Caron 3.

REIDSVILLE–Heaven Perkins 4, Kieva Perkins 21, Gracious Wise 12, Len Miller 2, Mariah Wilson 4, Morgan Hooper 2.

Playing in a holiday tournament for the first time since 2019, the Orange women’s basketball team pulled away from Reidsville 71-45 in the opening game of the Eastern Guilford Holiday Invitational in Gibsonville on Monday afternoon. The George sisters played a big role in Orange outscoring the Lady Rams 23-5 in the final quarter. Senior Samantha George scored 13 points, including seven in the second quarter. Samantha’s younger sister, Evelyn George, had a key bucket late in the third quarter after Reidsville reduced the Lady Panthers’ 15-point lead down to four. Evelyn scored ten points, her fourth game in double-figures this season. When they aren’t teammates in Orange uniforms, Samantha and Evelyn often face each other in 1-on-1 games in their backyards. Orange has won five of its last six games and is 7-3 on the season. This year, the Eastern Guilford Holiday Invitational is comprised of seven teams, so it isn’t a tournament. Orange will face Eastern Guilford on Tuesday night at 7 PM, then wrap up the tournament against Northeast Guilford on Wednesday morning at 11.

It was another strong night for the Wonder Twins as the Orange women’s basketball team won its first Central Carolina Conference game of the season. On Tuesday night, Orange defeated Western Alamance 54-46 at Panther Gymnasium for its third straight win. Senior Jarmil Wingate finished with eight points, seven rebounds, four steals, three steals and two blocks. The Lady Panthers have been shorthanded almost the entire season with injuries to its top two centers. Wingate has stepped in to fill the void and it has led the Lady Panthers to a solid start as they hope to return to the 3A State Playoffs this season. Wingate’s teammate and classmate, Aaliyah Harris, led Orange with 14 points. Wingate and Harris have played alongside each other since they were in sixth grade at Orange Middle School (then Stanford Middle School). Harris and Wingate, dubbed the Wonder Twins by this website, and the rest of the Lady Panthers will continue its season tonight against East Chapel Hill. They will host Walter Williams on Friday night before Christmas, then will start the Eastern Guilford Holiday Hoops Classic on December 27. That will be a three-day event.

Orange junior guard Jada Reed had a career-high 12 points in the Lady Panthers 62-16 win over Riverside at Panther Gymnasium on Friday night. Reed scored the game’s first field goal with a 3-pointer in the opening minute, which put the Lady Panthers ahead for good. Most memorably, Reed hit a 45-footer from midcourt at the third quarter buzzer to put Orange ahead 44-16. Aaliyah Harris led Orange with 13 points. Reed played several games on the varsity squad during her freshman year, and joined the varsity full-time during the pandemic shortened season last winter. Reed’s favorite players to watch are Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry and guard Skyler Diggins of the Phoenix Mercury. Orange will take a two-game winning streak into its next conference game, which is coming up Tuesday night against Western Alamance. The Lady Panthers have two more home games next week, which will be its final games before Christmas. Orange hosts East Chapel Hill on Thursday, then returns to Central Carolina Conference action against Walter Williams on Friday in Hillsborough.