With the game hanging in the balance, the Orange County girls basketball team stayed the course, continuing to apply its trademark pressure defense against William Monroe on Monday night.
The strategy paid off for the Hornets, who trailed by one in the final seconds of the game, but managed to get the ball back with 3.9 seconds remaining with a steal by Lindsey Slaughter.
After an Orange timeout, Lexi Lomax got the ball into the hands of senior Kiani Hudgens, who connected from 3-point range for the thrilling finish and the 59-57 victory.
“It definitely had my heart racing,” said Hudgens of the buzzer beater. “As a team we’re always pushed to play good defense, and as a leader I have to get everybody pumped up. Tonight we were able to accomplish that goal, which led to the win.”
Orange got a big boost when it went to the style the Hornets are most comfortable with too.
“We played a little bit of zone and we kept getting confused because that’s just not us,” he said. “So when the game is on the line, you go back to what got you to the game and that’s man-to-man, pressure the ball and pushing the ball up and down the court, and luckily it worked out for us.”
Orange (13-2) built a double-digit halftime lead thanks to its solid perimeter shooting. The Hornets connected on eight 3-pointers in the first half, including three consecutive late in the second quarter to extend their lead to 35-25 at halftime. Orange finished with 11 treys in the game. Laine Harrington drained six threes to pace the home team with 23 points.
“I have yet to play against a team that can shoot the outside shot as efficiently as they did,” William Monroe coach Jess Stafford said. “And it’s not like there weren’t hands in their face — they were knocking them down under pressure.”
A spectacular outing from Samantha Brunelle allowed the visitors to come roaring back in the third quarter. The 6-foot-2 freshman scored 15 points in the frame, including nine straight to pull the Greene Dragons within one, 46-45.
William Monroe took the lead as Brunelle found Makayla Morris in the corner, who nailed a jumper to give her team a 47-46 advantage.
Brunelle poured in a game-high 41 points, grabbed 22 rebounds and had six blocks.
“She’s one of the top players in the nation, forget about in the state or even in central Virginia,” Rabe said of Brunelle. “She’s going to get her points. The key is, can you slow her down enough to make somebody else score? When we went into halftime, she had 20 of their 25 points, so we tried to change some things up in the third quarter to try to somehow slow her down a little bit.”
The teams exchanged baskets for much of the fourth — in the final frame there were three ties and five lead changes alone.
Morris hit another long jumper to give the Dragons a 55-53 lead with 4:18 to play, but Orange retook the lead as Harrington connected from beyond the arc.
Brunelle converted a pair of free throws with 2:17 remaining and Monroe held a 57-56 advantage.
However, a late miscue proved to be costly down the stretch. The Dragons had 14 turnovers, including two in the final three and half minutes.
“We made some freshman plays,” Stafford said. “We’re young and you can tell we’re still learning and that’s the ultimate thing we take from this — how to finish a game like that against a team as good as Orange. We’ve been working hard and it’s definitely starting to pay off, but it stings.”
Hudgens finished with 13 points, nine assists and six rebounds, while Deja Wilson added nine points (all threes) and Sincere Cook pulled down six rebounds.
Both teams return to district play as William Monroe plays host to Central Wednesday while Orange entertains Fluvanna County on Thursday.
