Hornets headed to final

Over the past few weeks, Orange County’s basketball team has focused on defense, rebounding and free-throw shooting.

Now the Hornets are reaping the rewards of their hard work.

Orange executed those three aspects of its game to near-perfection on Tuesday night, as it knocked off top-seeded Charlottesville 71-63 in the semifinals of the Jefferson District tournament at Western Albemarle.

The Hornets have hit their stride in the past few games, winning three straight. They will play Western Albemarle in the tournament’s championship game on Friday night.

“Our defense is stepping up game by game,” Orange coach Keyode Rogers said. “The guys are buying into it at the right time, they’re finally getting into it, and they’re having fun with it. That’s been a key for us the past couple weeks — applying good pressure, playing good defense and playing team ball,”

The Hornets pushed the tempo and were able to get some easy baskets at the end of the first quarter. They finished the period with a 5-0 run, capped off by a 3-pointer by D.J. Brown.

Orange carried that momentum into the second quarter and continued to build on its lead. By halftime the Hornets extended the advantage to 35-25.

Brown and Quintin Hunter combined for 21 points by halftime, but they got some help from their supporting cast as Tyler Seal, Chad Galimore and Robert McBrayer all chipped in with baskets.

Orange clamped down on the defensive end, and did a good crashing the boards and limiting the Black Knights to one shot on most possessions.

The Hornets took control in the second half, opening the third quarter with a 10-3 run. Orange led by as many as 17 points before Charlottesville clawed its way back into the game.

“Orange came out ready to play and I thought they did a good job overall on both ends of the floor,” Charlottesville coach Mitch Minor said. “We got pretty complacent in the first half, but we picked up the tempo in the second half.”

Kevin Leatherwood carried Charlottesville for much of the game and finished with a team-high 23 points (15 in the first half). But Omari Minor was a big reason why the Black Knights were able to cut into the deficit late. Minor, who didn’t score until late in the third, was able to penetrate to the basket early and often in the fourth, and finished with 17 points.

Charlottesville, the regular-season champion, trimmed the lead to four before Orange took control again.

The Hornets did all the right things in the closing minutes, and went 7 for 10 from the free-throw line in the final 1:05 to help seal the win.

“They’re going to battle until the end, and they did,” Rogers said. “But it’s like a boxing match where you take a blow and keep fighting. We took a couple of their blows and we kept fighting.”

The Black Knights played without suspended starters Terrence Briggs and James Thompson.

Hunter, who is headed to the University of Virginia to play football, poured in a game-high 24 points to go along with 14 rebounds. Brown added 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks, while Spencer Jarrell contributed 10 points, including a 3-pointer with three minutes to play that gave his team some much-needed momentum.

Seal, a freshman point guard, finished with eight points, as did McBrayer, who got most of his points off of offensive putbacks.

“I think they’re taking pride in being a team,” Rogers said. “Quintin and D.J. are trusting their teammates, and they’re stepping up and playing well. That’s a big thing for us, playing as a team.”

Charlottesville has claimed one of the district’s two Region II tournament spots by virtue of its regular-season championship. The winner of Friday’s Orange-Western game will get the other position.