Hunter pours in 25 points and pulls down 10 rebounds in Orange victory

ORANGE – After Orange County pounded Culpeper by 23 points in the teams’ first meeting, the Hornets completed a season sweep of the Blue Devils Wednesday night. With both teams struggling to find an offensive rhythm, Orange (2-3) came away with a 77-69 victory.
Though neither team torched the nets, it was the Hornets who hit the offensive and defensive backboards to take control of the game early on. Orange outrebounded Culpeper
21-10 in the first half to take a 35-23 lead into the locker room.
“We’ve started preaching rebounding here because we’ve been outrebounded our last couple of games,” said Orange head coach Keyode Rogers. “We have to rebound better in all of our games.”
But the Hornets’ second win of the season was no run-away affair. Culpeper used a 10-1 run to close the third quarter and cut the Orange lead to 48-41, highlighted by a Bobby Zajkowski 3-pointer late in the period.
The Hornets responded midway through the fourth frame, pushing the lead to as much as 17 points before Culpeper slowly crept back into the contest. Cortez Rollins banged down five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter for 15 of his 27 points on the night to keep the Blue Devils in it.
“Cortez had a good night. I’m just waiting for him to find himself,” said Culpeper coach J.T. Thompson. “If he gets to a spot and gets set, he’s doing well.
While Rollins was working minor miracles to keep the Blue Devils close, Orange relied on senior leadership from Quintin Hunter to ward off Culpeper scoring surges. Hunter scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds on the night, including a crucial 3-point play midway through the fourth quarter that stymied a Culpeper spurt.
“He’s a true leader and he’s starting to realize what he needs to do for this team,” Rogers said. “Night in and night out, whether he’s tired or not, he’s going to put it on the line for us.”
D.J. Brown added 16 points for Orange while freshman point guard Tyler Seal chipped in 15 for the Hornets.