Orange County senior Josh Pugh has had his share of ups and downs this season, battling an ankle injury that limited his scoring, a step backwards from a junior year where he was able to fill it up on offense.
But Thursday night, when Orange needed a big play in the third quarter, Pugh was clutch. After Louisa County brought in several players off the bench looking to create a spark, Pugh made sure they didn’t have a chance, coming up with a monster block that eventually led to a Pugh bucket on the other end.
“That was big,” said Orange coach Keyode Rodgers. “He’s rebounded from (the ankle injury) and he hasn’t been the scoring machine that he was last year but he does the other things. He’s been a true captain, knowing that (he’s got to step aside) and let some other guys take control.”
Through the next quarter and a half Orange managed to keep Louisa, whose lack of production in the first half created an insurmountable hole, at bay as the Hornets rolled 64-56 in the Jefferson District quarterfinals. They’ll play the winner of Friday’s Charlottesville/Goochland matchup next Tuesday at 7:30 at Monticello in the semifinals.
With Pugh and sophomore Eric Washington (six points in the fourth quarter and several rebounds down the stretch) doing all the little things, that left Rahiem Cooper and Tyler Seal to do the heavy lifting. Cooper finished with 11 while Seal led the Hornets with 20. Seal made several incredibly athletic plays, including running down an errant long pass and knocking it back inbounds to Jamal Hunter who was underneath the basket for a 3-point play on a Louisa foul.
Washington was one of the most encouraging bright spots for Orange, and if he can play consistently, the Hornets, who are already bound for the Region II, Division 4 tournament, could finally have a big post presence to go with a group of fast, tough guards.
“He has talent, we’ve just got to work with him,” Seal said. “Tonight he showed up and played well.”
The Lions’ couldn’t get anything going in the first half, struggling to attack the Hornets’ zone defense with any kind of confidence. That put Louisa in a 31-18 hole at the break.
“I don’t think we came to play that first half and definitely rebounding killed us,” said Louisa coach Preston Gordon. “I don’t think we were as aggressive offensively as we should have been.”
Still, Louisa managed to fight back in the second half, closing the gap to eight at one point, but Orange came up with plays each time the Lions sliced into the advantage.
Anthony Hunter led Louisa with 16 points, exploding for four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.
“I had to pull him aside at a free throw and say ‘can you shoot the ball’, he said ‘yeah’ and I said ‘well start shooting’,” Gordon said. “It was as simple as that. I don’t know what took him so long to get going but by golly I wish it would have started earlier.”
Alan White had 14 for the Lions a well as their leading scorer managed to keep Louisa within striking distance. The Lions are also still within striking distance of a Region II playoff berth, as 12 Division 4 teams are eligible for the tournament, and eight make it in. Depending on what happens with the other district tournaments like the Evergreen, Louisa could be playing after the JD tournament is over, which means they’ll have to practice Friday and next week unsure if they’re going to be taking the floor again.
“We’re still waiting to hear something,” Gordon said. “I think our biggest chance was to win one of our last two games. Our chances would have been much better if we won one of those two.”
Louisa has made a massive set of improvements in Gordon’s fourth year, with a heartbreaking loss against Charlottesville earlier this week on Tuesday showing the significant progress the Lions made.
