Basketball Recap: Laylianah Mcbrayer's Big Game Can't Quite Lead Orange County over Gretna

If Orange County was riding high fresh off their 63-21 takedown of Martinsville last Thursday, their most recent game may have dampened their spirits a bit. The Orange County Fighting Hornets fell just short of the Gretna Hawks by a score of 59-56 on Friday. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest loss the Fighting Hornets have suffered since January 30th.

Several Fighting Hornets players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Laylianah McBrayer, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and 14 boards. Orange County is undefeated when McBrayer posts eight or more rebounds, but 3-4 otherwise. Chloe Hebert was another key player, dropping a double-double on 11 points and 17 rebounds.

Gretna's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Ashley Myers led the charge by going 8 of 16 on her way to 26 points. The dominant performance gave Myers a new career-high in points. The team also got some help courtesy of Chinara Miller, who went 7 of 16 on her way to 19 points and seven rebounds.

Orange County dropped their record down to 6-4 with the defeat, which was their third straight on the road. As for Gretna, the win made it two in a row for them and bumps their season record up to 7-2.

When Orange County and Gretna next hit the court, they'll be up against teams who recently just can't seem to lose. Orange County will try to stop Westmoreland's four-game winning streak when the meet at 7:30 p.m. on January 6, 2025. Orange County is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 62.1 points per game this season. Meanwhile, Gretna will try to stop Carlisle's three-game winning streak when the meet at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.