Quarterfinals matchup is an intriguing battle of stars

Don’t be surprised if Saturday’s Group AA, Division 4 quarterfinal game pitting Orange County and Courtland is a thriller.

Courtland has already beaten Orange twice this season, and both times the victory was convincing. But by the time the Hornets and Cougars tipoff for the third time, 7 p.m. at the Siegel Center in Richmond, more than two months will have passed since the last meeting.

Orange was one of the hottest teams in the state before a loss to Charlottesville in the regional final and by almost all accounts a much better team than the one that struggled against the Cougars early in the season.

It’s said so often it would be a cliché if it wasn’t so true, but it’s difficult to beat a good team three times. Even for a great team such as Courtland, topping the Hornets once more — this time just two wins away from the state title game — would be a tremendous feat.

But if Saturday’s rematch goes down as a classic, it will likely be because it pits arguably the state’s two best schoolboy athletes against each other. Orange’s Quintin Hunter will play football at Virginia next season, but if he had decided to pursue a basketball career, he likely could have earned a scholarship to play that sport.

Courtland’s Josh Hairston is just a junior, but already told Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski he’ll play for the Blue Devils in college. In their first meeting, Hairston scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Hunter scored 35 in that game and averaged 33.5 points in the regular season matchups.

Look for both players to have big games again on Saturday and don’t be shocked if this time Hunter’s Hornets come out on top.

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Madison County is also involved in state quarterfinal action on Saturday. The start of the Mountaineers game at Monticello High School in Charlottesville has been changed to 6 p.m. Madison boasts some impressive athletes of its own with Jerel Carter, David Falk and Logan Terrell leading the way, but the 27-0 Mountaineers won’t have a free pass to Richmond, site of the Group A, Division 2 semifinals.

Madison faces Northampton, the Region A runner up. Despite the Yellow Jackets loss to Lancaster in the regional championship game, they have solid credentials.

Northampton claimed both the regular season and tournament championships in the Eastern Shores District and are led by a solid 1-2 punch of Chris Edwards and Jermaine Smith.

Edwards was rated one of the top-60 Group A players in Virginia by Rivals.com and Smith scored 19 points to lead the Jackets in their district title game. It’s been a balanced attack for Northampton all season with four Yellow Jackets scoring 15 points or more in the that victory against Arcadia.

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In private school action, the Highland girls advanced to today’s state semifinals with a 47-42 victory against Seton School on Wednesday.

Toni Cataldi led the Hawks with 17 points. Ella Miller scored 12 and Shendi Joseph scored eight for Donald O’Meara’s squad, which advanced to the Virginia Independent Schools semifinals for the fifth consecutive season.

Highland plays at Paul VI High School in Fairfax. Tipoff is 4 p.m.