ORANGE PARK – When Middleburg High girls basketball coach Michael Hayward headed across town to meet up in the Raiderdome with the yet to be defeated host Orange Park High, he was looking for his squad to make it three in a row after the November loss to Bartram Trail.

“Coach (Fred) Cole is a pretty good coach and he is going to change some things up” said Hayward. “The girls calmed down and handled it.”

After getting off to a yawn-inspiring first quarter that didn’t see the first basket until the 6:32 mark, and an end of quarter sleepy 8-4 score in favor of Middleburg, the Thursday night crowd was settling in for a defensive low point game.

That was until the whistle sounded to start the second quarter.

The Broncos slapped the Raiders right in the face with a 19-point offensive attack that the Raiders could only respond back with their own 11 points. Middleburg kept the press on as they watched shot after Orange Park shot miss the net and they quickly rebounded right into a 49-40 road victory to end the Raider win streak at five in a row.

After the unimpressive first quarter, Middleburg had four players hit three pointers in the second quarter alone. Orange park just couldn’t get the hustle they needed into high gear and could do nothing with the Bronco outside attack.

“Tonight, we didn’t shoot well.” said Cole. “I keep telling them, don’t let your shots determine your energy, your energy should determine your shots. We missed a couple shots, they hit a couple of shots and we kind of hung our heads a little bit and they kept playing.”

Before going into the locker room down 27-15, Orange Park threw the ball up six times in 32 seconds to attempt a basket and finished the surge scoreless going into the lockers.

In the third, Bronco sophomore Britany Range was the lone Bronco point scorer from the floor. The only other player to help her team was Mallory Roney with two free throws.

“For us, it’s just a matter of us continuing to jell together” said Hayward of the early season. “The girls have good talent and a good understanding of the game; it’s just like putting a puzzle together and you’re just trying to get that piece to fit correctly. We’re just getting there. Each game I see them getting stronger and stronger; trusting one another.”

Meanwhile, in the locker room at the half, Orange Park must have passed around the sports drinks and changed something as they were finally able to keep up with the Broncos and keep the gap from widening using four different players contributing to the quarter. While still down 39-26, the difference only grew by one and the teams had eight minutes left to change the momentum.

Up by 13 with a quarter to play, Middleburg slowed things down and frustrated the Raiders with a heavy dose of pass clinic, keeping the ball out of Orange Park’s hands. When it was time for Middleburg to put it up, Hayward looked to freshman Emma Mussante off the bench to come through for him. Mussante was held scoreless up to the fourth quarter, outside of one second quarter field goal. Mussante would shine like a set of Christmas lights in the fourth, hitting six points from the inside. Junior Jamyah Harkins and Mallory Roney would each add another two for the 10-point quarter. Once Orange Park finally got their hands on the ball, they used four different players to rack up fourteen points. Outscoring the Broncos in the fourth helped the wounds from stinging so bad, but the difference coming into the quarter in combination with the slowed pace Middleburg used just couldn’t be overcome. With the 49-40 loss, the Broncos enjoyed an evening with three in a row, and Orange Park would head over to Ridgeview the next evening to start all over again.