Orloff, Elsbree Spearhead Upset Win Over Division Rival Eagles

Photo above: Hannah Orloff

MIDDLETOWN – Entering Thursday matchup against Freehold Township, No. 8 Middletown South (15-4, 10-2) was in position to clinch at least a tie for the A North championship for the first time since 2016 with a win over the young Patriots (13-7, 7-5).

However, super sophomores Hannah Orloff and Tanya Elsbree spoiled the party by directing a rally that saw Freehold Township overcome a 15-deficit, 36-21, midway through the third quarter to pull out a dramatic 47-46 upset win over Middletown South on the Eagles home floor.

Elsbree sank a game-tying three pointer with 11 seconds left in regulation time to send the game into overtime and Orloff, who scored a game-high 23 points with 10 boards and shot 73 percent from the free-throw line going 11-of-15 from the stipe, was 4-for-4 from the foul line in overtime, including sinking clutch back-to-back free throws with six seconds remaining in O.T. for the game winners.

“Oh my gosh,” a beaming Orloff gushed after the game. “Honestly, I knew going into this game when we played them the last time it was a close game but I wasn’t really sure what the outcome was going to be, especially when we were down 10-15 points. But everyone was on the same page and we were able to come back in the end and that was just incredible.”

After Orloff sank the first of two free throws to tie the game, 46-46, Middletown South called a time out to design a play and let Orloff think about it a little longer, which just added more pressure to an already pressure-packed moment.

“Honestly, my entire body felt like it was quivering a little bit,” said Orloff. “I knew I had to keep focusing straight in my head and after I made that first shot my coach (Mike Stoia) said, ‘Don’t worry Hannah I know you’re going to make it,’ and I said, ‘I don’t know coach do I look worried.’”

After Orloff calmly sank her second free throw to go up 47-46 with six seconds left, the Patriots quickly switched into a full-court press forcing a Middletown South’s inbound pass into the corner to Kayla Richardson, who was then boxed in by two defenders before heaving an errant pass as time ran out.

“She’s had an unbelievable year and nothing see does surprises me,” said Stoia of Orloff’s clutch performance. “I think if you notice, I’m the hardest on her. I almost expect her to make it every single time. I don’t expect her to miss a shot or a foul shot, miss a layup or knock in a rebound. I put unrealistic expectations on her, but she just runs with it and the team feeds off of it.”

Orloff and Elsbree combined to score 40 of the Patriots 47 points in the game, including all but four points in the second half and overtime.

Elsbree, who finished with 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, exploded for 15 of her 17 points in the second half and kept the Patriots within striking distance in the third quarter before igniting the rally late in the third.

“Tanya’s very good with the ball getting to the basket and it was working,” said Orloff of Elsbree’s fantastic second half. “She was going through people, getting to the basket. She knows how to play the defender and where the holes are and that makes her a very good player. She hit a really, really clutch three at the end there to up tie the game – that’s the type of player she is.”

The Patriots trailed by 10 points, 27-17, at the half before seeing the Eagles lead balloon to 15 points at the 4:09 mark of the third quarter.

From that point on, however, the Patriots outscored the Eagles 25-10 the rest of the way including a 15-3 advantage in the decisive fourth quarter when Elsbree scored seven points and Orloff six along with sophomore Madison Garze chipping in with two points in the fourth.

“We had opportunities but we were kind of rushing it,” said Stoia. “They’re a physical team and a lot bigger than us. So, one of the things we wanted to do was to wear them down and keep getting into the paint and I thought Tanya did a really nice job getting there and kind of disrupting what they wanted to do defensively. That helped us. In the first half, Hannah was really the only one who scored for us but once Tanya started scoring that opened some things up for us.”

The win itself was impressive enough for the Patriots, but when you throw in the fact that the starting five are all sophomores and there’s not a senior on the team that’s super impressive, almost unimaginable.

“I think we just played well as a team,” said Stoia. “Usually we do pretty well in this gym and have been able to compete, but haven’t been able to finish games. So, it was really nice to see the girls at the end of the game come together and make the plays, whether it was Tanya hitting the big three in regulation or Hannah just having a monster game across the board.

“Everything we’ve done this year is a growing experience,” added Stoia. “We start five sophomores. I’ve got nine sophomores and two juniors on the team. So, everything we’re doing now is building for the future and really one of the things we wanted to focus on is - the future is now for the girls, we’re good enough to win now. So, beating a program like Middletown South with Coach Brennan, who does a phenomenal job, and being on the right side of the game is a great experience not only for myself but for the kids and Freehold Township as a whole.”

Garze finished with four points while Kaylie Elsbree added three points, five boards, three assists and a steal in a nice all-around performance for the Patriots and Lindsey Lloyd chipped in with four rebounds, three steals and an assist.

Richardson led the Eagles with 17 points with 14 of them coming in the first half, Eve Pirie had 12 and Isla Brennan added eight points.

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