PHOTOS: West Orange hoops holds on for win against Ocoee | Observer Preps

OCOEE In a battle between neighboring rivals, the West Orange Warriors boys basketball team edged the host Ocoee Knights Saturday afternoon, 74-70.

After being down by six early into the third quarter, the Knights (6-14) stormed back to tie the game at 41.

West Orange (11-10) then went a run of its own, scoring nine-unanswered points to reclaim the lead. Ocoee trimmed the Warriors lead down to two at 52-50, but West Orange wouldn’t relinquish their lead as they finished the quarter up 56-50.

In the fourth quarter, Ocoee managed to come within three points of the Warriors halfway through the final frame, but that was the closest the Knights would get, as West Orange held on and went on to win by four points.

KJ Simon led West Orange with 18 points and DJ Harding tacked on 14 points.

Jamel Pierre led all scorers with 20 points for the Knights.

The Warriors will be back in action Jan. 30 when they go on the road to take on district rival Apopka (11-8).

Ocoee will look to bounce back on Jan. 29 when it celebrates senior night against the Colonial Grenadiers (8-11).