ELON–In previous years, it was a game that Orange would lose.
On the road in its Central Carolina Conference opener, the Panthers saw an 11-point lead trimmed down to two late in the third quarter against Western Alamance. The Panthers’ leading scorer, Coleman Cloer, just picked up his fourth foul.
The whistles and bounces were going against them but this Orange team is too skilled, and perhaps too young, to care. Probably because they know if one player drops off, another will fill the void.
Once again on Tuesday night, that person was Xandrell Pennix.
After being quiet for much of the night, Pennix scored eleven points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 6:07 remaining to break a 36-36 tie, which was followed by another 3-pointer by freshman Kai Wade. The Panthers would go on to defeat Western Alamance 57-45 at Coach Erma Adams Court.
Orange (7-2, 1-0 in the Central Carolina Conference) captured its first conference opener since 2018, when they defeated East Chapel Hill.
In his first conference game, Wade led Orange with 19 points. Cloer, another freshman, finished with 15 points. It’s the ninth time in nine games that Cloer has finished in double-digits.
Western Alamance (1-5, 0-1) was led by senior Brooks Allred, who scored 14 points.
Since the start of this season, Orange’s goal has been to reach the state playoffs for the first time since 2017. Every team’s state playoff hopes depends on what happens in conference play, which may have been why the Panthers opened the game tight.
In the opening quarter, Wade scored nine of the Panthers eleven points. The Panthers closed out the first half with a 12-2 run to take a 27-18 lead to the locker room.
Senior Darius Corbett drew from his experience as a centerback in soccer to steal the inbounds pass that opened the second half and score on a lay-in to give the Panthers 29-18 lead, its largest advantage of the game.
The Warriors fought back with a three-point play from center Nick McGhee, who finished with nine points. Allred canned a three-pointer to bring the Warriors within five points. Senior guard Kris Barnwell drained back-to-back field goals to whittle the Panthers’ lead down to one point, and the Warriors had three separate chances to take the lead late in the third quarter but failed.
Orange has already won four road games this season. Last year, the Panthers won three road games, including a win at Western Alamance in the Central Carolina Conference Tournament quarterback.
Women’s basketball: Western Alamance 58, Orange 33:
A barrage of 3-pointers from guards Allie Sykes and Bri Pulliam lifted Western Alamance past Orange in the women’s game to open the doubleheader on Tuesday night.
Pulliam scored 17 points for the Warriors (5-1, 1-0), while Sykes added 16. After a tough start, Orange held the Warriors without a field goal in the opening 4:32 of the second quarter. The Panthers whittled an early nine-point deficit down to a bucket, but the Warriors closed out the second quarter with eleven straight points to essentially put the game away.
Senior Nikayla Whitted knocked down two 3-pointers in the first quarter. Senior center Erin Jordan-Cornell was the only Lady Panthers in double figures with ten points. Whitted finished with nine.
Tina Bowers, who came into the game about three minutes into the first quarter, scored 13 points off the bench.
It’s the start of a difficult schedule for Orange to begin the CCC slate. On Wednesday night, the Panthers face the defending 3A State Champions, Northwood, in Hillsborough. On Friday, Orange will travel to Burlington to face Walter Williams, who finished second in the CCC last season.
The Orange women will travel to Southern Durham next Tuesday.