Orange Men’s Basketball

The Orange men’s basketball team has advanced to the semifinals  of the Central Carolina Conference Tournament. On Monday night, the Panthers pulled away from Cedar Ridge 83-61 at Orange High Gymnasium for its first home postseason win since 2017. The last time the Panthers captured a postseason victory, it was in the third round of the 3A State Playoffs when they defeated Triton. Orange seniors Darius Corbett, Kaleb Barnhardt, Isaiah Seymour, Thomas Locke and Caleb Barreto started on Friday night for their victory over Eastern Alamance that ended the regular season. Against the Eagles, all five of the Orange seniors scored, including Barreto getting five points. Barnhardt was crowned the Homecoming King last November at halftime of the Panthers’ football game against Cedar Ridge. Corbett was named All-Conference for the Orange soccer team last fall. A Captain, Corbett helped the Panthers reach the state playoffs for the first time since 2017. Isiah Seymour has started at center for portions of the last two years and scored seven points against Cedar Ridge on Monday night. The five Orange seniors will be on the bench on Wednesday night when the Panthers face Person in the CCC Tournament semifinals in Roxboro.

Orange’s Kaleb Bernhardt, Darius Corbett & Isaiah Seymour discuss win over Eastern Alamance

The Orange men’s basketball team has advanced to the semifinals of the Central Carolina Conference Tournament. On Monday night, the Panthers pulled away from Cedar Ridge 83-61 at Orange High Gymnasium for its first home postseason win since 2017.

When the odds are against you with your season on the line, the best you can do is go out swinging.

That’s what Cedar Ridge seniors Jonovan Wingate and Colton Taylor, in their final game, did against Orange on Monday night.

Facing an Orange team with an infusion of young talent that has taken it to the upper half of the Central Carolina Conference, Wingate injected hope for Cedar Ridge with two early 3-pointers and came away with a team-high 13 points on the night. Taylor added two more treys late.

Once again, it was the Panthers’ depth that carried it past its crosstown rival. This time, it was in the Central Carolina Conference Tournament.

Panther freshman Coleman Cloer scored 23 points while another freshman, Kai Wade, added 17 to lift Orange over Cedar Ridge 83-61 at Panther Gymnasium. The Panthers (17-6) advance to face Person in the semifinals on Wednesday night in Roxboro at 6PM.

Cloer is already at 503 career points with his freshman season not even over yet. He’s had twelve 20-point games this season and has scored in double figures in 23 of 24 games.

Cedar Ridge ends the season 6-16.

It’s the first time in six years that Orange is assured of a state playoff birth while playing in a conference tournament. By his own admission, Panthers coach Derryl Britt, to coin a term used by Queen in the 1980s, wants it all and wants it now. Which is why he was unhappy with his team’s first half.

“We’ve been working on some things and we expected them to work better,” Britt said. “When you’ve beaten a team twice already, it can be hard to get guys up to play sometimes. Our veteran guys haven’t been through postseason play. So trying to get them to understand not to play while watching the scoreboard, just to play the best basketball we can play, is a work in progress.”

In his final game for Cedar Ridge, senior Colton Taylor scored eleven points. It was the end of a whirlwind four months for first-year Red Wolves head coach Mike Jones, a former East Chapel Hill assistant who was hired just

“Jonovan played as well as he’s played all year,” Jones said. “Johnny shot the ball real well tonight. I’m real proud of him and I’m proud of my guys.”

A quick 10-0 burst by Orange early in the second quarter put the game out of reach. It started with a 3-pointer from Cloer, followed by a steal from Xandrell Pennix. Wade notched another steal and drove to the basket for a lay-in while getting fouled by Corin Wingate to take Orange’s lead to 31-16 with 6:46 remaining in the first half. Cloer added another 3-pointer.

Cedar Ridge fought back with a hook shot from Harrison Perel, followed by a 3-pointer from Wingate. Taylor hit five free throws in the second quarter, but the Panthers ended the run with another 3-pointer from Cloer.

It’s the second straight year that Orange has advanced in the CCC Tournament. It was their first home win in a tournament since they defeated Triton in the third round of the 2017 3A State Tournament.

Now that Jones’ first season is over, he will have something that he didn’t have from the moment he was hired: time.

He was forced to hit the ground running in November with barely enough time to get a team established, not to mention losing transfer Neco Clark to Southern Durham. He expects to take a month off before he gathers his team back for offseason workouts.

Despite the record, Jones maintained his enthusiasm during his first year as a head coach.

“It was up-and-down,” Jones said. “It was my first year. We learned a lot. I’ve learned a lot. I’m gonna grow a lot from this year. I think all of my kids, we grew as people. We grew as basketball players and I grew as a coach. I think the mindset is changing. The culture is changing. We don’t go into basketball games expecting to lose anymore. We go up and we fight. That’s the mindset. We’re just trying to get bigger, stronger, faster for next year.”

ORANGE 83, CEDAR RIDGE 61

CEDAR RIDGE: Colton Taylor 11, Landon Dalehite 9, Hayden KIrk 6, Braeden Wilbourn 2, Jonovan Wingate 13, Corin Wingate 4, Harrison Perel 10, Elijah Jenkins 2, Evan Marty 2, Brian Valentine 2.

ORANGE: Xandrell Pennix 7, Kai Wade 17, Ryan Honeycutt 14, Kaleb Barnhardt 4, Coleman Cloer 23, Ryan Moss 3, Isaiah Seymour 7, Malachi Poole 2, Caleb Barreto 4.

3-Pointers: CEDAR RIDGE 6 (Taylor 2, J. Wingate 3, Perel) Orange 6 (Cloer 4, Pennix, Wade, Moss)

PITTSBORO–It is February and by the end of this month, the Northwood men’s basketball team hope to secure a trip 14 miles up the road to play at Carmichael Arena for the 3A State Championship.

Six years ago, Northwood playing for a state title seemed like it was a million miles away. They were just another team looking up at Orange and Southern Durham slugging it out for first place for the Big 8 Conference Championship.

Now, the Chargers have not only secured its second straight Central Carolina Conference regular season championship, they’ve completely lapped the field.

Northwood (19-2, 10-0 in the CCC) went into Friday night’s game against Orange with the CCC title already intact with three games remaining in the regular season. The #1 ranked team among RPI in the 3A East Region, the Chargers never trailed in a 77-46 blowout of Orange on Senior Night at Chargers Gymnasium.

Junior Drake Powell, who has committed to play at UNC, led the Chargers with 23 points. Frederico Whitaker added 16 points as the Chargers won its 30th consecutive conference game.

Orange played without point guard Kai Wade, who had started the previous 22 games. Freshman Coleman Cloer paced the Panthers with 20 points, his eleventh 20-point game of his rookie season. Sophomore Xandrell Pennix added 12 from four 3-pointers.

Pennix’s three-pointer from the wing in the first quarter cut Northwood’s early lead to 8-6, but the Chargers reeled off eleven straight points to keep the lead in double-figures for the rest of the game. Northwood’s Jack Nicholson, one of three seniors honored on senior night, sank a 3-pointer to push the Chargers ahead 19-6, leading to an Orange timeout.

Without Wade, Orange struggled to generate offense. Their 46 points was the second-lowest total this year and fewest since they were held to 43 against Chapel Hill on November 22, the second game of the year.

This was Orange’s last regular season trip to Northwood as a conference opponent. Next season, the Chargers will drop down to 2A and join the Mid-Carolina Conference, which will have nine teams including the new Southeast Alamance.

Northwood is now guaranteed a bye into the Central Carolina Conference Tournament semifinals, which starts February 13.

The closest any CCC team has come to beating the Chargers this year came on January 13. Northwood defeated Eastern Alamance 47-31 in Pittsboro.

Orange’s next game will be against Eastern Alamance on Senior Night Friday night in Hillsborough. Seniors Darius Corbett, Isaiah Seymour, Thomas Loch and Cale Barreto will be honored. If Orange wins, they will secure third place in the CCC.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: NORTHWOOD 58, ORANGE 42

The Northwood women’s basketball team secured its fourth straight CCC regular season championship as they pulled away from Orange in Pittsboro.

Te’Keyah Bland, on her Senior Night, led the Chargers with 20 points as Northwood (18-4, 10-0) won its 38th conference conference game. The Chargers, the defending 3A State Champions, never trailed against Orange.

After the Chargers ran out to a 12 point lead, the Panthers fought back despite the absence of leading scorer Erin Jordan-Cornell, who missed the entire second quarter after she picked up her second foul. The Lady Panthers fought back to make it a five-point game after a lay-in by sophomore Evelyn George.

Bland helped the Chargers pull away with five straight points down the stretch, plus a three-pointer from Skylar Adams, who finished with 17 points.

Jordan-Cornell had eleven points for Orange to lead the Lady Panthers. Freshman Addie Atkins added eight points, including two 3-pointers in the second half.

The Chargers have beaten the Panthers nine straight times.

Northwood will receive a bye into the semifinals of the Central Carolina Conference Tournament, making another matchup against the Lady Panthers possible.

Orange (12-11, 5-6) will have its senior night game on Friday against Eastern Alamance. Seniors Erin Jordan-Cornell, Jada Reed, Nikayla Whitted and Katelyn Van Mater will be honored.

MEN’S BASKETBALL: NORTHWOOD 77, ORANGE 46

ORA–9    15     10     12-46

NOR–23     11    17   26-77

ORANGE: Xandrell Pennix 12, Coleman Cloer 20, Ryan Honeycutt 2, Malachi Poole 3, Ryan Moss 2, Freddy Sneed 4, Darius Corbett 3.

NORTHWOOD: Frederico Whitaker 16, Jack Nicholson 5, Kenan Parrish 11, Drake Powell 23, Max Frazier 8, Cam Fowler 5, Griffin Hobbs 6, Jake Leighton 3.

3-point goals: Orange 7 (Pennix 4, Cloer, Poole, Corbett) Northwood 4 (Whitaker 2, Nicholson, Powell).

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: NORTHWOOD 58, ORANGE 42

ORA–11    12    10   9-42

NOR–20   17    10   11-58

ORANGE: Jada Reed 6, Erin Jordan-Cornell 11, Addie Atkins 9, Evelyn George 7, Nikayla Whitted 3, Jada Reed 6, Katelyn Van Mater 4, Maura McMurtry 3.

NORTHWOOD: Natalia Whitaker 8, Te’Keyah Bland 20, Skylar Adams 17, Mikaylah Gover 2, Shaylah Glover 3, Alyla Roberts 4, Sarah Barbour 4.

3-point goals: Orange 4 (Atkins 2, Whitted, McMurtry); Northwood 3 (Bland, Adams, Roberts)

Fouled Out: Jordan-Cornell.

The return to relevance for the Orange men’s basketball team has been a long time coming, yet it’s practically happened overnight.

Behind three freshmen and a sophomore, the Panthers have gone from winning 20 games in the previous three years to 15 wins this season alone.

But there’s a downside. Orange has lost three games on shots in the last second this year. All of them have been painful. The latest was easily the most excruciating.

Person’s Isaiah Smith hit a bank shot with :1.5 remaining as the Rockets rallied from a 58-51 deficit with 3:22 remaining to defeat Orange 63-61 on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. The Rockets (16-4, 6-3 in the Central Carolina Conference) swept the season series from the Panthers.

Coleman Cloer led Orange with 21 points.

There was more than just bragging rights on the line between the two longtime rivals. Person now has the inside track towards hosting a potential semifinal game in the Central Carolina Conference tournament later this month. Plus, Person came into Tuesday night ranked #14 in the 3A East region RPI rankings—one spot ahead of Orange. According to the latest RPI rankings, Person would face Orange in the 1st round of the state playoffs in Roxboro.

It was such a painful loss, Orange coach Derryl Britt completed the handshake lane, then sat on the front row of bleachers behind the scorer’s table with a despondent look on his face for five minutes before finally leaving to talk to his team. His mood grew more inconsolable as the ramifications of the loss sank in as he sat inside his office.

If Orange had held on to a late lead and prevailed, there’s a chance they could have hosted an opening round game in the state playoffs, something that hasn’t happened since 2017.

It felt like Tuesday night was the night for Orange to beat Person for the first time in eight years. The Panthers led a majority of the second half and had Rockets’ forward Lance Clarke, who scored 30 points in the first matchup between the two teams, plagued with foul trouble. Clarke came away with only seven points.

Cloer scored with 4:17 remaining as he glided down the lane and completed a right-hand finger rolll to put the Panthers ahead 56-51. It was Orange’s final field goal of the game, but they still built their lead to 58-51 after Cloer made two free throws with 3:22 remaining.

In a game of runs, Person had the final one–a 12-5 spree down the final minutes. Most of it came from Julian Crawley, who finished with a game-high 24 points. Crawley started the comeback with a lay-in off a pass from Hodge on an Orange defensive breakdown that left Britt furious. After Orange’s Freddy Sneed missed a one-hand runner, Crawley hit a turnaround jumper to cut Orange’s lead to 58-55. Orange immediately threw the ball away on its next possession.

Crawley missed a 15-footer, which was rebounded by Cloer. Smith stole the ball away from Cloer to force a turnover. With 1:43 remaining, Crawley missed a three-pointer, but Honeycutt was called for a foul on Hodge, who knocked down his only free throws of the game to whittle the Orange lead to 58-57.

Malachi Poole missed a 3-pointer, which was rebounded by Crawley, who fed Hodge for a breakaway lay-in to put the Rockets’ ahead 59-58 with :56 left. Honeycutt put Orange back ahead with two free throws after he was fouled by Hodge. Smith drove down the lane and fed it to Crawley, who laid it in to put the Rockets ahead with 22 seconds remaining.

After Kai Wade split two free throws to even the game, Smith banked in the game-winning basket over Poole. It was Smith’s only field goal of the second half.

Earlier in the third quarter, Person built a seven-point lead that was erased after Cloer drained a 25-foot 3-pointer, followed by two lay-ins by Wade, who finished with 14 points.

In the second quarter, Orange had an eight-point lead that was erased by Person reserve guard Quante Bowman, who went on a personal 8-0 run, concluding with a 3-pointer that evened the contest at 24-24.

Orange will travel to Northwood on Friday night. The Panthers will host Eastern Alamance for its regular season finale on February 10 in Hillsborough. It will be senior night for Darius Corbett, Isaiah Seymour, Thomas Loch and Caleb Barreto.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: ORANGE 60, PERSON 29

After a sluggish first half, the Orange women’s basketball team sued a 26-0 run in the second half to pull away from Person and win 60-29, completing a sweep of the regular season series.

After Person’s Paige Jay knocked down a free throw to pull the Rockets within two points early in the third quarter, the Panthers held the Rockets scoreless for over eight minutes. Lady Panthers senior Erin Jordan-Cornell led all scorers with 16 points. Senior Jada Reed finished with 13 points, while sophomore Evelyn George added eleven.

Orange went to a full-court press to shut down the Person offense. In turn, that kick-started the Panthers transition game, which led to the Panthers fourth straight win over Person.

Orange (12-10, 5-5 in the Central Carolina Conference) will travel to Northwood, the defending 3A State Champions, on Friday night in Pittsboro.

MEN’S BASKETBALL: PERSON 63, ORANGE 61

PERSON: 15   15   15   18-63

ORANGE: 15   12   18   16-61

PERSON: (Isaiah Smith 9, Julian Crawley 28, Lance Clarke 7, Jordan Lunsford 3, Romeo Snow 2, Quante Bowman 8, DaeJon Hodge 6)

ORANGE: (Mason Robinson 5, Kai Wade 14, Coleman Cloer 21, Ryan Honeycutt 8, Malachi Poole 5, Xandrell Pennix 6, Isaiah Seymour 2)

3-pointers: Person 2 (Bowman 2) Orange 8 (Pennix 2, Wade, Cloer 4, Poole).

Fouled out-none.

Women’s Basketball: Orange 60, Person 29

PERSON: 10    9    1    9–29

ORANGE: 10   12  22   16–60

PERSON: (Kayla Brown 10, McKayla Bradsher 5, Naveah Coleman 4, Paige Jay 3, Macey Bowes 5, Kelsey Jackson 2).

ORANGE: (Addie Atkins 8, Erin Jordan-Cornell 16, Evelyn George 11, Jada Reed 13, Nikayla Whitted 4, Maura McMurtry 2, Marshea Byrd 6)

3-pointers: Person 2 (Bradsher, Bowes) Orange 3 (Atkins 2, Reed)