Orange Men’s Basketball

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There will be one final basketball doubleheader at Orange High this winter.

A difficult non-conference schedule led to the Orange men’s basketball team hosting a state playoff game for the second straight year.

The Orange women’s basketball team will host a state playoff game for the first time since 2019.

On Sunday, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association released the seeding for the state men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. Orange, which finished in third place in the Central Conference, received a #13 seed. The Panthers will host #20 C.B. Aycock in Hillsborough on Tuesday night in the opening round of the 3A State Tournament.

The Orange women, which reached the Central Conference Tournament championship game, received a #16 seed. The Lady Panthers will face Swansboro, the #17 seed from the Costal Conference in the opening round.

The Orange men’s team jumped ahead of Eastern Alamance in the final regular season RPI rankings released by the NCHSAA on Sunday morning. The Panthers played six games against teams that won their respective regular season conference championships. They defeated Voyager Academy, who finished 12-0 in the 1A Triangle North Athletic Conference, in the season-opener. They also won at Chapel Hill, which finished 3rd in the DAC Conference, and was one of only two teams to defeat Central Conference champion Person.

Though Eastern Alamance swept the regular season series from Orange to tie Person for a share of the conference regular season title, the Eagles also lost to Chapel Hill (65-37), Mt. Zion Christian Academy, whom the Panthers defeated 60-56 on November 22. The Eagles also dropped a game to Western Alamance, a squad the Panthers handily swept.

Most intriguing of all for Orange is the potential second-round matchup. The winner of Orange-C.B. Aycock will face either Person or Currituck County. The Panthers have played Person three times, with the total margin of victory being five points. On January 9, Person led 28-9 in Roxboro, but Orange roared back with its best outside shooting game of the season in a stunning 67-65 win in Roxboro.

On February 4, Person defeated Orange 53-52 in Hillsborough. Last Tuesday, Person’s Tyler Wilson scored on a stickback bucket at the buzzer to lift the Rockets over the Panthers 55-53.

Person (25-2), seeded #4, had both of its regular season losses come in a span of five days during January. They have avenged losses to Orange and Eastern Alamance this month and defeated both teams to win the Central Conference Tournament last week.

C.B. Aycock and Orange have one common opponent this season. East Wake, the champions of the Quad County Conference, defeated Orange 57-54 on December 27 in the South Granville Holiday Invitational when Jamal Tayborn hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in Creedmoor.

C.B. Aycock split the season series with East Wake. The Golden Falcons defeated East Wake 79-67 on December 20, just before the Warriors game against Orange. East Wake won the rematch 61-57 in Wendell.

C.B. Aycock is undefeated in February and takes an eight-game winning streak into the state playoffs. They haven’t lost since January 29.

Most likely, Tuesday will be the final home game for Orange seniors Xandrell Pennix, Freddy Sneed, Michael Clark, Ethan Ellis, Conrad Graham, Jamari McDaniel, Barrett Liner and Ian Wilson.

The Orange women’s basketball team surpassed Eastern Alamance in the final two weeks of the season to earn a home date in the state playoffs. Senior Shannon Murphy hit two free throws with one second remaining to push the Lady Panthers past Eastern Alamance 64-63 on February 18 in Hillsborough. Last week, the Panthers routed the Eagles 54-36 at Western Alamance to reach the title game of a conference tournament for the first time since 2017.

The winner of Orange-Swansboro will face either top-seeded Terry Sanford or #32 West Johnston.

Swansboro finished the regular season with five straight wins, including two victories over West Carteret in a span of eleven days to wind up in second place in the Coastal Conference. The Pirates (14-6) finished behind Croatan.

Orange (17-9) had a season-best six-game winning streak come to an end against Western Alamance in the Central Conference Tournament championship game in Hillsborough on Saturday. In all likelihood, it will be the final home game for Orange seniors Evelyn George, Marshea Byrd, Shannon Murphy, Chloe Caldwell, Bryce Jones and Rhiley Crabtree.

The last time the Orange women’s team hosted a state playoff game, it was 2019. Eastern Alamance upset Orange 57-52 in Hillsborough. The Lady Panthers last state playoff win came in 2017 when they defeated Havelock in the 2nd round behind 20 points from Kaylen Campbell, now a Lady Panthers assistant coach.

Photo by Ben McCormick of the Courier-Times 

As the handshake line formed, several celebratory Person players taunted the Orange student section by waving goodbye.

It was reminiscent, and probably inspired by, Damian Lillard when he scored 50 points, including a 3-pointer to eliminate the Oklahoma City Thunder from the 2019 playoffs.

But in the situation that played out on Tuesday night, Person was waving goodbye not just to their Hillsborough rivals for this year, but probably for the next four years as a conference rival.

If not longer.

If so, the Rockets got the last laugh.

Person’s Tyler Wilson scored on a stickback bucket as time expired to lift Person over Orange 55-53 in the Central Conference Tournament semifinals. The Rockets (24-2) will face Eastern Alamance for the Central Conference Tournament championship at Orange High either Friday or Saturday night.

It was the third time this year that a matchup between Orange and Person was decided by two points or less. The Panthers defeated the Rockets 67-65 in Roxboro on January 9. Two weeks ago, Person’s Tae Winstead scored off an offensive rebound with 1:51 remaining to put the Rockets ahead in a 53-52 win in Hillsborough.

There was another wild finish on Tuesday night. Xandrell Pennix drained a 3-pointer contested by Wilson to tie the game at 53-53 with :7.1 remaining. Pennix, who scored his 1,000th point in Monday’s quarterfinal win over Southern Alamance led the Panthers with 21 points.

On the final play of regulation, Person forward Lance Clarke found Quante Bowman, who drove the left baseline. Bowman put up a floater that banged off the rim. Winstead had a catch-and-shoot from point-blank range, but it missed. Wilson got his first offensive rebound of the game and got the ball of his fingertips and through the net just as the final second rolled off the clock.

Clarke led the Rockets with 28 points and seven rebounds.

In the game two weeks ago, Person outrebounded Orange 53-41, including 21 offensive rebounds. Orange played a more deliberate style and limited Person’s advantage on the boards to 40-35. The Panthers actually got more offensive rebounds 12-11. As it does so often between Person and Orange, the second half was nip-and-tuck. There were eight lead changes in the second half.

Clarke scored off a pass from Kyan Lunsford with 2:19 remaining to put the Rockets ahead 48-46. Orange reserve guard Kamaal Smith, who scored a career-high 12 points, sank two free throws. On the subsequent inbounds pass, Freddy Sneed poked it away at midcourt. Panther point guard Kai Wade threw to Sneed for a lay-in to put Orange ahead 50-48, but Sneed immediately went down with a cramp injury to his right leg.

The Rockets threw the ball away on its next possession. Leading 50-48 with the ball and 1:08 remaining, the Panthers coughed it off 75 feet from their basket when Lunsford poked the ball away, leading to Sneed being called for his fourth foul.

On the next play, Lunsford grabbed an offensive rebound and found Clarke, who drove over Smith, scored on a bank shot and drew Sneed’s fifth foul in the process. Clarke’s free throw put Person ahead 51-50. Orange turned the ball over again and Winstead drained two free throws with 38 seconds remaining.

Person started the game with five consecutive points, but Orange scored eleven in a row, holding the Rockets scoreless for 6:17. Wade scored seven of his ten points in the first quarter as the Panthers led 11-7 at the end of the first eight minutes.

Orange built a 23-17 lead in the first half after Pennix scored on a lay-in off a pass from Sneed. Person scored seven straight points to take its only lead of the second quarter, ending with a lay-in by Clarke off a sharp pass from Wilson. Wade drained a pull-up jumper to put the Panthers ahead 25-24 at the half.

Orange (18-8) will wait for the 3A State Playoff brackets to be released on Sunday. They’re hopeful of earning an opening round home state playoff game. Currently, the Panthers have the #12 RPI in the East Region.

Person had to win in order to keep its hopes alive for taking one of the top eleven seeds for the state tournament. Currently, the Rockets’ RPI is #4 in the latest 3A East Region rankings. If Eastern Alamance wins the tournament championship, the highest seed in the state playoffs that Person could receive would be #12.

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The Silent Assassin has done it. Xandrell Pennix scored his 1,000 point for the Orange men’s basketball team in its win over Southern Alamance to open the Central Conference Tournament on Monday night. Pennix had a season-high 21 points. His 1000th point came on a 16-foot jumper from the right of the lane to open the second half, leading to the game being stopped. Pennix was mobbed by his teammates and exchanged chest bumps with starters Kai Wade and Freddy Sneed. In his freshman season, Pennix spent the first half of the season on the junior varsity squad. After the South Granville Holiday Invitational, Pennix was called up to the varsity and played his first game against Person in Roxboro. In just his fourth varsity game, Pennix scored 13 points against Walter Williams. In 2022, Orange finished 8-17. Two years later, they would win the Central Conference championship regular season and postseason tournaments. Pennix was a large part of that success. He was second on the team averaging 12.8 points per game in his junior season, including a career-high 24 points against Chapel Hill on December 8, 2023. For the third year in a row, Pennix will join the Panthers in the 3A State Playoffs next week against an opponent to be determined.

Orange’s Xandrell Pennix discusses scoring 1,000 career points

The Silent Assassin has done it. Xandrell Pennix scored his 1,000 point for the Orange men’s basketball team in its win over Southern Alamance to open the Central Conference Tournament on Monday night. Pennix had a season-high 21 points.

The relationship between Xandrell Pennix and Derryl Britt is more than just player and coach.

It’s personal.

Pennix scored his 1,000th point in the Orange men’s basketball team’s win over Southern Alamance in the Central Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Panther Gymnasium on Monday night. Pennix eclipsed the plateau with a 15-foot jumper along the right wing, where it touched nothing but nylon. As the game was momentarily stopped, Pennix exchanged chest bumps with teammates Freddy Sneed and Kai Wade.

Pennix and Sneed were called up from the junior varsity team in 2021, a period of transition for Orange basketball. Two years later, they would help take Orange to the top of the Central Conference.

In a postgame chat, when he is asked how much Pennix helped him establish his footprint within the Orange program, Britt gets a distant look in his eyes.

It takes him a full 15 seconds to find the right words.

Because Pennix reminds Britt of the son he lost in 2008.

Just five days after reporting to boot camp at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, Derryl Lamont Britt Jr. died of an aneurysm at the age of 20.

“I’ve been a coach since I was 16 years old,” Britt said. “Of all the players I’ve ever had in my coaching career, Xandrell reminds me of my son the most. He’s quiet. He listens. He’s tenacious on defense. He can put the ball in the bucket with the best of them.”

Orange public address announcer David Gaddy introduces Pennix as the Silent Assassin. When Pennix does talk, his teammates know it’s something urgent.

Britt hails from the Commonwealth of Virginia, where Allen Iverson is an icon.

“That smaller frame guy who plays really, really tough was my son,” Britt said. “Xandrell plays that way and he’s not from there. He’s not afraid of any moment.”

Last season when Wade and Coleman Cloer were out with injuries, Britt was left searching for a point guard against Forsyth Country Day and East Chapel Hill. Pennix approached him and asked for the assignment, knowing he would face one ball hawk after another.

“He’s fearless and tough as nails,” Britt said.

Pennix finished with a season-high 21 points as the Panthers advanced to the conference tournament semifinals to face Person on Tuesday night. Orange will host the Rockets at 7:30 at Panther Gymnasium.

Pennix opened aggressively as the Patriots stood toe-to-toe with the Panthers early. Southern Alamance center Riley Warren scored eight points in the opening quarter. It appeared that Orange’s defense was still in recovery mode after a difficult loss to Eastern Alamance to finish the regular season on Friday. Early in the second quarter, the Patriots tied the score at 18-18 following a 3-pointer from Bo Day.

Pennix drained two 3-pointers in the second quarter as Orange pulled away. Wade and Hector Garrido added 3-poiners as the Panthers pushed its advantage to 42-21 at halftime. Pennix’s 1000th point was the first basket of the second half. Wade finished with 14 points.

The game marked the varsity debuts of Logan Edwards and L.J. Graves, who were called up from the junior varsity team for the postseason.

For the third year in a row, Orange and Person will square off in the Central Conference Tournament. Each matchup between the Rockets and the Panthers has been memorable this season.

On January 9th, Person led 28-9 early in the second quarter. The Panthers roared back to win in Roxboro despite Wade fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Two weeks ago, Person held off Orange 53-52 in Hillsborough. The Rockets are 23-2. Both of its losses came within five days last month, to Orange and Eastern Alamance.

Person defeated Cedar Ridge 63-54 in Roxboro on Monday night.

The Orange-Person game will be one of two games at Orange High on Tuesday night. In the opening game of the Central Conference semifinals, top-seeded Eastern Alamance will face Walter Williams. The Bulldogs edged Western Alamance 51-49 on Monday night in Burlington. The Eagles, the top-seed in the tournament, received a bye into the semifinals.

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With a share of the conference championship on the line on Senior Night, everyone in attendance for the latest–and possibly last–conference battle between Orange and Eastern Alamance expected the game to be everything, everywhere all at once.

On an utterly berzerk night, the game managed to hit every branch as it fell down the emotion tree.

Joy. Animosity. Anger. Exhilaration.

And, in the end for Orange, pain.

A fan was ejected. A mother walked onto the floor to check on her injured son carrying a shoe, possibly as a weapon. The scoreboard along opposite walls repeatedly went out in the fourth quarter as the game boiled down to a frantic finish because of a short inside the power plug along the visitors bleachers, which rocked up and down with Eagles fans as their team came back. The clock had to be reset several times.

Eastern Alamance, which finished in fifth place in the Central Conference just two years ago, came away from the madness with a share of the Central Conference championship.

Freshman Jonathan Williams sank two free throws with 33 seconds remaining and the Eagles came up with several defensive stops to beat Orange 61-57 in Hillsborough. The Eagles swept the season series from Orange and won in Hillsborough for the first time since the two schools became conference rivals again in 2021.

The Eagles ended the regular season tied with Person for the regular season crown with identical 10-2 records. After splitting with Person in the regular season, the Eagles earned the tiebreaker by sweeping third-place Orange. Person lost to the Panthers on January 9 in Roxboro.

Orange was looking to repeat as regular season champions. It would have been the first time in over 60 years that the Panthers had won consecutive regular season crowns. Instead, the Panthers will go into the Central Central Conference Tournament as the #3 seed. They will face Southern Alamance on Monday night at 7:30 in Hillsborough.

On his senior night, Michael Clark led Orange (17-7, 9-3) with 16 points.

Orange built a 43-31 lead with 3:05 remaining in the third quarter after two free throws from Kamaal Smith. Eastern freshman Mason Murphy started the rally when he scored on a drive to the basket while drawing a blocking foul on Ethan Ellis. The Eagles managed to get Orange point guard Kai Wade and forward Michael Clark in foul trouble as they chipped away at the Panther lead, which was reduced to 47-40 by the end of the third quarter.

Orange didn’t score in the opening 4:50 of the fourth quarter. The Panther offense got tentative after Wade picked up his fourth foul on a technical foul. The Eagles got 33 bench points, led by Ryan Tate, who had scored 22 points the entire season. On Friday night, he had a career-high 15 points. Sophomore Kobie Hester, who averaged 4.7 points per game, came off the bench to add 13 points, including a 3-point play that tied the game 47-47 with 6:28 remaining in regulation.

The Eagles completed a 12-0 run when Hester scored while getting fouled by Freddy Sneed, then Williams scored on a lay-in to put Eastern ahead 51-47. Wade fouled out for only the second time all year when he gambled and went for a steal with 3:37 remaining.

Ellis ended Orange’s long drought with a 3-pointer from the corner. Smith stole the subsequent inbounds pass, which led to Orange senior Xandrell Pennix getting fouled and sinking two free throws to give Orange the lead back.

Sneed created another steal and scored on a lay-in to extend Orange’s lead to 54-51. Hester made two free throws. Pennix was knocked to the floor after rebounding a miss by Hector Garrido, but was called for traveling. Tate found Williams for a lay-in to vault the Eagles back ahead 55-54.

Michael Clark briefly gave the Panthers the lead back when he stormed down the floor and scored while getting fouled by Williams with 39 seconds remaining. Clark’s subsequent free throw put the Panthers back ahead 56-55. Tate got free off on the wing, took a pass from Hester and scored on a jumper.

After a timeout, the Panthers threw the ball away on the inbounds pass, which left Orange coach Derryl Britt so broken, he wrapped his arms around assistant Lemont Jones in remorse.

Williams drove down the floor and was hacked by Clark with 15 seconds remaining. It was Clark’s fifth foul.

The Panthers missed two free throws with two seconds remaining.

Eastern Alamance will receive a bye into the semifinals of the conference tournament and face either Walter Williams or Western Alamance on Tuesday night in Hillsborough.