Orange Men’s Basketball

Retro Orange Panther of the Week for January 10: Jason Franklin

For this week’s retro Orange Panther of the Week, we journey back to the week starting January 10 and Orange senior basketball forward Jason Franklin. On January 11, Franklin led Orange with 20 points and ten rebounds at Cedar Ridge. Two nights later, Franklin led the Panthers once again with 20 points as Orange played Northwood tight in Pittsboro. The Chargers, who would go on to play in the 3A State Championship game, escaped with a 60-54 win. Franklin was one of Orange’s most dependable scorers over the past four years. This season, he averaged 16.6 points per game. He had a season high 24 points in a February 4 game against Southern Durham. Two days later, Franklin scored 23 points in Orange’s first win of the season, a 65-62 victory at Vance County. Franklin also scored four goals in his junior season for the Orange soccer team. After he graduates from Orange next month, Franklin will attend N.C. State with a focus on computer science. For Orange basketball fans, not seeing #4 on the floor will take some getting used to. After four years as a varsity player, Jason has made his mark in Orange basketball.

Retro Orange Panther of the Week: Jason Franklin

For this week’s retro Orange Panther of the Week, we journey back to the week starting January 10 and Orange senior basketball forward Jason Franklin. On January 11, Franklin led Orange with 20 points and ten rebounds at Cedar Ridge. Two nights later, Franklin led the Panthers once again with 20 points as Orange played Northwood tight in Pittsboro.

Alumni Update: McMullin announces transfer to Sandhills Community College

Joey McMullin: Former Orange basketball guard Joey McMullin has announced his transfer to Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst. This winter, McMullin played at Bryn Athyn College, a Division III school in Philadelphia. McMullin scored over 1,000 points in his Orange career. He was a regular starter for Orange’s 2016-17 team that captured the Big 8 Regular Season Championship and advanced to the 3A State Quarterfinals. In his final win at Orange, McMullin rolled up 36 points against Northern Durham. Sandhills Community College plays in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association. On Monday night, the Flyers advanced to the quarterfinals of the NJCAA National Championship with a win over John Wood Community College.

Mia Davidson: The Mississippi State softball team swept a doubleheader over Jackson State on Tuesday. Davidson hit home runs in both games, bringing her career total to 65. She is now tied for fourth in Southeastern Conference history with 65 career home runs. In Mississippi State’s opening 8-0 win in five innings, Davidson went 1-for-3. In the second game, Davidson launched a solo blast in the 3rd inning. The Bulldogs captured the nightcap 10-3. Davidson went 1-for-4. Also in the second game, Davidson split time at second base and at first base. She has now played every infield position for her career at Mississippi State. 10 of Davidson’s last 12 hits have left the ballpark.

Montana Davidson: Montana came off the bench to play third base for Mississippi State in both ends of the doubleheader against the Tigers. She went 1-for-2 in the opener. In the nightcap, Montana scored off a single by Chloe Malau’ulu in the fourth inning. Montana also went 1-for-2 in the second game. Mississippi State is 23-19 and will host Texas A&M for a three-game series starting Friday in Starkville.

Grace Andrews: On Monday, the Catawba Valley Community College softball team split a doubleheader against Florence-Darlington Tech at Highland Recreation Center in Hickory. In the opening game, Florence-Darlington edged the Red Hawks 3-2. Andrews went 0-for-3, which ended her nine-game hitting streak. In the second game, Andrews rebounded in the second game, going 2-for-3 with her seventh home run of the season as the Red Hawks whitewashed the Stingers 6-0. Through 28 games, Andrews leads or is tied for the team lead in four offensive categories: a .478 batting average with 44 hits, seven home runs (tied with Alleigh Himes for the team lead) and 32 RBIs. Andrews is second on the team with ten doubles.

Landon Riley: It took two-thirds of the season, but Riley finally surrendered a run for the Liberty Flames–albeit an unearned run. Duke defeated the Flames 7-0 on Tuesday at Worthington Field. It was Liberty’s first home loss of the season. In the eighth inning, Riley faced four batters. He surrendered one run off two hits and one walk. LIberty is 5-2 against the ACC this year. The Flames are still in first place in the Atlantic Sun Conference with an 11-2 mark, one game ahead of Kennesaw State. Liberty hosts Coastal Carolina starting Friday for a three-game nonconfernece series.

Kayla Hodges: After winning the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament Championship on Saturday, the Elon women’s soccer team will face Milwaukee to open the 48-team tournament at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary on Saturday. The winner will face Florida State, the #1 overall national seed, on May 1. Hodges has started all nine of the Phoenix’s games this season and was named 2nd-team All-Colonial Athletic Association last week.

Kate Burgess: The UNC Rowing team competed at Lake Hartwell, South Carolina last Saturday. The Tar Heels competed against Clemson and Oklahoma. The Tigers won with 81 points, while the Sooners finished with 70 points. The Tar Heels registered 65. Burgess was on UNC’s 2V4 crew, which defeated Clemson’s third and fourth boats with a time of 8:11.0.

Jaylin Jones: The Division III Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team won its eighth straight game on Sunday, rolling past Methodist 27-12 at Monarch Stadium in Fayetteville. Jaylin Jones, a former Orange High star, scooped up one ground ball for the Falcons. Pfeiffer’s eight consecutive home wins matches the school record set by the 1994 team. The Falcons host William Peace to wrap up the regular season on Friday.

Alumni Update: Davidson Ties Will Clark on Mississippi St. Home Run List

Mia Davidson: The Mississippi State softball team swept North Alabama in a doubleheader at Hilda B. Anderson Stadium in Florence, AL on Saturday. In the opening game, the Bulldogs trailed 7-1 at the end of five innings, but stormed back to win 9-7 in nine innings. It was Mississippi State’s largest comeback win since 2004. In the third inning, Davidson hit her 61st career home run, tying her with Will Clark on Mississippi State’s career home run list. She’s also now tied for sixth on the Southeastern Conference’s career home run list. In the opener, Davidson went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and two walks. She also drew a key walk that set up a grand slam by Fa Leilua that sparked the comeback. Mississippi State won the second game 9-1 in five innings, where Davidson went 0-for-2 with two walks. Last Wednesday, the Bulldogs edged Southern Miss 2-1 in nine innings. Davidson went 0-for-4 with one walk and one run scored.

Montana Davidson: Against Southern Miss last Wednesday, Montana had an RBI groundout which led to the first Mississippi State run. She finished 0-for-3 with the RBI. Against North Alabama, Montana started both games at third base. In the opener, Montana went 0-for-3 with two walks and a run scored. In the nightcap, Montana finished 1-for-3 and scored off a double by Leilua in the 4th inning. Mississippi State is 18-14 and will travel to Southeastern Louisiana today (Monday).

Jaden Hurdle: The Louisburg College softball team, #4 in the National Junior College Division II rankings, swept Patrick Henry Community College in a doubleheader in Martinsville, VA on Saturday. Hurdle started both games for Patrick Henry and went 0-for-6 combined in both games. Hurdle also started as pitcher in the second game. She threw five-and-one-third innings. She struck out five and conceded three runs and five hits. The Patriots are 8-12 overall, 4-4 in Region X of the NJCAA. Hurdle is hitting .396 over 18 games, which is 4th on the team. She has three home runs and 15 RBIs.

Marvin Jones: Another big week for the former Cedar Ridge Red Wolf. Jones was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Field Athlete of the Week after his performance last weekend at the Raleigh Relays, where he finished 2nd in the high jump. That was the MEAC’s best mark so far this outdoor season. On Saturday, Jones responded by winning the high jump competition at the VertKlasse Meeting in Dick Very Stadium at High Point University. Jones cleared 1.99 meters to take his first championship of the outdoor season for the Eagles. Tanner Henry of Wofford finished second at 1.94 meters.

Phillip Berger: Division III North Carolina Wesleyan baseball swept a three-game series from William Peace over the weekend at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary. Berger threw five-and-one-thirds innings of middle relief for the Pacers in the opening game of a doubleheader on Saturday, which the Battling Bishops won 4-0. Berger gave up seven hits, three runs, three walks with three strikeouts. So far this season, Berger is 2-2 with a 3.78 ERA in nine pitching appearance with four starts. Peace is 12-11 overall, 4-4 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Dylan Boyer: Boyer tallied another goal for the Queen’s men’s lacrosse team in a 22-6 win over Lincoln Memorial at Dickson Field in Charlotte on Saturday. Boyer scored on an unassisted goal with 3:18 remaining in the first quarter to put the Royals ahead 8-2. Queens, which is ranked #15 in Division II, improved to 6-3 overall, 6-1 in the South Atlantic Conference. Boyer has played in nine games thus far in his freshman season with one start. He has five goals and four assists with the Royals, who will travel to Limestone on Wednesday.

Olivia Ward: The former Cedar Ridge All-Big 8 tennis player won for Division III Methodist University at the Clayton Tennis Center in Fayetteville on Saturday. Ward defeated Hannah Smith of Southern Virginia in #3 singles 5-7, 6-1 and captured a 10-point tiebreaker 10-3 to take the match. Southern Virginia won the team match 7-2. Later in the day, the Lions defeated Pfeiffer 8-1 in its final home match of the year. Methodist is 5-11 overall, 2-0 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Adam Chnupa: The remaining game of the Elon football team’s season is in question. The Phoenix’s game against James Madison was postponed on Saturday because of COVID-19 protocols at Elon. A decision on rescheduling the contest will be made at a future date. This was supposed to be the regular season finale for Elon, who are 1-5 overall, 0-4 in the Colonial Athletic Association. Chnupa, a former All-Big 8 Conference linebacker at Cedar Ridge, has played in every game for the Phoenix this year.

Alumni Update: Hodges named CAA Defensive Player of the Week

Kayla Hodges: Elon Phoenix junior Kayla Hodges was named Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Player of the Week. Last week, Elon defeated James Madison in overtime 1-0. The Dukes fired 12 shots against Elon, but Hodges and the rest of the backline prevented any of the shots from getting on net. Hodges also had a shot on net in Sunday’s victory at Rudd Field. Elon is 2-1, 1-1 in the CAA. They host South Carolina on Thursday.

Brittany Daley: Division III Greensboro College played to a scoreless tie with Pfeiffer on Saturday at Pride Field in Greensboro. Daley made her 39th career start for the Pride, who are now 3-1-1 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Bailey Lucas: Lucas posted a double-double in Division III Meredith’s nightcap victory over North Carolina Wesleyan at Weatherspoon Gym in Raleigh on Saturday. Lucas had 24 assists and eleven kills as the Avenging Angels won the second match of a doubleheader 3-0 on scores of 25-14, 25-14 and 25-20. Meredith also captured the opener 3-0 on scores of 25-19, 25-16 and 25-9. In that match, Lucas started once again and registered nine assists and two digs. Meredith improved to 4-3, 3-2 in the USA South. This season, Lucas has started all seven matches for the Avenging Angels. She leads the team with 161 assists and is third on the squad with 51 digs. Meredith travels to Greensboro on Saturday.

Joey Berini: The #8 East Carolina baseball team lost to #24 North Carolina 8-1 on Tuesday night at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill. Berini entered the game in the sixth inning and remained as the shortstop. In his only at-bat, Berini grounded out to second base. The Pirates are now 16-4.

Cooper Porter: Pensacola State defeated Chipola College 8-4 last Thursday. Porter finished 1-for-4 with a run scored. Through nine games with the Pirates, Porter is hitting .167 with one RBI and three stolen bases.

Jaylin Jones: The Division III Pfeiffer University men’s lacrosse team defeated Methodist 18-8 at Lefko Field in Misenheimer on Sunday. It was the Falcons’ fourth straight victory. Jones was credited with a ground ball as Pfeiffer improved to 5-1, 3-0 in the USA South Conference.

Olivia Ward: Ward captured a victory at #3 doubles for the Division III Methodist women’s tennis team on Saturday. Ward, a former All-Big 8 Conference player at Cedar Ridge, teamed with Natalie Collins to defeat Emily Wrenn and Ruth Lechner 8-0 of Sweet Briar in #3 doubles. Sweet Briar wound up winning the match 5-4. It was Ward’s first victory in the college ranks. Earlier in the day, Ward lost in #3 singles to Kate Katany 6-4, 6-3. Methodist is 4-9 overall, 1-0 in the USA South Conference.

Connor Crabtree: Though he hasn’t played since early December, Connor Crabtree will be watching when the University of Richmond competes in the National Invitational Tournament quarterfinals. The Spiders will face Mississippi State on Thursday night. Unfortunately, Crabtree was sidelined for the season with a broken foot before Christmas. In his first season with the Spiders, Crabtree played in four games. On December 22, he scored eight points as the Spiders lost to Hofstra 76-71. Crabtree played a season-high 21 minutes. He also played seven minutes against Loyola-Chicago, whom the Spiders defeated 75-73 on December 18. The Ramblers will face Oregon State on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Alumni Update: McMullin announces transfer; Riley with another save

Joey McMullin: On Tuesday night, former Orange guard Joey McMullin announced he was transferring from Division III Bryn Athyn College in Philadelphia. McMullin had played in one game for the Lions. In nine minutes, Mcmullin scored four points in a loss to Lancaster Bible on March 6. Originally, McMullin committed to play at Division III Pfeiffer before changing plans. McMullin was the last Orange player to reach 1,000 points for his career and was a starter on Orange’s 2017 Big 8 Conference Regular Season Championship team.

Landon Riley: Liberty closer Landon Riley earned his fourth save as he shut down #14 North Carolina again in a 8-4 win at at Worthington Field in Lynchburg, VA on Tuesday night. Riley entered the game with two out in the top of the eighth inning with the Flames ahead 6-4. He faced the minimum of four batters and struck out two of them. It was Riley’s second save against the Tar Heels in a week. Liberty tied a program record with its ninth straight win. In that span, the Flames bullpen has only allowed four earned runs over 35 and two-thirds innings. Liberty is 11-5 overall, 3-0 in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Kayla Hodges: The Elon women’s soccer team fell to UNC Wilmington 3-1 in its Colonial Athletic Association opener at Rudd Field on Saturday. Hodges had a shot on net for the Phoenix, who fall to 1-1 overall, 0-1 in the CAA.

Brittany Daley: Division III Methodist defeated William Peace 4-2 at Monarch Soccer Stadium in Fayetteville on Saturday. Daley, a former Cedar Ridge All-Conference performer, started at center back for the Pride. Greensboro is 3-1 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Jordan Rogers: The Division III William Peace women’s soccer team defeated Pfeiffer 2-1 in overtime at WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday. Rogers started at wingback for the Pacers, who improved to 3-4 overall, 2-3 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Jaylin Jones: The Division III Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team defeated Greensboro College 16-12 at Pride Field on Friday. Jones, a defenseman for the Falcons, collected a ground ball as Pfeiffer improved to 3-1. It was their USA South Athletic Conference opener. Pfeiffer travels to William Peace tonight, then hosts Methodist on Sunday.

Bailey Lucas: Former Orange High outside hitter Bailey Lucas continues to start for the Division III Meredith volleyball team. On Saturday, William Peace swept a doubleheader from the Avenging Angels. The Pacers swept the opening match 3-0 on scores of 30-28, 25-21, and 25-20. Lucas started for Meredith and finished with 32 assists, four kills and nine digs.

Peace won the second match in five sets on scores of 20-25, 25-17, 25-18, 21-25 and 15-6. Lucas played all five sets and came away with one kill, 21 assists, and 13 digs.

Last Wednesday, Meredith defeated Pfeiffer 3-0 on scores of 25-11, 25-18 and 25-18. Lucas started once again and finished with one kill, 26 assists and four digs. Meredith is 2-3, 1-2 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Olivia Ward: Ward, a former All-Big 8 Conference performer at Cedar Ridge, has started her tennis career at Methodist. She has participated in six matches for the Monarchs. Methodist has an overall record of 4-7, 1-0 in the USA South Athletic Conference.

Orange senior Duncan Grant talks wild finish vs. Chapel Hill

If there’s such a thing as going into the state playoffs with momentum after a loss, the Orange lacrosse team has it. Chapel Hill appeared to be cruising to a comfortable victory over the Panthers, leading 9-4 with 8:54 remaining. But the Panthers scored four goals in a span of seven minutes and 25 seconds to narrow its deficit to 9-8. Orange had a man-advantage opportunity with 2:39 remaining after a Tigers’ player was called for using an illegal stick, but the Panthers’ came up short in a wild final seconds to tie the game. In his final regular season game at Auman Stadium, long stick midfielder Duncan Grant notched a hat trick Grant scored off an assist from Cy Horner with 3:32 remaining. Grant also scored Orange’s final goal of the first half off an assist from Caleb Davis. The Panthers, champions of Conference 9, will now wait to see who they will host in the opening round of the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs. The game is scheduled for Monday.

Orange senior Duncan Grant on the Chapel Hill loss

If there’s such a thing as going into the state playoffs with momentum after a loss, the Orange lacrosse team has it. Chapel Hill appeared to be cruising to a comfortable victory over the Panthers, leading 9-4 with 8:54 remaining.

Pagnanelli makes All-Big 8 for Cedar Ridge; Franklin, Thompson honored for Orange

Another travesty in a long line of injustices created by the pandemic was that it robbed Cedar Ridge senior guard Luke Pagnanelli of his senior night.

As a sophomore, Pagnanelli endured a 1-23 season. Two years later, the Red Wolves swept crosstown rival Orange and was competitive against Northwood, who were merely go on to play in the 3A State Championship game.

Cedar Ridge was supposed to honor Pagnanelli, James Ragland, Ian Johnson, Samuel Garabee, A.J. Richmond and Grady Ray during a Senior Night game against Southern Durham on February 19. Sadly, that game never came to fruition because the Red Wolves wound up in quarantine for the final week of the season. Its final two games against Southern and Vance County were canceled.

Even with a smaller crowd, the Cedar Ridge seniors deserved their night to go out on after staying dedicated to the program for four years. On Monday, Pagnanelli got some consolation when he was named to the All-Big 8 Conference team.

Orange High junior guard Jerec Thompson and senior forward Jason Franklin were also named to the All-Big 8 team.

Pagnanelli saved his best moments in clutch wins over Orange and Northern Durham. On February 5, Pagnanelli sank two free throws with 1:09 after he stole the ball from Orange in the open court and was fouled in transition. Those were his only free throws of the game and they turned out to be the game-winning points. Pagnanelli finished with 22.

The only thing more clutch than Pagnanelli’s second game against Orange in 2021 may have been his first.

On January 11, Cedar Ridge trailed 49-31 with 2:34 remaining in the third quarter, but stormed back to win 67-66 in overtime, thanks to a 24-7 run to finish regulation. Pagnanelli scored the opening two field goals in overtime and finished with 17 points and five rebounds.

Four days later, it what turned out to be his final home game, Pagnanelli scored 22 points as the Red Wolves held on to defeat Northern Durham 55-52. Pagnanelli shot 7-of-13 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range.

Franklin was a four-year varsity player for the Panthers who played regularly as a freshmen. On February 6, Franklin led Orange with 13 points in a 35-32 overtime win over East Chapel Hill, who captured the Big 8 Conference Championship. Franklin scored on a lay-in with 2:59 remaining in overtime to put Orange ahead for good. Franklin helped Orange battle back from a 29-22 deficit with a 3-pointer late in regulation to give the Panthers the lead.

Franklin opened the season by scoring 20 points each in games against East Chapel Hill, Cedar Ridge and Northwood. He had a season-high 24 points against Vance County on February 6, which was the Panthers’ first win of the season.

Franklin, who also plays on the Orange men’s soccer team, was one of two seniors on the team, along with Kyle Stanley.

Thompson was a reliable sharp shooting guard who was capable of giving Orange big leads early if he was hot. In early February, the Panthers played three games in three days, and built double digit leads in the first half of each of them.

But his best performance came at Vance County.

In a 65-62 victory in Henderson, Thompson scored 16 points in the opening quarter, 23 in the first half and wound up with a career-high 32. He scored 16 of Orange’s first 18 points against the Vipers. Thompson also had 23 points in a 72-58 loss to Chapel Hill on January 20.

Cedar Ridge’s Neco Clark and Ian Johnson were named honorable mention All-Big 8. Clark scored 19 points in the Red Wolves victory over Orange on January 11. Johnson had a season-high 14 points against Orange in the Red Wolves’ victory at Orange.

Orange point guard J.J. Thompson was also named honorable mention. Thompson started the season by scoring a season-high 12 points at East Chapel Hill. As a point guard on a team that usually suited up just eight players, Thompson often played 30 minutes a night, at least.

East Chapel Hill’s Will Tyndall was name the Big 8 Player of the Year.

East Chapel Hill’s Ray Hartsfield, in his 24th season as head coach of the Wildcats, was named Big 8 Coach of the Year. Hartsfield led East Chapel Hill to the Big 8 title after going three consecutive seasons with a losing record.

Northwood, who was among the last teams to make the 3A State Playoffs yet won the Eastern Regional Championship, was honored with the sportsmanship award.

Chislom’s 41 points pushes Chapel Hill past Orange 75-62

For nearly a year now, the COVID-19 pandemic has made life grossly unfairly for hundreds of high school students across Hillsborough.

Just when the haze of the virus’ thick cloud seemed to be clearing, there was an extra dose of cruelty for Hillsborough basketball on Monday.

Cedar Ridge had to cancel its remaining games to go into quarantine (more on that later this week). So did the Northern Durham men’s team, which was supposed to face Orange on Friday in Hillsborough

Orange seniors Jason Franklin and Kyle Stanley woke up Sunday thinking their final game inside Panther Gymnasium would be Friday night. Suddenly, with only a few hours notice, their final home game would be on Monday night against Chapel Hill.

So in the final Big 8 Conference matchup between the Tigers and the Panthers for at least the next four years (and probably longer), a Chapel Hill player had one of the greatest individual performances in the rivalry’s long history.

Junior guard Jake Chislom scored 41 points as the Tigers defeated Orange 75-62 in Hillsborough. Chislom scored 19 points in the first quarter, then added 17 in the fourth quarter.

Chapel Hill (7-4, 3-3 in the Big 8 Conference) won in its second trip to Hillsborough this season. Friday’s game, which was scheduled at Tiger Gymnasium, was postponed because of the threat of freezing rain.

In his final game in Hillsborough, Franklin scored 16 points. Kyle Stanley, Franklin’s teammate, finished with four. Orange (2-8, 1-6 in the Big 8), who never led in the game, was led by junior Jerec Thompson with 20 points.

The pace of the game was diametrically opposed to Orange’s chess match pace against East Chapel Hill on Thursday, when the two teams combined for 67 points in 36 minutes. At halftime on Monday, Chapel Hill led Orange 42-32, mainly behind Chislom.

Orange junior Joshua Jackson, in just his fourth varsity game, came off the bench to score eight points in the opening quarter as the Panthers kept it close early. Jerec Thompson added three 3-pointers in the opening quarter, but Chapel Hill center Carter Grubbs knocked down a driving baseline shot to put the Tigers ahed 26-20 at the end of the first quarter.

Chislom’s 3-pointer with 5:33 remaining in the third quarter gave the Tigers its largest lead at 49-34. After Franklin muscled in a drive to the basket, Chislom canned another 3-pointer, then Jermaine Burnette’s attempt at a dunk rimmed in to put the Tigers ahead 52-36.

Thompson canned a 3-pointer to end the third quarter, and another to start the fourth to whittle the deficit down to 68-60. But Matt Polsky hit a running one-hander, only for Thompson to drain another trey to reduce Chapel Hill’s lead to 60-53.

On the next possession, Jackson rebounded a Polskey miss and tried to score in transition but collided with Burnette. There was no call. On the other end, Franklin was called for a foul on a block attempt of a shot by Chislom.

After 12 years as Big 8 Conference rivals, Chapel Hill finished with a 15-13 record against Orange. During the Connor Crabtree years, Orange went 9-1 against the Tigers.

In another cruel irony, for the third year in a row, Orange will conclude its season at Southern Durham on Tuesday night. The Spartans are coached by Greg Motley, the winningest Orange coach in school history. Motley was Franklin’s first high school coach in 2017.

WOMEN: CHAPEL HILL 46, ORANGE 36

With a spot in the state playoffs on the line, the Chapel Hill women led wire-to-wire to defeat Orange 46-35 at Panther Gymnasium. The Tigers will be the #2 seed from the Big 8 Conference for the 3A State Playoffs.

For just the second time this season, Orange’s leading scorers, Aaliyah Harris and Erin Jordan-Cornell, were both held below double-figures. Jordan-Cornell scored eight points in the second quarter, but didn’t score in the second half. Harris was held to five points.

Chapel Hill’s three-guard lineup of Riley Corcoran, Laney Beale and Morgan Korfas gave the Lady Panthers headaches on both ends of the floor. Beale led the Tigers with 15 points, while Korfas had eleven. Corcoran finished with eight as Chapel Hill defeated Orange for the fourth straight time.

Chapel Hill raced out to a 18-8 lead. Orange’s Jada Reed hit an early 3-pointer, but Chapel Hill reeled off eight straight points behind a trey from Beale.

Orange can still qualify for one of the wildcard state playoffs spots in the Eastern Region. Orange travels to Southern Durham on Tuesday and will host Northern Durham on Friday night in its regular season finale.

MENS: CHAPEL HILL 75, ORANGE 62

CHAPEL HILL: Matt Polsky 8, Jake Chislom 41, Grant Ferris 2, Jermaine Burnette 8, Carter Grubs 8, Tyler Stillson 3, Ryan McKinnon 3, Franklin Johnson 2.

ORANGE: Jerec Thompson 20, Jason Franklin 16, J.J. Thompson 2, Kyle Stanley 4, Joshua Jackson 10, Hunter Birch 2, Ryan Moss 2, Darius Corbett 6.