Orange Men’s Basketball

For the second year in a row, Orange defeated Chapel Hill at Tiger Gymnasium on Tuesday night, and just like last year it was a thriller. Junior forward Kendrell Brooks hit a running one-handier with five seconds remaining for the game-winning shot as Orange won 61-59. Brooks scored 13 points, hit highest output since scoring 16 against Green Hope on December 28. Brooks created offense off the dribble, freeing up Jerec Thompson for a critical 3-pointer with 3:00 remaining. Brooks provided a spark as Orange won for the first time in 2020. They hope to continue the momentum on Friday night when they face Southern Durham, coached by Greg Motley, the winningest Orange coach in 20 years who started with the Spartans in November. You can hear that game on Hillsboroughsports.com starting at 7:30 live from Spartan Gymnasium.

Orange’s Joey McMullin joined elite company on Wednesday night. He scored his 1,000th point against Northern Durham late in the 3rd quarter on a stick back basket. After the game, McMullin was joined by current Orange coach Derryl Britt and former head coach Greg Motley during a ceremony commemorating his 1,000th point. He became the first Panther to score 1,000 points since Connor Crabtree in 2017. McMullin has started since his freshman year, when he scored ten points in his first varsity game in a loss to Lewisville Road during a Thanksgiving tournament at Millbrook High School in Raleigh. Since then, he has been a member of a Big 8 Regular Season Championship team which won three games in the state playoffs. McMullin opened this season by scoring 38 points against Research Triangle. McMullin will continue his senior season on Tuesday night when the Panthers travel to Chapel Hill. You can hear that game on Hillsboroughsports.com starting at 7:30.

Joey McMullin deserved better.

It was an achievement that very few Orange players reach: scoring 1,000 points in a career. To do it, you usually have to start playing as a freshman, stay healthy and be successful enough to have a string of postseason games. It hasn’t happened since Connor Crabtree in 2017, when McMullin started as a freshman and the Panthers reached the 3A state quarterfinals.

McMullin entered Thursday’s game against Northern Durham needing only eleven points to reach 1,000, but he wanted more than that.

He wanted to beat Northern Durham and bring an end, as brief as it may be, to the tsunami of bad fortune that has overtaken Orange basketball since Christmas ended.

For much of the night, it felt like McMullin would get his wish and his milestone. McMullin rebounded a missed shot by Hunter Birch and scored on a stickback late in the third quarter for his 1,000th point.

That put Orange ahead by eleven in a game where they had never trailed. In what has become a pattern, the Panthers faltered down the stretch.

Anthony Freeman hit two free throws with :4.1 seconds remaining as the Knights rallied to defeat Orange 60-59. Orange’s Jason Franklin split a pair of foul shots to give the Panthers a 59-58 lead, and missed a 30-footer as time expired.

It was Orange’s sixth straight loss to fall to 7-7, 0-3 in the Big 8 Conference. Since beating Walter Williams on December 18, the Panthers have gone 22 days without a win.

Franklin returned to the Orange lineup after missing three games with an injured back, suffered during the South Granville Holiday Tournament against Franklinton.

After the contest, McMullin was joined by Orange Coach Derryl Britt, former Orange Coach Greg Motley (who is now the head coach at Southern Durham and still teaches a class with McMullin as a student), along with Joey’s parents for a ceremony at midcourt.

Northern (4-10, 2-3) defeated Orange for the seventh straight time. Orange’s last win against the Knights came on December 30, 2009.

McMullin’s had a baptism by fire in his freshman season. He started the first high school game of his career as Orange faces Leesville Road during a tipoff event at Millbrook High School. The Panthers entered the two-day event undermanned. Several Orange football players, such as Ryan Sellers, Kendall Whitted, Eli Haithcock, and Morgan Paschall, weren’t available because they were preparing to face Havelock in the 2nd round of the 3A State Playoffs. McMullin still scored ten points in a 76-65 loss to the Pride.

He had 16 points against Cedar Ridge in an 88-57 win on January 14, 2017 in Panther Gymnasium. He also scored ten points in Orange’s win over J.F. Webb on February 7, which clinched the Big 8 regular season championship.

McMullin started off this season with a career-high 38 points against Research Triangle. He already has six 20-point games this season, including 21 points in Orange’s 82-32 win over East Chapel Hill on December 17.

It won’t get any easier for the Panthers on Friday night. Northwood, riding atop the Big 8 Conference, will visit Panther Gymnasium on Friday night. Coverage on Hillsboroughsports.com will start at 7:30. You can hear the game on the website, or on our Facebook page.

Since reaching the 3A state quarterfinals in 2017, very little has gone according to plan for the Orange men’s basketball program.

After Connor Crabtree, possibly the best player in school history, graduated following Orange’s 23-7 season, the Panthers started rebuilding.

When most teams enter that phase, the formula is the same. They take their lumps early and hope the dues they pay then will be rewarded years down the line.

Before Christmas, that appeared to be how this season was shaping up. Orange was 7-1, it’s best start in 14 years. They dominated established programs like Granville Central and Walter Williams, then blew out East Chapel Hill in its Big 8 Conference opener by 50.

Just when it appeared Orange was ready to step back into the spotlight again, they had a disappointing eighth-place finish in the Navy Bracket of the South Granville Holiday Tournament last week. It was the polar opposite of what many Orange players, coaches and fans expected.

Coach Derryl Britt planned to regroup with a good week of practice to prepare for a road trip to Vance County, who also had a lackluster tournament in Creedmoor.

Instead, the Panthers have lost its most influential player and, as a result, didn’t look competitive on Friday night.

Britt confirmed that senior forward Machai Holt is no longer on the team due to disciplinary reasons. Holt’s ubiquitous presence on the floor is certainly no secret to Britt or anyone else with a fraction of a basketball IQ that’s seen Orange play.

Holt created shots off the dribble with his slashing ability, setting up open looks for teammates Joey McMullin, Jerec Thompson and Jason Franklin. He was the team’s best finisher. At 6-foot-2, he was Orange’s best rebounder and defensive player.

Perhaps most precious of all, Holt had built a familiarity with his fellow upperclassmen, who had all played together since 5th grade at Pathways Elementary School.

With school not in session this week in Hillsborough, many of the Orange players didn’t know about Holt’s departure until hours before tipoff on Friday. It showed on the floor. Orange looked befuddled and disorganized as Vance County led 28-3 at the end of the first quarter. Jared Wood, a reserve guard, scored Orange’s only points in the opening ten minutes.

The Vipers went on to win 74-57, playing mainly reserves in the final ten minutes after leading by as many as 33 points.

McMullin, Orange’s leading scorer, went without a point in the first half.

Franklin, still nursing a bad back, missed his second straight game. With center Hunter Birch out, Orange suited up only eight players.

“We can’t stop because we don’t have a player or two with us,” Britt said. “We were prepared to play this game. Unfortunately with the issues, I think the guys were faced with reality that he wasn’t with us.”

McMullin scored 21 points, all in the second half, to lead Orange. Jerec Thompson finished with 18. Kendrell Brooks scored eleven, including eight in the first half where he carried most of the offensive load.

Afterward, Britt reflected on how much Holt’s departure will hurt his team.

“It impacts the offense. It impacts the defense,” Britt said. “It effects how we play in transition. It effects everything. Machai was a big part of the team. He did a lot of things for us. Unfortunately, he’s no longer with us. We have to adjust.”

No one is ready to throw in the towel on anything regarding this season, especially with crosstown rival Cedar Ridge next on the schedule Tuesday, which starts a string of three games in four days.

“We played good basketball in the spring and summer without Machai and some other players,” Britt said. “We have to get back to playing good basketball, and we can. We came out in the second half and outplayed Vance County. But when you put yourself in a 25-point hole, that’s hard to dig out of. We can’t afford to give away these games because these are conference games.”

Vance County (9-3, 1-1 in the Big 8) was led by Ta’Quon Lyons with 14 points. Phadol Jones came off the bench to score 12, while center Thomas Townes added eleven.

Orange (7-5, 1-1) will host Cedar Ridge on Tuesday at Panther Gymnasium. It will be a tripleheader with the junior varsity boys tipping off at 4:30.