Orange Men’s Basketball

If any Orange basketball fan greeted December 26 just as eagerly as they would Christmas morning, you really couldn’t blame them.

It was the first day of the South Granville Holiday Tournament and Orange was 7-1. The previous week, the Panthers blew out East Chapel Hill by 50 points in the Big 8 Conference opener. The next night, Orange had a convincing win over Williams, the defending 3A Eastern Regional champions.

Playing in the eight-team Navy Bracket, it wasn’t hard to see Orange burning the midnight oil on Saturday night going for the tournament championship Who needed to watch another lopsided Oklahoma loss in the College Football Playoff when Orange could win its first holiday tournament title since 2016?

Instead, Orange woke up Saturday morning with the roosters, paired against Green Hope in the seventh-place game.

Ironically, of Orange’s three games last week, that was the hardest matchup. The Falcons’ front line of 6-7 forward Broderick Ellis, 6-8 center Tre Morgan and 6-4 swingman Reese Evans posed the same range and height issues that plague the smaller Orange team, and the Falcons pulled away to win 68-58 after trailing the majority of the game.

So what happened? Part of it was Orange’s shooting was as cold as Christmas morning. Well, not this year’s Christmas morning, but you get the idea.

Against Green Hope’s superior height, the Panthers shot 5-of-35 from 3-point range.

It all started with the 1st round game against Sanderson. On Thursday, the day after Christmas, Orange looked like they were back at home still waiting for Santa Claus to come down the chimney. Sanderson busted out to a 6-0 lead and was never seriously challenged in a 72-48 victory. It was Orange’s first wire-to-wire loss of the year.

The Panthers shot only 33% from the field, including 4-of-30 from 3-point range. Senior Joey McMullin, who came into the tournament averaging 20.5 points per game, was held to two points, his lowest total since his freshman year. Orange had four 3-pointers and 24 points at halftime, both season-lows.

Throughout the three days, Panther Coach Derryl Britt saw some disturbing similarities from last year’s 10-15 season, and he was right back at work on Monday morning trying to make sure what happened in Creedmoor is left behind there.

But he also doesn’t want his team to forget it.

“We need to remember this,” Britt said. “I’ve seen some things the last couple of days that kinda reminded me of last season. We’ve got some things we need to fix and we will. We’ll adjust those things and right the ship. We’re gonna get right for conference play.”

The most befuddling loss of all came against Franklinton, a team not nearly as physically imposing as other squads the Panthers have faced. The Rams, who entered the game on a six-game losing streak, defeated Orange 64-58. With the Panthers leading 54-46 going into the fourth quarter, the Rams outscored Orange 20-6 in the final frame to earn only its third win of the season and its first in 21 days.

McMullin led Orange with 16 points against the Rams. Once again, the Panthers struggled from the field, shooting 31%. They were 10-of-39 from 3-point range, its best percentage of the tournament.

Afterward, Britt sounded more concerned about the internal dynamics than Xs-and-Os.

“There are some internal things we need to address,” Britt said. “We will do that just to get back to where we were. We’ve sort of lost our way these last three games and these losses need to mean something to these guys. They don’t mean as much as it should.”

On Friday, Orange (7-4) will resume its season with a long road trip to Vance County. The Vipers had its own disappointing tournament in South Granville, finishing 7th in the Columbia Bracket. The Vipers dropped its opener to Knightdale 65-60, then lost to Cary 60-43 on Friday. They rebounded to defeat Ravencroft on the final day with a lay-up in the final seconds.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior basketball center Machai Holt. It’s been a strong all around year for Holt, only eight games into the season. Holt has four double-doubles this season, including a season-high 22 points and 12 rebounds in last week’s victory over Walter Williams. In addition, Holt had 13 points and 12 rebounds in a win against Southern Lee on December 5. He scored 17 points and grabbed ten rebounds in a 75-70 victory over Carrboro, including several crucial free throws down the stretch. During the fall, Holt was a wingback and safety for the Orange football team. On the first defensive play of the season against R.J. Reynolds on August 16, Holt intercepted a pass. On the subsequent Panther drive, he scored on a five-yard touchdown run. Holt scored 12 touchdowns for the Panthers. The son of Mark Holt, Machai and the rest of the Panthers will start play in the South Granville Holiday Tournament on Thursday at 2 o’clock. The Panthers face Sanderson in the opening round of the Navy Bracket. You can hear the game on Hillsboroughsports.com starting at 1:55 with Tim Hackett on the play-by-play.

The Orange men’s basketball team defeated Burlington Williams 74-56 on Wednesday night at Orange. The Bulldogs played for the 3A State Championship in March, but the Panthers came out firing in the second half with a 16-2 run. Machai Holt finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. Holt shot 10-of-13 from the field. Jared Thompson added 14 points as Orange improved to 7-1. The Panthers avenged an 86-63 loss to Williams last year in Burlington. The Panthers return to action on Thursday at 2 PMin the South Granville Holiday Tournament in Creedmoor. The Panthers will compete in the eight-team Navy Bracket. Listen in on Hillsboroughsports.com for all the coverage all three days.

The Orange men’s basketball team defeated East Chapel Hill 82-32 on Tuesday night in the Big 8 Conference opener. Joey McMullin had 19 points, while Jason Franklin added 18. The Panthers are 7-1, its best start in 14 years. They will start play in the South Granville Holiday Tournament against Sanderson Thursday afternoon at 2 o’clock. Orange will compete in the Navy Bracket, an 8-team tournament. The winner will face either Middle Creek or Franklinton in the semifinals. Enjoy highlights of Orange-East Chapel Hill from Thompsonteamfilms.com.