Orange Men’s Basketball

Photo by Carly Williams

There’s something to be said for a grinding, proud team that plays hard for its coach regardless of the opposition. That’s what Cedar Ridge men’s basketball is right now.

If a program is lucky, once every 10-15 years it finds itself with a player or two that collects multiple Division I college offers and shows why every night they step onto the floor.

That’s Orange basketball right now.

The differences stood out on Wednesday night.

Orange led by as many as 31 points against its crosstown rival and defeated Cedar Ridge 82-53 at Panthers Gymnasium. Sophomore point guard Kai Wade and forward Coleman Cloer each finished with 18 points while junior Xandrell Pennix added 16 as the Panthers defeated the Red Wolves for the sixth straight time.

Junior Braeden Wilbourn led the Red Wolves with 15 points while senior center Harrison Perel added 13 points and nine rebounds.

Since the start of 2024, Orange has won three straight Central Conference games by an average of 34 points and haven’t trailed at any point. The Panthers (5-10, 4-0 in the Central Conference) are tied with Eastern Alamance in the loss column for first place in league play.

Through a twist of fate on scheduling, Orange is facing its crosstown rival and its Highway 57 rival in the same way. After dispatching of Cedar Ridge, the Panthers will face Person tonight in Hillsborough on two days rest.

The Rockets have beaten the Panthers five straight times, including three last year. The Panthers last win over the Rockets came on December 15, 2014.

“We’re on a mission,” said Orange coach Derryl Britt. “We’re focused on the big picture. We’re trying to win these individual games one at a time, but we’re on a team mission and a team goal. That is if we beat everybody in the conference the first time around, I believe that half of the conference is going to beat each other up. That would make it extremely difficult for anybody to catch us.”

Orange junior Xandrell Pennix opened the game with seven points in the first quarter, the hottest in a line of hot hands for the Panthers. Orange had four three-pointers in the first quarter, which included treys from Cloer, Wade and Keaton Westbrook. The Panthers shot 8-of-11 from the field in the opening stanza to take a 20-11 lead.

The Panthers had 26 points in the second quarter and built a 46-21 halftime lead. Orange center Ryan Honeycutt finished with ten points and eleven rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season.

Orange finished with 44% shooting from the field and out rebounded the Red Wolves 50-39, including 19 offensive rebounds.

Pennix opened the second half with a three-pointer, which started a highlight show that delighted the packed Orange student section, most of whom were adorned in white t-shirts. Pennix stole the subsequent inbounds pass and threw a off-the-backboard ally-oop to Cloer, which flushed it down with a reverse dunk to send the home side of the gymnasium into a frenzy.

Orange built its lead to 61-27 after another 3-pointer from Pennix with 4:10 remaining in the third quarter. Perel triggered a comeback that got the Red Wolves within 65-44 with 7:01 left in the fourth quarter. Perel scored eleven of his 13 points in the second half. Freshman Jordan Jacobson, who scored the game-winning basket against Chatham Central on Monday night in overtime, scored ten points for the Red Wolves.

Orange’s Hector Garrido came off the bench to score seven points and grab four rebounds. Michael Clark, who played as a freshman on the varsity two years ago, chipped in six points and grabbed six rebounds in garbage time.

Cedar Ridge will return home to face Eastern Alamance tonight in Hillsborough at Red Wolves Gymnasium.

In the nonstop thrill ride that is Orange men’s basketball, things can get hectic fast.

From ally-oop slam dunks to shot blocks that wind up in the fourth row of the Orange student section, the Panthers can fill up a highlight reel easily. Add in an Orange home crowd that has nearly packed the home grandstand to capacity twice this year, the subsequent noise can send adrenaline to peak levels.

Against Walter Williams on Friday night, there was an overload.

Early in the second quarter, sophomore point guard Kai Wade found classmate Mason Robinson for an ally-oop dunk that sent the gym on its ear. Moments later, the Orange bench was hit with a technical fall when a reserve said something on the bench. As Orange extended its lead too 21-10, there was confusion over the possession arrow at the scorer’s table, which led to an Orange High School administrator walking over to try to quell the situation.

As the confusion wound down, Orange coach Darryl Britt adjusted his stool as action restarted. An official thought that Britt slammed the end of his stool onto the court in frustration over a foul that was called against Orange and gave him another technical, leading to Britt’s ejection. Britt barely protested and appeared more confused that angry as he led the gym.

Bitt watched the rest of the game off the National Federation of High School Sports Network feed on his iPad while assistant William Dobbs took over the reigns.

As the Orange fans showered the officials with boos, the Panthers made sure there wouldn’t be any drama for the rest of the night.

Orange went on a 16-0 run where the scoring was balanced between several starters and cruised to a 77-40 win over the Bulldogs. Coleman Cloer finished with 22 points and eight rebounds while junior Xandrell Pennix added 19 points, six rebounds and five steals.

Orange (5-10, 3-0 in the Central Conference) maintained its share of first place in the Central Conference. The Panthers and Eastern Alamance are the only teams undefeated in league play.

The Bulldogs were limited to 24% shooting from the field. Cavion Stokes paced Williams (5-4, 0-2) with eleven points.

Orange had 18 assists on 27 field goals. Senior center Ryan Honeycutt added ten points and six rebounds.

It was the first time that Dobbs found himself in a situation where he was the head coach of a team since he led the Cedar Ridge women’s team for two seasons, ending in 2021.

“Coach Britt and I before the beginning of every game,” Dobbs said. “I know ahead of time what his plans are and what we plan to do. Unfortunately, tonight he had to step out and I had to step in. But I know the game plan and we just preceded with what we had mapped out.”

For the second straight game, Orange never trailed, though they started slowly from the field. The Bulldogs Brian Williams canned a jumper with 1:35 remaining in the first quarter to even the score at 6-6, the game’s only tie. That seemed to snap Orange out of its funk as they scored eight points in the final 1:27 of the first quarter.

Cloer drained two free throws, followed by a three-pointer from Pennix off a drive-and-dish from Cloer. Then Clower nailed a 20-footer just before the buzzer.

Stokes knocked down two free throws following Britt’s technical foul to cut Orange’s lead to 21-14. Cloer took a pass from Wade for a one-handed dunk to trigger Orange’s big run. Wade, who finished with six assists, fed Honeycutt for another two-handed flush, increasing Orange’s lead to 25-14 and the Bulldogs would never get in double figures again.

Freshman Hector Garrido came off the bench to score seven points, grab three rebounds and dish out two assists for Orange in the second half.

It was a strong start to 2024 for the Orange men’s basketball team. The Panthers had two wire-to-wire wins over Western Alamance and Walter Williams. On Friday night, Orange rolled past Walter Williams 77-40 in Hillsborough in a game that had a wide assortment of dunks, blocked shots and sharp interior passing. Junior Xandrell Pennix finished with 19 points and six rebounds. Pennix finished 5-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range. Against Western Alamance, senior center Ryan Honeycutt came away with a double-double, registering 12 points and eleven rebounds. Against Williams on Friday night, Honeycutt finished with ten points and six rebounds. Honeycutt and forward Mason Robinson helped Orange block nine shots compared to only two for the Bulldogs. The Panthers defense forced 21 turnovers. Orange is the only undefeated team in league play in the Central Conference at 3-0. Nest week, the Panthers will have two crucial battles. On Tuesday, the Panthers host crosstown rival Cedar Ridge, who upset Person last week. On Friday night, the Panthers face their Highway 57 rival, the Person Rockets. Person defeated Orange three times last season, including once in the Central Conference Tournament. Overall, the Rockets have beaten Orange five straight times. Last year in Hillsborough, the Rockets got a field goal with two seconds remaining to beat Orange and finish second in the Central Conference behind Northwood.

Orange men’s basketball’s Xandrell Pennix & Ryan Honeycutt discuss win over Walter Williams

It was a strong start to 2024 for the Orange men’s basketball team. The Panthers had two wire-to-wire wins over Western Alamance and Walter Williams. On Friday night, Orange rolled past Walter Williams 77-40 in Hillsborough in a game that had a wide assortment of dunks, blocked shots and sharp interior passing.

Time will tell if the first game of 2024 was the point where Orange found its basketball legs.

But for the first time this season, the Panthers finally displayed a show of dominance.

In just its third home game, the Panthers roared out to a 15-0 lead and cruised to a 81-42 victory over Western Alamance on Wednesday night at Panthers Gymnasium. Coleman Cloer scored a season-high 30 points as the Panthers built a double-digit lead just 2:45 into the game. The Warriors didn’t get any closer than 14 points the rest of the game.

Josh Long, Hamilton Plunkett and Christian Hester paced the Warriors with six points each.

Orange was coming off three straight losses in the John Wall Invitational in Raleigh. The Panthers fell to Northwood and Jordan at Broughton High School, then fell to Broughton at William Peace University on Saturday in the 7th place game.

For the first time this season, Orange got off to a strong start. They shot 11-of-14 from the field in the opening quarter, draining all three of its 3-pointers. Cloer sliced through the Warriors’ repeated double teams and scored 15 points in the opening quarter, often absorbing contact while finishing drives to the basket.

Orange senior center Ryan Honeycutt scored 12 points and grabbed eleven rebounds. Sophomore Kai Wade added eleven points, including a deep three-pointer early in the third quarter.

The Warriors couldn’t get anything going on the interior because of Orange’s size. Sophomore forward Mason Robinson finished with five blocks. Late in the third quarter, Cloer lofted an ally–oop to Robinson, who flushed it down with vigor to increase Orange’s lead to 66-36 at the end of the third quarter.

While the starters didn’t play in the fourth quarter, that didn’t mean the highlights were over. Freddy Sneed shot down the court and scored a thunderous one-handed dunk that sent the gym reeling. Sneed then scored again off a strip and steal. He finished with seven points.

It was the second time in his Orange career that Cloer reached the 30-point barrier. Last January, Cloer set his career-high with 35 points against Person in Roxboro.

Though the Panthers are only two games into the Central Conference season, they’re already alone atop the league. Walter Williams fell to Southern Alamance on Tuesday.

The Panthers will host Williams on Friday night in Hillsborough. The Bulldogs are under the direction of new head coach Jimmy Lloyd, who replaced legendary coach Tommy Cole last year. Cole coached the Bulldogs for 28 years and led them to two state championships.

In just its third home game of the season, the Orange women’s basketball team jumped out to a 15-0 lead and rolled past Western Alamance 81-42 on Wednesday night. Coleman Cloer had a season-high 30 points for the Panthers, who remained tied for first place in the Central Conference at 2-0. Freddy Sneed brought the house down with a dynamic dunk off a steal in the fourth quarter. Sneed, a junior who has been a member of the varsity since he was a freshman, finished with seven points and has been a valuable defensive presence this season. Forward Mason Robinson, a sophomore, captured an ally-top pass from Cloer for a monster slam in the third quarter. Robinson finished with six rebounds and five blocks as the Panthers started a four-game homestead. Orange rebounded from three losses in the John Wall Invitational last week, where they played at Broughton High School and William Peace University. The Panthers faced defending 3A Eastern Regional champion Northwood, Broughton and the Jordan Falcons. The Panthers will return home on Friday night to face Walter Williams. Orange is the only undefeated team in conference play in the Central Conference at 2-0 after beating Southern Alamance last month in Graham.

Orange men’s basketball’s Freddy Sneed & Mason Robinson discuss win over Western Alamance

In just its third home game of the season, the Orange women’s basketball team jumped out to a 15-0 lead and rolled past Western Alamance 81-42 on Wednesday night. Coleman Cloer had a season-high 30 points for the Panthers, who remained tied for first place in the Central Conference at 2-0.

The Orange women’s basketball team overcame an 11-point deficit to defeat Western Alamance 45-42 on Wednesday night at Orange High School. The Warriors led 17-6 at the end of the first quarter, but the Lady Panthers held Western Alamance without a point in the second quarter. Junior Evelyn George led Orange’s offense scoring a career-high 31 points on 13-of-20 shooting from the field. George had a personal 12-0 run in the third quarter to put Orange ahead 30-22. In the fourth quarter, George put the Lady Panthers ahead with a short jumper off a baseline drive with 5:46 remaining in regulation. Orange wouldn’t surrender the lead again thanks to two important fourth quarter field goals by junior center Marshea Byrd. With 3:21 remaining, Byrd took a pass off the floor from Shannon Murphy and scored off the glass to put the Lady Panthers ahead 40-37. Orange improved to 2-0 in a wide-open Central Conference. In the Lady Panthers’ Central Conference opener, George drained two free throws with :10.2 seconds remaining to beat Southern Alamance 34-31. Last week, Orange finished seventh in the Southeast Alamance Holiday Hoopla Tournament, beating Eastern Alamance on Saturday even though George didn’t play. The Lady Panthers will face Walter Williams in Hillsborough on Friday night at 6PM in a showdown for first place in the Central Conference.

Orange women’s basketball’s Evelyn George & Marshea Byrd discuss win over Western Alamance

The Orange women’s basketball team overcame an 11-point deficit to defeat Western Alamance 45-42 on Wednesday night at Orange High School. The Warriors led 17-6 at the end of the first quarter, but the Lady Panthers held Western Alamance without a point in the second quarter.

By the time Christmas rolls around, most high school basketball teams know their identity, their rotation and who they are.

Not so for the Orange men’s squad this year.

From the time that Coleman Cloer suffered an injured ankle in the final week of practice, the Panthers have been in a waiting mode.

With Cloer the highest ranked North Carolina prospect in the Class of 2026, Panthers coach Darryl Britt scheduled a series of showcase games to highlight his superstar. After Cloer’s injury kept him out four weeks, the Panthers lost to Riverside and Highland Academy.

Then starting sophomore point guard Kai Wade was injured late in a loss to Jordan. That robbed the Panthers of its two most experienced ball-handlers in losses to East Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill and Forsyth Country Day.

Cloer and Wade returned in time for the Central Conference opener against Southern Alamance on December 14, but in many respects, the Panthers are still waiting–both for Cloer to get his basketball legs back and for the team to get used to his presence again after playing nine games without him. While he scored 29 points in his season-debut against the Patriots in Graham, the Panthers never led in regulation and had a near-miraculous rally from five points down in the final :28 to force overtime. Orange emerged victorious 72-68 to end a seven-game losing streak.

“It’s been a tough road to travel without Coleman and Kai,” Britt said after a loss to Chapel Hill on December 8. “We understand who we are and how we got here. I built a tough, non conference schedule thinking we were going to be healthy to prepare us for conference play and postseason play. That hasn’t changed. The difference is we haven’t played well enough to beat some of these teams.”

Now, Orange starts play in possibly the biggest December tournament in North Carolina, the John Wall Holiday Invitational. The three-day event is contested at two different locations in Raleigh.

Orange will open in the Devonte Graham Bracket at Broughton High School against a familiar face–the Northwood Chargers this afternoon at 3:30. Northwood won consecutive Central Conference championships and 3A Eastern Regional titles in 2021 and 2023. They were a conference rival with Orange from 2013-2023, then realigned as a 2A team during the summer.

The Chargers return Drake Powell, who committed to North Carolina early in Hubert Davis tenure as the Tar Heels coach. In four years with the Chargers, Powell has averaged 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game to spearhead a Chargers attack that has lots of size and outside shooting.

Powell’s emergence has helped the Chargers gain a prominent stature across the state and nationally. Last week, they finished second in the Capital City Classic, an eight-team event in Salem, Oregon.

Northwood has beaten Orange eleven straight times, including wins by 25 and 31 points last year.

The winer of Orange/Northwood will face either Richmond County or Jordan on Friday. The final day of games will take place on Saturday.

Once the John Wall ends, Orange will focus on its main goal of winning the Central Conference, a league that takes on a new shape without Northwood’s presence. Last year, when Cloer and Wade were freshman and guards Xandrell Pennix and Freddy Sneed were sophomores, Orange finished third following several tight games with Person, who beat the Panthers three times.

Britt is a former solider who served overseas. He spent the first half of this season waiting for the Calvary to show up, Now, they’ve finally arrived and the pieces have to come together in order for this season to become everything this squad hoped it would be when workouts started after Halloween.

“We’ve treaded through some tough water,” Britt said. “It’s going to make us a better team. Coming into the season without Coleman and Kai, we wouldn’t have built the schedule that we did, truth be told. We wouldn’t have been invited to some of these showcase games without a player of Coleman’s caliber. We understand what it is. Being the adult in the room, we knew the Calvary is coming.”