Orange Men’s Basketball

JV Boys Basketball: Orange 75, Rockingham County 54: Riding a 28-10 in the final six minutes of the third quarter, the Orange junior varsity team won the Rockingham County Holiday Tournament championship game in Reidsville on Friday night.

Jamari McDaniel led all scorers with 22 points as the Panthers defeated the Cougars in the championship game. McDaniel shot 10-of-13 from three-point range and added six rebounds, five assists and five steals. Ethan Ellis chipped in 14 points for the Panthers, including 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc.

McDaniel and Ellis were named to the All-Tournament team.

Orange jumped out to a 15-5 lead behind the play of McDaniel and Ellis. Freshman Graham Coleman, who appeared in some varsity games in the absence of Coleman Cloer and Kai Wade earlier this month, fed Ellis for a three-pointer to put Orange ahead 15-3 with 4:22 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Cougars fought back and actually tied the game at 33-33 with 6:10 remaining in the third quarter. Then John Gray and Coleman hit consecutive 3-pointers for Orange to trigger a run that put the Panthers ahead for good.

Coleman fed Ellis for a 20-footer, which led to McDaniel forcing a steal and finding Jalen Crayton for a lay-in to put Orange ahead 49-40.

In the opening round of the four-team tournament, the Panthers defeated Morehead High 82-48.

Women’s basketball: Western Alamance 62, Cedar Ridge 38: In its Central Conference opener, the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team lost star guard Amiyah Ware on the opening play of the second quarter.

Ware went up for a block and came down on her right knee, which she tore before the start of the 2022-2023 season. After a lengthy period of time in the locker room, Ware eventually came out to watch the final minutes on the bench, but she didn’t return to action.

Ware opened the game on fire, scoring 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field, including two 3-pointers. Cedar Ridge led 22-13 at the end of the first quarter, but they crumbled without their All-Conference guard. Western Alamance, who finished second in the Central Conference last year, had a huge game from Tina Bowers, who finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and seven steals. Cayden White added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Without Ware, Cedar Ridge committed 31 turnovers. Junior Sarah Utley finished with eight points and four assists. The game was tied 31-31 at halftime, but the Red Wolves were held to only seven points in the second half. The Warriors outscored Cedar Ridge 22-4 in the third quarter.

Western Alamance improved to 4-2 after winning its conference opener.

Clover Garden School 43, Cedar Ridge 33: In the opening round of the Don Amos Basketball Classic at Graham High School, Clover Garden School received a big game from Kennedy Harrelson to defeat the Red Wolves. Harrelson finished with 13 points for the Grizzles, while Arissa Duff added ten points, eleven rebounds, six assists and six steals at Clover Garden improved to 8-4.

Playing without Ware, Cedar Ridge got off to a strong start from the field. The Red Wolves got a three-pointer from Jamee Watson and a field goal from Cameron Copeland to jump out to a 6-0 lead. Ultey scored on a jumper to increase the Red Wolf lead to 10-2.

Cedar Ridge senior Cierra Copeland scored an old school three-point play to lengthen the Red Wolf lead to 13-6 with 3:01 remaining in the opening quarter, but the Grizzles got consecutive field goals from Harrelson. Cedar ridge went on a 7-0 run to end the quarter with Utley ending the frame on a three-point shot to take a 19-12 lead.

Clover Garden scored nine straight points in the second quarter to take a 23-19 lead. Duff scored on a lay-in assisted by Makayla Quimby to assume its first lead at 21-19 with 4:20 to go in the second quarter.

Cedar Ridge (4-5, 0-1 in the Central Conference) will return to action against Person on January 2 in Hillsborough. That will be a varsity doubleheader with the women’s game tipping off a 6PM.

The Orange men’s basketball team was expecting an adventure when coveted forward Coleman Cloer made his season debut against Southern Alamance last week. It turned out to be a wilder night than anyone expected. The Panthers never led in regulation and trailed the Patriots by five points with :28 remaining in the fourth quarter. But Kai Wade came up with a crucial steal on an inbounds pass to put Orange within one point with 15 seconds remaining, and Cloer drained two free throws with :5.1 left to even the game 61-61 and eventually send it to overtime Wade drained a 23-foot 3-pointer for the opening field goal of regulation and the Panthers would go on to win 72-68 in its Central Conference opener. Cloer, a sophomore who has already received scholarship offers from N.C. State, Wake Forest, Mississippi State and Appalachian State, finished with 29 points to open the season after he missed Orange’s first eight games due to an ankle injury. Wade, another sophomore, finished with 17 points. Orange will start play in the John Wall Invitational next Thursday. Orange will open against former conference rival Northwood at Broughton High School. They will play three games over three days in the event in Raleigh before they start its 2024 calendar year. 

Orange basketball’s Coleman Cloer & Kai Wade discuss overtime win over S. Alamance

The Orange men’s basketball team was expecting an adventure when coveted forward Coleman Cloer made his season debut against Southern Alamance last week. It turned out to be a wilder night than anyone expected. The Panthers never led in regulation and trailed the Patriots by five points with :28 remaining in the fourth quarter.

GRAHAM–When Orange sophomore Coleman Cloer suffered an injured ankle in practice four days before the season-opener on November 13, the prevalent thinking was the Panthers’ pumpkin would turn into a stagecoach upon his return, just like in Cinderella.

Cloer returned just in time for the Central Carolina opener against Southern Alamance on Thursday night, but the stagecoach had a flat tire in the first half.

That didn’t keep some Christmas magic from being spread around for Orange in the clutch.

Orange (3-7, 1-0 in the Central Conference), which never led in regulation, erased a 60-55 deficit in the final 28 seconds to force overtime. The Panthers didn’t trail in the extra session and stunned the Patriots 72-68 in overtime to end a seven-game losing streak.

Cloer, who received Division I scholarship offers from N.C. State, Wake Forest, Mississippi State, Iowa and Appalachian State in the offseason, scored 29 points and grabbed eleven rebounds in his season debut. Orange point guard Kai Wade added 17.

Chris Epps paced Southern Alamance (1-4) with 16 points.

It appeared Orange would go into Christmas break with another disappointing loss when Cloer missed two free throws with :30.8 left. Southern’s Tyler Moore got the rebound but fell down and was called for traveling. Cloer drained two free throws after being fouled by Moore with :23.5 remaining. Moore became the third Patriot in regulation to foul out.

No Orange comeback would be complete without Wade stealing the ball on an inbounds pass. Sure enough, Wade picked the dribble away from Southern’s Jordan Moore and banked it in with :19.3 left to cut the Southern lead to 60-59.

Southern’s Evan Jacobson was fouled with :10.2 on the clock. He split a pair to make it 61-59. Cloer took the inbounds pass and roared to the basket like a teenager going for Taylor Swift tickets, drawing a blocking foul on Jordan Moore. Cloer made the two free throws with :5.8 left to even the game at 61-61, the first tie of the game.

Incredibly, Orange had a chance to win in regulation when Wade forced a held ball on Jacobson, but Epps stole the inbounds pass from three-quarters court as the buzzer sounded.

Orange center Ryan Honeycutt drained two free throws to open overtime after being fouled by Myles Darroch, giving the Panthers its first lead of the game with 3:42 remaining in overtime. After Moore missed for Southern, Cloer fed Wade, who drained a three-pointer from near the Burlington city limits, which left nearly everyone in Orange visiting standing in awe.

Orange guard Xandrell Pennix sank two free throws to increase Orange’s lead to 70-63 with 1:124 left, but the Patriots had some comeback moxie of its own. Reserve forward Myles Darrouch, who played only seven minutes, scored on a lay-in. With the score 71-66 with 48 seconds left, Moore streaked down the floor for a lay-in. Jacobson tied up Wade for a held-ball at midcoast. But Epps three-pointer to tie was short. Wade knocked down a free throw to finish it off.

Much of the night was frustrating for Orange. They shot just 3-of-22 from 3-point range, only 37% from the field overall. Just five Panthers scored. With 2:15 remaining in the second quarter, Southern led 31-17. A smaller Patriots team out rebounded Orange 24-14 in the first half, including 13 offensive boards.

Southern led 32-22 at halftime. The Panthers struggled to cut into the lead in the third quarter. It remained a 10-point deficit after Tyler Moore drilled a 3-pointer on a field from Jacobsen with 1:03 remaining in the frame, but Xandrell Pennix finished the quarter with four straight points to make it 47-41.

Even some of Orange’s highlight reel plays were swiftly answered by Southern. Wade hit Cloer on an ally-oop, which started after a steal by Freddy Sneed. Undeterred, Tyler Moore looped a pass to Epps, who scored on a sweeping lay-in to increase the Patriots lead to 56-50 with 4:18 left in regulation.

Orange will face Northwood to start the John Wall Invitational at Broughton High School in Raleigh on December 28. Tipoff will be at 3:30.

ORANGE 72, SOUTHERN ALAMANCE 68 OT

ORA–7     15    19   20   11-72

SAL–19    13    15    14    7-68

ORANGE: Xandrell Pennix 10, Kai Wade 17, Coleman Cloer 29, Ryan Honeycutt 8, Freddy Sneed 8.

SOUTHERN ALAMANCE: Liam Forrester 7, Jordan Moore 13, Evan Jacobson 5, Josiah Aiken 7, Tyler Moore 12, Myles Darroch 4, Chris Epps 16, Cooper Dodson 3, Kolby Kronbergs 1.

3-point goals: Orange 3 (Cloer 2, Wade), Southern Alamance 5 (J. Moore, Jacobson, T. Moore 2, Dodson)

Fouled Out: Orange (Sneed), Southern Alamance (Forrester, Aiken, T. Moore)

Rebounds: Orange 50 (Cloer 11), Southern Alamance 40 (Forrester 8).

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is men’s soccer midfielder Emmanuel Mil Cruz. For the first time ever this season, Orange reached the state playoffs in back-to-back years. Mil Cruz, one of eight seniors on the team, was tied for the team lead with five goals. Mil Cruz scored Orange’s a goal in his senior night game against Eastern Alamance, a 1-1 tie on October 19. Mil Cruz also had a goal in Orange’s 3-2 win at Southern Alamance on September 20. In the season opener at Durham School of the Arts on August 17, Mil Cruz notched the game-winning goal on a header in the second half as the Panthers won 2-1. Mil Cruz spent two years at the varsity level for the Orange men’s soccer team. He had four goals in his junior season, including a tally in Orange’s memorable 3-2 upset over Chapel Hill on October 13, 2022. He also had an assist in the Panthers 3-2 win over Northwood, which was the last time the Chargers and the Panthers played as conference opponents. Mil Cruz ended his Orange career with nine goals and 22 points. He will graduate in June.

Orange Panther of the Week: Emmanuel Mil Cruz

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is men’s soccer midfielder Emmanuel Mil Cruz. For the first time ever this season, Orange reached the state playoffs in back-to-back years. Mil Cruz, one of eight seniors on the team, was tied for the team lead with five goals.

Life is never easy on the road in high school basketball. Just before Thanksgiving, the Orange men’s basketball team had to battle a humid new gymnasium at Northern Durham, 12 straight fouls called against them in the second half and the loss of their leading scorer in a victory over Northern Durham on November 22. Junior guard Xandrell Pennix drained two clutch 3-pointers, including one with :54 seconds remaining that put the Panthers ahead 57-53. Pennix drained his final two shots from downtown and finished with 14 points. Orange center Ryan Honeycutt led the Panthers with 17 points. He also had seven rebounds. Orange won the first varsity game inside the new Northern Durham Gymnasium. Kai Wade added ten points as Orange improved to 2-0 despite the loss of sophomore Coleman Cloer, who suffered a left ankle injury two weeks ago during practice. Orange suffered a tough loss to Riverside on Tuesday night in Hillsborough, dropping its record to 2-2. The Panthers will play Jordan coming up tonight (Thursday) at Falcon Gymnasium. It will be the fourth DAC-VII opponent that the Panthers have faced this season. Orange defeated Hillside in the opener. Hillsboroughsports.com will broadcast tonight’s game starting at 7 PM.

Orange men’s basketball’s Ryan Honeycutt & Xandrell Pennix discuss win at Northern Durham

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