Orange Women’s Basketball

The Orange women’s basketball team has had three close games to open its Central Conference season with three big wins. On Friday night, the Panthers held on to defeat Walter Williams 46-44 at Panther Gymnasium. After Williams built a six-point lead early in the third quarter, Orange went on a 20-4 run behind balanced scoring from Evelyn George, Maura McMurtry, Shannon Murphy and Mariah Poole. George scored off a strip and steal and scored on a lay-in with 1:06 remaining in the third quarter. McMurtry started the fourth quarter with a three-pointer, followed by another lay-in from Georgia with 6:37 remaining in regulation, Orange’s final field goal of the game. McMurtry finished with nine pints and three assists while Addie Atkins had eight points and seven rebounds. Orange is atop the Central Conference with a 3-0 record with wins over Southern Alamance and Western Alamance. During the Southeast Alamance Holiday Hoopla Tournament in the final days of 2023, McMurtry was named to the All-Tournament team after she scored 12 points in a 48-39 win over Eastern Alamance in the 7th place game. Murphy also scored 12 points for Orange, who won despite not having George in the lineup. The Lady Panthers, under first-year head coach Lemont Jones, are 8-4 and goes into the Cedar Ridge game on a three-game winning streak.

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The Orange women’s basketball team has had three close games to open its Central Conference season with three big wins. On Friday night, the Panthers held on to defeat Walter Williams 46-44 at Panther Gymnasium. After Williams built a six-point lead early in the third quarter, Orange went on a 20-4 run behind balanced scoring from Evelyn George, Maura McMurtry, Shannon Murphy and Mariah Poole.

For the second time in two Central Conference games, the Orange women’s basketball team had a game that wasn’t decided until the final minute.

Once again, Evelyn George had the answers for an Orange victory.

George scored a career-high 31 points in Orange’s 45-42 victory over Western Alamance on Wednesday night. Orange improved to 2-0 in the Central Conference in beating the Warriors for the second straight time.

Western Alamance (5-6, 1-1 in the Central Conference) played most of the game without long-range threat Allie Sykes, who averages 15 points per game. Sykes, who averages 26.5 minutes per game, was limited to five minutes.

That didn’t stop the Warriors from reeling off eleven straight points to take a 17-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. Guards Emma Johnson and Bri Pullium each drained 3-pointers while reserve Kayra Benitez Dorantes knocked down another shot from downtown to end the first quarter.

The Panthers used a 2-3 zone to shutout the Warriors in the second quarter, but Orange could only muster eight points and trailed 17-14 at halftime.

George had a personal 12-0 run in the third quarter to put the Lady Panthers ahead for the first time. After scoring on a baseline drive to put in a five-footer, George put Orange ahead with a straightaway 3-pointer off a feed from Alexis Stephens. Then George drained another 3-pointer on Orange’s next possession.

The Warriors scored seven straight to take the lead in the fourth quarter. Xiomara Moser, who led the Warriors with 12 points, scored on a breakaway lay-in from Kiva Shavers. George scored Orange’s next three field goals to put Orange ahead 38-35. After Western’s Tina Bowers drained a running one-hander to cut the Panthers lead to 38-37, Panther guard Shannon Murphy does for a loose ball and threw a pass while laying on the floor to Marshea Byrd, who scored from point-blank range.

Byrd added another field goal following a steal by George with 2:09 remaining to increase Orange’s lead to 42-37. Sykes reported late into the game to insert some drama, hitting a 3-pointer with 29 seconds remaining. The Warriors had a chance to tie on its final possession, but a 3-pointer by Sykes rimmed out.

Orange will host Walter Williams in a battle for first place on Friday night at 6PM in Hillsborough.

Cedar Ridge 46, Person 43: Without Amiyah Ware in the lineup, the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team got a huge game from freshman for its first conference win of the season.

Finnegan, in just her third varsity game, scored a career-high 16 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in a grinding win over the Rockets where the two teams combined for 45 fouls and 54 free throws.

Person jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but the Red Wolves responded with a 9-2 run to finish the quarter. Finnegan capped the frame with a 3-pointer to put the Red Wolves ahead 9-7.

Cedar Ridge stretched its advantage to 18-9 at halftime following a jumper by Cameron Copeland off a feed from Finnegan. The Red Wolves defense held the Rockets to one field goal in the second quarter and forced 12 turnovers.

Cedar Ridge freshman Sarah Ultey, who finished with ten points, eight assists and five steals, knocked down two free throws to increase the Red Wolves lead to 20-9 with 6:42 remaining in the third quarter. The Rockets chipped away at the advantage behind four straight points from forward Cassie Jay and a lay-in by Nayahana Marner, who scored in transition to cut the Red Wolf lead to 26-22. Cedar Ridge’s Jamee Watson ended the third quarter with a three-pointer to put the Red Wolves cushion at 36-26.

Marner hit two field goals to open the fourth quarter, followed by a jumper from Paige Jay to cut Person’s deficit to 36-32.

Late in the game, Person had two chances to tie the game, but Finnegan came up with a huge steal off a pass, which led to a free throw from Addie Reid with 55 seconds remaining to put the Red Wolves ahead 43-40.

Cedar Ridge will host Southern Alamance at Red Wolves Gymnasium at 7PM on Friday night.

Orange 42, East Chapel Hill 33: It didn’t set records for shooting accuracy, but Orange’s defense and late field goals from Addie Atkins paced the Lady Panthers past East Chapel Hill on Tuesday night.

Atkins finished with 17 points and six rebounds while the Orange defense forced 33 turnovers in a victory over the Wildcats. Evelyn George added 13 points, eight rebounds and 10 steals as Orange improved to 3-1.

The Lady Panthers won despite shooting just 20% from the field. East Chapel Hill played without its leading scorer Abigail Stone. Lauren Steiner led the Wildcats with 16 points. Wildcats center Zariah Freeman finished with 13 points and ten rebounds.

Orange trailed for most of the game as they were unable to get things going from 3-point range, shooting just 2-of-25. East Chapel Hill 25-16 with 3:10 remaining in the third quarter after a free throw from Steiner. George started a 15-2 run with a field goal late in the second quarter while getting fouled by Steiner. Orange’s Maura McMurtry scored on a lay-in to reduce Orange’s deficit to 25-21 going into the fourth quarter.

McMurtry fed George for a 18-footer to open the fourth quarter. After Freeman scored on a lay-in off a pass from Steiner, Atkins scored four consecutive points to put Orange into tie the game. Atkins sank two free throws, then scored after she stole an inbounds pass for an easy lay-in while getting fouled by Carrie Allred. Atkins hit the free throw and Orange never trailed again. George forced a steal on the Wildcat end and got free for a lay-up and was fouled by Eleanor Schwartz. George completed the three-point play to increase Orange’s lead to 31-27.

Consecutive field goals by Freeman and Steiner put the Wildcats within a point at 32-31 with 2:12 remaining, but McMurtry and Shannon Murphy spaced out Orange’s lead with two more field goals.

Orange will travel to Chapel Hill on Friday night.

Cedar Ridge 59, Northern Durham 27: 

Cedar Ridge jumped out to a 19-2 run and dominated Northern Durham on Monday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. The Red Wolves are 2-3, its best start since the 2017-2018 season.

Amiyah Ware led the Red Wolves with 15 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Sarah Utley added eleven points, six assists and five steals.

It was a sizable disparity between the last meeting between the two teams. Last year, without Ware, the Knights defeated the Red Wolves by 29 points. Cedar Ridge coach Megan Skouby won her first game as the Red Wolves head coach against Northern Durham on December 6, 2021 when Phoenix Smith scored off a short jumper on a pass from Julie Altieri with two seconds remaining to win 45-44.

There was no such drama on Monday night. From the time Addie Reid knocked scored on a stickback basket with 6:37 remaining in the first quarter, the Red Wolves easily earned its first home win of the season. The Red Wolves scored the first seven points of the game, capped by a three-pointer from Ware off a pass from Utley. After Northern’s Ky Walker scored the Knights only basket of the first quarter with 4:50 remaining, the Red Wolves went on a 16-0 run to put the game away. It started when Utley drained a three-pointer off a pass from Ware, followed by two free throws from James Watson. Watson ended the first quarter with a lay-in assisted by Koryn Shearin.

Ware opened the second quarter with a three-pointer assisted by Utley. The Red Wolves led 34-8 at halftime. They limited Northern to just nine field goals and 25% shooting from the field.

Watson finished with eight points. Seniors Cameron Copeland and Cyani Jacobs each scored six points.

Cedar Ridge defeated Chatham Central for its first win of the season on November 21 in Bear Creek. The Red Wolves will face Northern Durham again tonight, this time in Northern’s new gymnasium.

When the baseball field at Southeast Alamance High School is built, it better have a warning track.

When B.J. Condron walks past Orange High’s baseball field, he playfully chides his fellow gym teacher, baseball coach Jason Knapp, about the lack of a warning track inside Panther Field.

“He comes up to me and says ‘You got that warning track in yet?'” Knapp said. “That’s the first thing I’m going to be looking for when I go over there is a warning track.”

Perhaps a warning track would be a wanted addition for some across Orange, but it can’t begin to make up for the loss that the Hillsborough community will suffer when the current academic year ends.

On February 28, Condron told his Orange women’s basketball team that he was stepping down in order to become the first Athletic Director at Southeast Alamance High School. It ends a tenure of ten years for Condron as the Orange women’s basketball coach. In December 2021, Condron won his 100th game with a victory over Northeast Guilford.

“This is really the only opportunity I would have left Orange for,” Condron said. “I wasn’t seeking out a new job. I knew I wanted to take on the challenge of being an athletic director. When this came open, it seemed like a good fit.”

In another instance of things ending the way it began, Condron’s last game as Orange coach came at Southern Wayne High School, where he graduated and played basketball. Condron’s senior year head coach, Michael Broadhurst, was on hand to watch the Saints defeat the Lady Panthers 58-52 in a physical battle to open the 3A state playoffs.

In her final game, senior center Erin Jordan-Cornell had one to remember. She scored 12 points and grabbed 18 rebounds with four blocks.

Jordan-Cornell, who was also All-Conference in volleyball, has had to endure two knee surgeries, the second of which took most of her junior year. Both times, Condron came by her house and delivered confetti cake, her favorite.

“He wanted to make sure I had a good mindset,” Jordan-Cornell said. “He truly cares about his player on and off the court.”

Jordan-Cornell also served as a student advisor with the North Carolina High School Athletic Association this year. She was told about the opening from Condron.

“I couldn’t be more grateful to him for giving me that opportunity.”

Jordan-Cornell, Jada Reed, Nikayla Whitted and Katelyn Van Mater were the seniors for this year’s Orange team. Condron coached Jordan-Cornell, Reed and Whitted on summer travel teams before they even started classes at Orange. When Condron called a team meeting inside Orange’s Driver’s Ed room days after the Southern Wayne loss, the players thought it for setting up the end of year team banquet and get togethers away from school.

“I’ve known those players and their families because they had siblings that played for me,” Condron said. “I choked up. I put a lot of work in. They put a lot of work in. Having to look at them and realize that I wouldn’t be coaching them next year wasn’t easy.”

This season, Orange went 14-13 and won the championship of the Eastern Guilford Holiday Invitational in Gibsonville, beating Northeast Guilford in the final. Jordan-Cornell was named the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Condron started as head coach in 2013, replacing Adrienne Jordan, who has served as an assistant during much of Condron’s tenure. In his first season, Condron finished 2-24 and plenty of headaches. His most experienced guard was Alicia Harris. Whenever he replaced her, a shrill, high-pitched voice was bellow out from the stands “COACH, WHY DID YOU TAKE MY SISTER OUT? PUT HER BACK IN!”

As if the the piercing message wasn’t understood, the young girl would run across the court behind Orange’s bench to really get her point across.

“She told me everything I was doing wrong,” Condron said. “I tuned it out as best as I could.”

That young girl was Aaliyah Harris, who would go on to play regularly for Condron starting in her freshman season in 2018-19. Aaliyah would become a two-time All-Conference player and now suits up for Randolph-Macon College.

“He gave me so much confidence and he’s the reason I’m the player I am today,” Aaliyah Harris said.

Orange went from two wins in 2012-2013, to nine wins in 2014-2015 to 8-17 in 2015-2016.

Then came 2016-2017, when the pieces came together for possibly the greatest Orange women’s basketball team ever.

They opened the year with a school-record 21-game winning streak, capturing the Big 8 Conference regular season and tournament championships. On New Year’s Eve 2016, the Lady Panthers defeated Bartlett Yancey to win the Eastern Alamance Holiday Hoops Invitational in Mebane, ringing in the New Year with a celebratory bus ride back to Hillsborough just hours before 2017 officially started. They finished 26-2 and reached the third round of the 3A State Playoffs.

Kaylen Campbell, the leading scorer on that team, joined Condron’s staff as an assistant this year after spending four years at Trinity College in Connecticut. The 2016-2017 squad also included seniors Mia Davidson (who started at center and went on to become the all-time leading home run hitter in Southeastern Conference softball history), Enzyah Holt, Mary Beth Dobbins, Bethlyn Early, Jazlyn Watson, and Adalyn Fleming, who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and has completed several Boston Marathons.

Davidson, Holt and Dobbins went on to capture a state championship in softball later that summer, becoming the first female sports team in Orange High history to win a state title.

“You like to be optimistic with teams and tell them to trust the process,” Condron said. “But I don’t feel like things come together often for a storybook like that team did. After telling them for so many years ‘Look, you keep working and it’s going to get better and better and better.’ More often that not, it pays off it something that isn’t wins and losses. But for it to pay off at their success on the court that year was pretty special.”

Condron’s 2018-2019 squad finished with 19 wins and came in second place in the Big 8 Conference. It included Icez Barnett, who went on to play at Chowan, and Kate Burgess, now a member of the UNC Rowing team.

Barnett was on hand for Condron’s final home game last month, a victory over Eastern Alamance.

“Coach Condron was always intentional in empowering us as players and people on and off the court,” said Samantha George, a freshman at Duke University who graduated from Orange in 2022. “He was committed to our basketball successes, but also always wanted to know about what we had going on outside of the gym. We were very close as a team, especially my senior year, because of the precedent he set.”

Plenty has changed at Orange since Condron arrived a decade ago. His friend, Greg Motley, stepped down as men’s basketball coach in 2018. Condron served as an assistant during Motley’s final few months as head coach while also handling his women’s duties. A few months later, Dean Dease ended his legendary stint as baseball coach. Knapp, formerly of Walter Williams, was chosen as Dease’s successor.

As Hubert Davis can tell you, replacing a legend can be a thankless task. Dean Dease stepped down with 503 career wins, 12 conference championships and a state championship. Knapp says it was Condron that made him feel welcome in Hillsborough.

“B.J. was one of the first to call and congratulate me,” Knapp said. “He asked me ‘How does it fell to come in after a legend? Does that scare you a little bit?’ It didn’t scare me, but it was big shoes to fill. I felt like I knew that I was the right man for the job two years later when we walking on the track during class and he said ‘You’re like a clone of Coach Dease. You walk on the field all the time. You take care of that field. You walk on it all the time. You operate a lot alike as baseball coaches. It’s like that just went from Coach Dease to Coach Dease Jr.’ When he said that, I knew I was at home.”

Condron hasn’t decided whether he will coach at Southeast Alamance, but he won’t have to drive as far to work.  His son, Jalen, will have his father as a teacher by the time he reaches high school in two years–much to his chagrin.

“He’s the one person most unhappy about this move,” Condron said. “I don’t think he’s excited about having me at the same high school as him. But I think he’s warming up to it.”

Not only will the Orange women’s basketball team be in the 3A State Playoffs for the fourth time in five years, but head coach B.J. Condron will get to go home again.

On Saturday night, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association released its field of 64 for the 3A State Tournament. Orange received the #20 seed and will face #13 Southern Wayne in Dudley on Tuesday night.

Condron is a graduate of Southern Wayne High School and has joked he would wear his old basketball jersey on the sidelines if the Panthers faced the Saints in the state playoffs.

The winner of Orange-Southern Wayne will face the winner of #4 Cape Fear vs. #29 West Brunswick.

Last week, it appeared Orange was in position to play conference rival Walter Williams in the opening round of the state playoffs. It would have been the fourth matchup between the Lady Panthers and the Bulldogs this season. Southern Wayne, however, was one of several teams to shake up the playoff picture by winning its conference tournament.

The Saints captured the Quad County Conference Tournament on Friday night when they upset Fike 61-51 in the championship game. Fike captured the Quad County regular season championship after they went 13-1 in league play, which included wins over Southern Wayne by five and 21 points, respectively, during the regular season.

Southern Wayne (19-7) opened the year with four straight wins. They finished second in the Quad County Conference with a 12-4 mark.

Orange (14-12) is coming off one of its best halves of the season against Northwood in the semifinals of the Central Carolina Conference Tournament last Wednesday in Pittsboro. The Lady Panthers led CCC regular season champion Northwood 27-26 at halftime. The Chargers came back to win 63-53 behind Te’Keyah Bland, who scored 23 points. Guard Skylar Adams added 17 points.

On Friday night, Northwood completed its stint in the CCC (they will move to 2A next season) by beating Western Alamance 61-49 to take the CCC Tournament championship. Northwood ended its run in the conference by winning 42 consecutive league games, dating back to the Big 8 Conference. Northwood’s last conference loss came on January 7, 2020, when they fell to Chapel Hill.

Last Wednesday, Orange shot 8-of-10 from the field in the first quarter against the Chargers. That included 3-of-8 from 3-point range. Senior Nikayla Whitted finished with 13 points, including nine in the first quarter. Orange had only one turnover in the first quarter and led 19-13 at the end of the opening eight minutes.

Of course, Orange won’t travel to Dudley looking to just make the playoffs. In its last three playoff appearances, the Lady Panthers have been eliminated in the first round. Last season, the Lady Panthers had a excruciating loss to Fayetteville 71st where they played without center Erin Jordan-Cornell. Yet Orange dominated the Falcons early with dynamic 3-point shooting from senior Samantha George and freshman Evelyn George. The Lady Panthers led 40-23 at halftime.

Then Orange couldn’t buy a shot after halftime. 71st stormed back to outscore the Lady Panthers 45-13 in the second half to win 68-53.

Orange’s last win in the state playoffs came in 2017, when they defeated Havelock to reach the third round of the 3A State Playoffs.

Overall, five teams from the Central Carolina Conference reached the state playoffs.

Northwood, the defending 3A State Champions, received the #7 seed and will face nearby rival Lee County on Tuesday night in Pittsboro. Western Alamance will host a playoff game after they finished runner-up in the conference tournament. The Warriors received a #12 seed and will face #21 Wilson Hunt in Elon.

Walter Williams also will face a home game. The Bulldogs will host C.B. Aycock in the opening round in Burlington. Eastern Alamance, seeded #22, will travel to Fayetteville and take on Terry Sanford on Tuesday night. Orange defeated Eastern Alamance twice over the course of three days last week, which led to Orange getting a higher seed for the state playoffs.