Orange High School

ROXBORO–Orange men’s basketball earned the feeling of a championship on Friday night.

Two weeks ago, the Panthers won the Central Conference regular season title, but it arrived anticlimactically. Orange blew out Southern Alamance by 41 points and didn’t learn until an hour later that they had won the championship when Person defeated Eastern Alamance.

Ultimately, basketball is a tournament sport. For the first time since 2016, Orange won a conference tournament on Friday night and did it convincingly.

The Panthers (15-11) charged out to a 8-0 lead and never trailed to defeat Eastern Alamance 86-69 in the Central Conference Tournament championship game at Rockets Gymnasium. Sophomore Coleman Cloer scored 36 points and was named Tournament Most Valuable Player as the Panthers never trailed in a game for the ninth time this season.

Sophomore Kai Wade, who finished with 15 points, was named to the All-Tournament team. So was defensive star Freddie Sneed, who scored eight points and made several huge blocks as the Panthers pulled away turning defense into offense in the opening minutes.

Cloer, only a sophomore, has now scored 967 points in 44 career games. He missed the first eight games of this season nursing an injured ankle, a stretch where the Panthers went 2-6.

It was Orange’s first conference tournament title since they defeated Southern Durham to win the Big 8 championship at Chapel Hill High School in 2016. It was also the first tournament crown for Orange coach Derryl Britt since he arrived in Hillsborough in 2018.

“This is a different feeling,” said Britt, who carried the championship trophy into the Person High lobby after most of the fans had left. “The key thing is validation. We came into the season with the goal of winning the regular season championship and the tournament. And by winning this tournament, we feel like we validated everything we did during the regular season.”

Junior Jordan Matthews led Eastern Alamance (18-9) with 19 points.

Orange has now beaten Eastern Alamance six straight times.

A week after winning over Eastern Alamance in Mebane, Orange wasted no time in getting off to another strong start. Wade drained a jumper from the foul line on the Panthers opening possession, the first of eight straight Orange points. Center Mason Robinson hit Wade for a backdoor lay-in. Then Wade picked off a pass and fed Xandrell Pennix, cherry picking on the other end for a lay-up. After Ja’Vier Tinnin missed, Sneed grabbed the rebound and took it down the heart of the Eagles defense for a lay-in, drawing a foul on Jalen Alston for a three-point play.

Eastern’s Amari Gibbs scored on a lay-in to earn the Eagles first points 2:56 in. After an Orange turnover, Matthews drained a 3-pointer to reduce Orange’s lead to 8-5, but Orange immediately responded with a 10-0 run.

Wade worked around a double-screen to feed Robinson for a two-hand dunk. After Tinnen missed a running one-hander, Cloer took it coast-to-coast for a driving lay-in, actually becoming the final Orange starter to score. Wade grabbed a rebound in transition and threw a no-look pass to a trailing Cloer, who laid it in, leading to an Eagle timeout.

Cloer scored 16 points in the second quarter. When he wasn’t scoring, he was drawing fouls. Orange had foul difficulty of its own. Sneed and Robinson were both pulled in the second quarter after they each picked up two fouls. Reserves Michael Clark and Ryan Moss had quality minutes as they extended Orange’s lead to 15 at one point. Moss, the only senior who played for Orange, had five points in the second quarter. Clark finished 6-of-7 from the foul line.

Even when Eastern started to gain momentum, Cloer silenced it immediately. Matthews drained a 3-pointer to cut the Orange lead to 28-19 and send a vibe across the Eagle bench. Cloer marched right back down and hit his own 3-pointer, remarkably the only shot from beyond the arc for Orange the whole night, to stem any tide the Eagles hoped to build.

Orange’s lead remained in double-figures the entire second half. Wade scored eight points in the second half as the Eagles couldn’t contain his explosive first step to the basket. Even when they got someone in his way, Wade would simply sink a pull-up jumper Cloer and Robinson each had spectacular dunks in the fourth quarter.

Orange will now wait for the field of 64 to be released for the 3A State Playoffs on Saturday. The Panthers will play at home on Tuesday night and most likely receive an 11-seed.

Any win for the Orange men’s basketball team in Roxboro is precious. On Tuesday night, the Panthers had extra reason to celebrate as they defeated the Person Rockets 65-59 on Tuesday night in Roxboro in the Central Conference Tournament semifinals. Sophomore Coleman Cloer finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season. Cloer scored 15 in the second half as the Panthers advanced to a conference tournament championship game for the first time since 2017. Despite not even completing two years as a player, Cloer is already at 931 career points. Sophomore Kai Wade went 8-of-8 from the foul line and finished with 14 points, four rebounds and two assists. It was the first win for Orange in Roxboro since December 2014. Cloer fed fellow sophomore Mason Robinson for an ally-oop dunk to trigger a 10-0 run late in the third quarter, putting Orange ahead for good. It was the Panthers second win over the Rockets this season. Xandrell Pennix added eleven points for Orange, while Robinson had ten points, eight rebounds and five blocks. Orange will face Eastern Alamance for the Central Conference Tournament championship on Friday night at 7:30 in Roxboro. Last week, Orange defeated the Eagles 79-74 in Mebane. Orange hasn’t won a conference tournament since 2016 when they defeated Southern Durham to win the Big 8 Conference championship.

Orange’s Coleman Cloer & Kai Wade discuss win over Person & reaching the Central Tourney title game

Any win for the Orange men’s basketball team in Roxboro is precious. On Tuesday night, the Panthers had extra reason to celebrate as they defeated the Person Rockets 65-59 on Tuesday night in Roxboro in the Central Conference Tournament semifinals. Sophomore Coleman Cloer finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season.

Photo from Carolina University 

Grace Andrews: After three years at Catawba Valley Community College, Andrews is now at Carolina University, a National Christian College Athletic Association school in Winston-Salem. Carolina won its first game of the season against Salem College on February 17. Andrews went 2-for-5 with a double. In the second game of the doubleheader, Andrews finished 1-for-3 with an RBI double as Salem won 9-8 with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. On February 21, the Bruins split a doubleheader with Milligan University in Milligan, TN. In a 12-2 win for Carolina in the opener, Andrews went 2-for-4 with an RBI double. In Milligan’s 5-4 win in the nightcap, Andrews went 1-for-4 and scored the Bruins first run off a throwing error. She started at shortstop. Andrews also played both games in a doubleheader sweep of Johnson C. Smith in Clemmons on February 19. The Bruins are 4-4.

Takia Nichols :North Carolina Centra won 3-2 in the HBCU Softball Invitational at the Turner Lake Softball Complex in Covington, GA last weekend. Nichols started as a designated hitter in a 4-3 win over Alabama State. She went 1-for-3. Alcorn State edged the Eagles 7-6 on Friday night. Nichols went 1-for-2 with a double and two walks. Nichols went 1-for-3 with an RBI off a sacrifice fly as Central edged Jackson State 9-8 on Saturday. Alabama A&M defeated Central 4-1 on Sunday. Nichols entered the game as a pinch-hitter and went 0-for-1 with a walk. The Eagles are 4-6 and will head to Greenville this weekend for the Pirate Invitational at East Carolina University. Central will face East Carolina on Friday.

Tori Dalehite: Last week, Dalehite started in left field as UNC Greensboro defeated Wintrop 6-1 at UNCG Softball Stadium. Dalehite went 0-for-3 with a walk. The Spartans hosted the Spiro Classic last week in Greensboro. Dalehite started in left field in a 5-3 win over Sacred Heart on Friday. She played right field in a 7-2 win over Drexel on Friday night. Dalehite singled and scored as a pinch-hitter in the Spartans 7-3 win over Drexel on Saturday. Ohio defeated UNCG twice last weekend, including a 6-4 win on Sunday. Dalehite entered that contest in the seventh inning as a right fielder.

Mary Moss Wirt: The Elon softball team played in the Marucci Classic at Dail Softball Stadium at N.C. State University in Raleigh. The Phoenix went 1-4 in the event. Wirt played in all five games, starting with an appearance as a pinch-hitter in an 8-7 loss to North Dakota State in eight innings. Wirt started as catcher in an 9-0 loss to Connecticut in five innings. Elon’s only win of the weekend with a 7-5 victory over North Dakota St. in eight innings. Wirt entered the game against the Bison in the second inning as catcher. Wirt also played in two games against N.C. State. The Wolfpack defeated Elon on Saturday 5-2. On Sunday, N.C. State prevailed 8-4. On Wednesday, Wirt started at catcher in a 9-1 loss to Virginia Tech in six innings at Tech Softball Park in Blacksburg, VA.

Carson Bradsher: South Carolina Upstate went 2-2 in the Winthrop Eagle Classic at Terry Field in Rock Hill, SC last weekend. In a 14-3 win over Mount St. Mary’s, Bradsher had an RBI single to right field in the fourth inning. Bradsher entered the game during a 10-run fourth inning as a pinch-runner and scored. off a throwing error.

Lauren Jackson: Division II Lenoir-Rhyne defeated the #1 team in D2, North Georgia, 2-1 in ten innings in Dahlonga, GA on Saturday. On Sunday, North Georgia bounced back to beat the Bears 6-0. Jackson played in the second end of the doubleheader as a pinch-hitter. Jackson walked in the Bears 9-0 victory over UNC Pembroke in five innings on Saturday afternoon. On Thursday, Lenoir-Rhyne split a doubleheader against Lees-McRae at Bears Field in Hickory. The Bears won the nightcap 10-2 in five innings. Jackson started at catcher and went 1-for-3.

Brianne Foster: Breezy has started her freshman season at Wake Tech. The Eagles defeated the Guilford College junior varsity team 10-2 on February 18 for its first win. Foster went 1-for-2 with a run scored. Foster went 2-for-4 in the opening game of the doubleheader against Guilford, which the Quakers won 15-7. Foster started at catcher. Foster also started the opening game of a doubleheader against Gaston College on Wednesday, which the Rhinos swept.

ROXBORO: The curse of the Rock has been broken.

For the first time in nearly ten years, Orange has won in Roxboro right in front of the Rocket Rowdies.

The play itself wasn’t exactly reminiscent of a classic basketball film like “Hoosiers” or “Above the Rim.” It wasn’t even “Space Jam.”

But Orange won in Roxboro for the first time since December 15, 2014, ending a five-game losing streak in Person County.

Now, they’re headed to the Central Conference Tournament championship game.

On a night of the strange, Coleman Cloer remained the reliable constant. He scored 22 points, including 15 in the second half, to pace the Panthers to a 65-59 win on Tuesday night

Orange, the top seed in the tournament, will face either Eastern Alamance or Southern Alamance at Person High School in the championship game on Friday night at 7:30.

Orange avenged a loss to Person two weeks ago, its only defeat against a conference team this season. Person had beaten Orange in seven of the last eight meetings in Roxboro.

Reserve Lamont Johnson and starter Lance Clarke each led Person with 17 points, but Clarke was held to two points in the second half. Clarke, the Rockets leading scorer, was injured with 1:56 remaining in regulation but returned in the final 30 seconds, despite writhing on the floor in pain for several minutes while being treated by head coach Charles Dacus.

The frantic back-and-forth pace usually set by both teams yielded to a half-court matchup on Tuesday night. Orange tried to push tempo whenever possible, but the highlight reel dunks off the backboard against Eastern Alamance from Friday night didn’t make the trip up Highway 157.

Part of that was the Rockets inspired play. Person had to beat Walter Williams in Burlington on Monday night just to reach the semifinals inside its own gym. The Rockets may not have been at their best, but they certainly didn’t make it easy for Orange.

“I’ve watched that team play lackluster in a lot of games,” said Orange coach Derryl Britt. “But no matter where the game is located, when it’s Orange and Person, they get up for it. So it doesn’t matter if they played the night before. They get up for us. We expect what we got tonight.”

Cloer came into the game off a 41-point effort against Southern Alamance, followed by a 31-point night against Eastern Alamance on Friday. Person forward Daejon Hodge held Cloer to seven in the first half.

Neither team led by more than four points in the first half. Orange sophomore Mason Robinson threw down three ally-oop feeds in the second quarter to space the Panther lead to 31-27, but Johnson and Hodge scored the final four points of the half to even things up at 31-31 going to the locker room.

With Clarke bottled up by Orange’s Freddy Sneed and Pennix, Johnson and Hodge carried the offensive load for the Rockets during the second half. After Clarke blocked a shot from Wade, Jordan Lunsford got the ball to Hodge, who tipped it in to even the game 42-42 with 2:12 remaining in the third quarter.

Cloer lobbed the ball for Robinson for another ally-oop dunk immediately afterwards, which triggered a 10-0 run that put the Panthers in control. Sneed stole a pass from Clarke and fed Kai Wade, who appeared to set up an ally-oop for Cloer. But Wade threw the pass so precise, it dropped through the net to increase the Orange lead to 47-42. Cloer scored off a running one-hander, while Clarke followed with an errant 3-pointer. Cloer hit two more free throws.

Reserve Malykhai Justice was inserted into the game to replace Robinson after he picked up his fourth foul. As the third quarter wound down, Cloer absorbed contact while missing a drive to the basket, but Justice grabbed the rebound and beat the 3rd quarter clock with a lay-in to give Orange its first double-digit lead at 53-43.

Person shot 0-of-6 from three-point range in the third quarter.

The Rockets whittled the margin down to six points several times in the waning minutes, but Clarke was injured during a frantic sequence where the Rockets had possession. Clarke injured his calf and couldn’t put any weight on his left leg as he was carried off the floor by Person assistant wrestling coach Chase Kernodle, a former Orange grappler. Yet Clarke returned in the final seconds.

Wade and Pennix knocked down pressure free throws in the final minute.

Person was chosen as the location to host the tournament semifinals and championship games after a vote of the Central Conference’s basketball coaches because it was the most convenient geographically to the league’s seven teams.

MEBANE: Injury. Illness. Fatigue. Defections.

The Orange men’s basketball team has dealt with all of that over the past month, but they’ve been on a mission to win the Central Conference championship since they started the league campaign against Southern Alamance on December 14.

On that night, the Panthers came back from five points down with :28.5 remaining in regulation to beat the Patriots. On Friday night, they roared out to a 21-3 lead against Eastern Alamance and never trailed to close out the regular season.

Despite being unable to practice all week due to illness, sophomore Coleman Cloer scored 31 points as the Panthers defeated the Eagles 79-74. It was Orange’s fifth straight win over the Eagles dating back to 2021.

Junior Xandrell Pennix added 15 points, including five in the fourth quarter as the Panthers closed the league campaign 11-1, winning the conference championship by three games.

In Orange’s twelve conference games this year, they didn’t trail in eight of them.

Orange will receive a bye into the semifinals of the Central Conference Tournament. They will play again on Tuesday night at 7:30 at Person High School against the winner of Walter Williams vs. Person, who will face off in Burlington on Monday night.

Freshman Jayden Adams led a spirited comeback by the Eagles with 21 points. Eastern Alamance (16-8, 8-4) trailed by 18 points just four minutes into the game, but fought back to reduce Orange’s lead to 42-36 by halftime.

It was the most anticipated Panthers-Eagles basketball game since they met in the 3rd round of the 2014 3A State Playoffs. There were no empty seats to be found at tipoff along the seven rows of green and gold bleachers on either side of the gym. Anyone who arrived before the women’s game ended at Tal Jobe Gymnasium were forced to watch standing along the walls of the end zones or standing in the lobby peering over visitors’ shoulders.

With seven days between games and a conference championship already secured, it would have been understandable for Orange to come out flat. Especially considering Cloer, Pennix and Freddie Sneed were sick all week. Pennix and Sneed practiced only on Thursday.

“We’re just passing stuff around right now,” said Orange coach Derryl Britt. “It’s just that time of year. We just have to fight through it.”

Instead, for the second straight game, Orange was hell on wheels at the opening tip. Wade scored seven of the first nine points, then Cloer added two deep 3-pointers, including a 25-footer that had several fans jumping out on the floor in disbelief. Orange led 23-7 at the end of the first quarter.

“We got off to a great start,” Britt said. “We let Eastern back into the game, but we settled down, weathered down and did all the things we needed to do to win.”

Adams and senior Jalen Alston trigger a comeback, each hitting two 3-pointers in the second quarter. Alston, on his senior night, scored seven of his ten points in the second quarter. Eastern’s Javier Tinnen drilled an outside shot to cut Orange’s lead to six before Cloer sank another three-pointer.

In the third quarter, Sneed picked off an entry pass to spark an inferno. Wade sent an off-the-backboard ally-oop to Cloer, who slammed it down with two hands. Moments later, after Adams missed a shot, Sneed rebounded and found Cloer for another ally-oop, where he laid it in to Orange’s lead to 13.

Sneed, in the absence of senior center Ryan Honeycutt, scored ten points off the bench.

“With Honeycutt out, it’s a blow,” Britt said. “But Freddie did the things tonight that added up to a victory. He makes us more athletic and faster on defense.”

In the fourth quarter, Pennix drove behind-the back down the lane and was knocked off balance by Eastern’s A.J. Weaver. Pennix, not even looking at the basket, threw the ball up and it went off the backboard–and in. The three-point play but the Panthers ahead by 13.

Orange junior Michael Clark hit a late three-pointer to put Orange in control in the final minute.

As Eastern attempted a late rally, Eagles coach Parrish Walker inserted freshman guard Hunter Eichmann, the son of former Orange player Sean Eichmann and grandson of former Orange High school trigonometry teacher Gary Eichmann.