Orange High School

Midway through the Big 8 regular season, there’s one thing clear: the road to the regular season championship in boys and girls basketball runs through Orange High. At least, for now.

For each of the next two weeks, both Orange squads will play in three games in four days. On Tuesday, the Panthers travel to Northern Vance (tripleheader with the girls playing at 6, boys at 7:30). On Wednesday, the Panthers host Jordan for another tripleheader (5:30 girls, 7PM boys). Then on Friday, the Orange boys host Southern Durham in a showdown for 1st place at 7. The Lady Panthers travel to Southern for a 7 PM tip.

On Saturday, B.J. Condron’s Lady Panthers took over sole possession of first place in the Big 8 with a 61-49 victory over Northwood in Pittsboro. The win kept Orange undefeated at 16-0 overall, 6-0 in the Big 8.

Orange has had balanced scoring in many of its wins, but Saturday was different. Sophomore guard Lauren Cates came off the bench to score 30 points, including eight 3-pointers which vaulted Orange to a 23-11 lead in the second quarter. The Lady Panthers’ leading scorer, Kaylen Campbell, finished with 15. No one else had more than four.

“We’ve always known that Lauren had the ability to do that,” said Condron. “She shoots the ball really well in practice and workouts. It was a matter of when. For it to happen in a big game like this was huge.”

“The threes were just going in today,” said Cates. “We were kicking the ball out a lot. So I feel that we knew what we had to do today and we did it.’

After tying Chapel Hill for the regular season championship last season, Northwood was the odds-on favorite to win the Big 8 title this year. Incredibly, the Chargers suffered season-ending injuries to  three of its top returning players within 24 hours in November. All of them seniors returning from a squad that made the 3rd round of the 3A state playoffs last year.

In the season opener at Northern Durham November 21, point guard Jazanaie Billings suffered a torn ACL. The following night in the home opener against Western Alamance, shooting guard Bryn Aydt and forward Erika Nettles also suffered torn ACLs.

Chargers Coach Cam Vernon has refused to use that as an excuse for this season. Northwood is still 6-1, only a game behind Orange with a rematch in Hillsborough set for next Friday.

“In the four years I’ve been here, Northwood has been a really good team,” said Condron. “To get over those jitters and play our game, it took a little while today to get into our game and do what we like to do.”

Wednesday’s home game against Jordan wasn’t officially scheduled until three weeks ago after a MLK Day event at the Durham School of the Arts was cancelled. It poses among the toughest threats to Orange’s undefeated record. Hailing from the 4A PAC-6 Conference, the Falcons are 12-4. They started the season with a win at Panther Creek in Cary. They carried a six-game winning streak into Raleigh to face Cardinal Gibbons on December 21, when they lost to the Crusaders 50-45.

The Jordan boys squad, coached by Kim Annas, is 10-6, 3-4 in the PAC-6.

Midway through the Big 8 conference schedule, Orange is along atop the league after beating Northwood 61-49 on Saturday afternoon in Pittsboro. The Panthers received 30 points from sophomore Lauren Cates, while senior Kaylen Campbell added 15. Coach B.J. Condron discussed the victory and the week ahead, which features three games in four days.

Orange’s B.J. Condron Talks the Panthers’ 61-49 Win at Northwood

Orange is off to a 16-0 start and is atop the Big 8 Conference after winning at the co-defending Big 8 Champions on Saturday.

Photo Courtesy of Dave Lindaman 

With a stretch of six game in ten days on the horizon, the Orange Panthers are at the top of the Big 8 Conference.

Orange is now 6-0 in league play after beating Northwood 73-59 on Saturday afternoon at Jim King Gymnasium. Connor Crabtree scored 29 points, including 14 in the third quarter. Logan Vosburg added 22 points as the Panthers won for the tenth time in eleven games.

Orange leads the Big 8 by one game over Southern Durham and Chapel Hill at the midway point of Big 8 play. The Panthers host the Spartans on Friday.

Mitch Portman added ten points for the Panthers, the fourth consecutive game he’s reached double figures and the seventh overall.  Vosburg’ 22 points nearly matched his season-high of 24 against Eastern Guilford in the championship game of the Eastern Guilford Holiday Classic Championship game. He also scored 24 against Carrboro on December 8.

Crabtree scored over 20 points for the 13th time in 16 games this season. His season-high of 38 came against Chapel Hill on January 5th.

Orange travels up I-85 to Henderson on Tuesday to face Northern Vance. On Wednesday, they host Jordan in a nonconfernece game before the cricital matchup against Southern Durham, which will have a major effect on the Big 8 regular season conference championship chase in the final week of the regular season.

Two weeks away from the state dual playoffs, the Orange wrestling team appears to have learned the lessons from last year’s crushing postseason loss to Eden Morehead very well.

In Eden last February, the two sides met for the fifth consecutive year in the postseason. It was the most intense and dramatic match yet, with Morehead rallying to win 31-29 despite Orange jumping out to a 12-0 lead. Morehead, trailing 29-28 going into the final individual match, won the final bout to advance. The following week, they would claim its third consecutive Eastern Regional Championship.

Bobby Shriner’s Panthers always wrestle with a purpose, but this year there’s something extra.

Orange is 19-0 after taking all five matches at the Havelock Duals over the weekend at Havelock High School. The Panthers defeated New Bern 51-20, Swansboro 44-19, Southwest Onslow 60-20, North Pitt 67-3 and Havelock 61-9.

Though 19 matches, the closest anyone has come to defeating the Panthers so far came during the Thanksgiving Quad on November 23, when the Panthers defeated Southern Alamance 46-35. The Patriots led that match 23-12 before the Panthers scored pins in five of the last eight bouts.

In Havelock, the closest match of the day was against New Bern. The Bears led 20-6 after five individual matches, but the Panthers won the final eight bouts, six by pinball. After Avery Jenkins edged Sage Carroll 9-8, Charlie Fitzpatrick, Caleb Brimmer, Josiah Ramirez, Braden Homsey and Jamar Davis all scored pins. Heavyweight Daylan Alston finished the match off in style by pinning Chauncey Swann in 1:06.

The only Orange wrestler to earn four victories without a forfeit on the day was Homsey at 182. He pinned Southwest Onslow’s Ethan Brown in 1:58, pinned North Pitt’s Marco Najar in 1:05, scored a  technical fall over Swansboro’s Tristen Gee 20-5 and pinned New Bern’s Dontrayal Hil in 2:59.

Coming off his first individual tournament championship at the Roselle Park Invitational in New Jersey, Alston scored three wins in Havelock. After pinning Swann, he decisioned Swansboro’s Patrick Peterson 7-3 and pinned Southwest Onslow’s Kyle Williams in 1:01.

Payton Wilson, currently #1 in the state at heavyweight, made his season debut at heavyweight against North Pitt’s Jeffrey Davis. The result was the fastest pin of Orange’s season, lasting all of eight seconds. Wilson also pinned Christian Smith of Swansboro in 2:36.

At 195, Jamar Davis also scored four wins, including pins of Daniel Rawson (1:37) of New Bern, Marvin Wigfall of Swansboro (2:29), and Juan Perez (:36) of North Pitt. He received a forfeit win against Southwest Onslow.

Charlie Fitzpatrick scored three pins at 152. He pinned North Pitt’s Cameron Jones in 1:46; Swansboro’s Logan Aloof in :46 and New Bern’s Sage Carroll in 3:25.

The only thing standing between Orange and its 15 consecutive conference championship appears to be a dual match against Chapel Hill on January 26th in Hillsborough. The match starts at 6.

Logan Vosburg Scored 12 points as the Panthers scored the most lopsided victory in its 16-year rivalry with Cedar Ridge on Saturday, 88-55 at Jim King Gymnasium. Orange has now won seven in a row and ten of its last eleven.

Orange’s Logan Vosburg Discusses the Panthers’ Win over Cedar Ridge

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Kaylen Campbell found her shooting stroke in the second half against Cedar Ridge on Saturday afternoon. Campbell scored nine of her eleven points in the final two quarters as the Panthers swept the season series from the Red Wolves 59-43. Campbell has scored in double-figures eleven times so far this season.

Orange’s Kaylen Campbell Talks the Panthers Victory Over Cedar Ridge

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Continuing a string of impressive performances, Orange forward Jazlyn Watson led all scorers with 15 points on Friday night as the Lady Panthers maintained an undefeated record with a 64-37 win over J.F. Webb. It was a season-high for Watson, and her third game in double-figures this year.

Orange’s Jazlyn Watson Talks the Win over J.F. Webb

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Orange defeated J.F. Webb 64-37 on Friday night in a show of force from the Lady Panthers’ bench. Orange got 31 points from its reserves, including ten from Icez Barnett. Enzyah Holt added eight while Lauren Cate added seven and Adalyn Fleming scored four. Coach B.J. Condron discussed the Panthers 14-0 start, which became a 15-0 start following Saturday’s win over Cedar Ridge.

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Orange has nearly doubled its win total from last season after beating J.F. Webb on Friday night. A day before the Lady Panthers defeated crosstown rival Cedar Ridge, Coach B.J. Condron talked about Friday’s 64-37 victory over the Warriors.