Orange High School

It was the requiem for the Central Conference basketball tournament.

It was likely the final time that rivals from Alamance, Orange and Person Counties would converge inside one gymnasium for local basketball supremacy.

When the Central Conference started in 2021-2022, the Western Alamance women’s basketball team was knocking on the door of being the queens of the conference. Before 2023 was over, they kicked the door in when they ended Northwood’s dynasty in the 3rd round of the state playoffs.

On Saturday, they likely ended their run in the league as the undisputed champions as a threat to win the 3A State Championship.

Allie Sykes scored 28 points as Western Alamance claimed its second consecutive Central Conference championship with a wire-to-wire 76-38 win over Orange at Panther Gymnasium in Hillsborough. It was the Warriors (22-4) 26th consecutive win against a conference opponent. The latest Warrior win came on the same floor where they last lost a conference game. The Lady Panthers upset Western 45-42 on January 3, 2024.

Since then, the Lady Warriors have won five straight over Orange. The level of domination was nothing unusual for Western Alamance and neither was the way they went about it. The Lady Warriors forced 18 turnovers in the first half. They out rebounded Orange 45-31, grabbing 22 offensive rebounds. Sykes shot 8-of-15 from 3-point range.

Seniors Tina Bowers and Cayden White each added ten points for the Warriors. Bowers also contained Orange’s leading scorer Evelyn George, who was held to four points, just one above her season-low.

Orange (17-9) tried to slow the game down, which worked to an extent early. Senior center Marshea Byrd scored on a lay-in off an entry pass from Addie Atkins to even the game at 4-4 midway through the first quarter. Then the Warriors started forcing turnovers off its full court press. Sykes’ first 3-pointer put the Warriors ahead for good. Western closed out the first quarter with a 10-5 run, capped by a shot from downtown by Ziomara Moser.

Central Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament Final: Person 67, Eastern Alamance 65: 

With big stakes on the line, Person overcame the loss of leading scorer Lance Clarke to defeat the Eagles and claim one of the top-ten seeds in the 3A State Tournament.

Clarke led the Rockets with 21 points, but fouled out with 1:56 remaining in regulation. The Rockets also lost starting forward DaeJon Hodge in a game that was truly last man standing by sundown.

Eastern Alamance lost sophomore shooting guard Hunter Eichman with a lower-body injury in the second quarter and didn’t return.

Eastern Alamance’s leading scorer, Ja’vier Tinnin, fouled out in the waning minutes, as well.

Eagles freshman Mason Murphy sank two free throws to tie the game at 53-53 with 5:48 remaining in regulation. Clarke dropped off a pass to Quante Bowman, who sank a 3-poiner from the wing. It vaulted the Rockets ahead for good.

The Eagles went 4:27 without a field goal in the fourth quarter. Person guard Tyler Wilson found Clarke in transition for a lay-in, which sent the Rockets off and running in their full-throttle transition game. After a miss by Tinnin, Wilson found Clarke again for a bucket to give the Rockets at 60-54 lead.

Person overcame a slow start as the Eagles came out of the gates with an 18-6 lead. Eichman hit two 3-pointers early, followed by another from Ryan Tate.

Person reserve Kyan Lunsford started a Person rally with the final three-pointer of the first quarter, reducing the Eagle lead to 21-11.

In the second quarter, Eastern Alamance led 27-19. Then Person went on a 14-4 run, capped by a lay-in by Lunsford off a pass from Wilson, giving the Rockets its first lead of the game at 33-31.

Person (25-2) truly had plenty to lose. The Rockets have been ranked among the top-five teams in the East Region RPI all season. If they had lost, the best seed they could have received for next week’s 3A State Tournament would have been a #11 seed. Most likely, the Rockets will receive the #4 seed in the East Region.

Eastern Alamance finishes the regular season with a share of the Central Conference regular season title and a 16-9 overall record.

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This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is freshman wrestler Jordan Barbee. This season, Barbee was one of numerous freshmen who started for the Orange wrestling team. In December, Barbee won all five of his matches when the Panthers won the Rumble in the Jungle dual team event at Carrboro High School. Barbee scored pins against Greensboro Page’s Luke O’Reilly, Arturo Cuellar of Ashley and Jesse Mcarthur of Leesville Road. Earlier this month, Barbee won the 190-pound Central Conference Championship at Walter Williams High School in Burlington. Barbee pinned Williams’ Sawyer Marshall to take the championship. Barbee went undefeated against opposition from the Central Conference this season. He pinned Person’s Christian Burwell on December 18 and defeated Cedar Ridge’s Will Meyer in 5:50 on December 11. Barbee’s freshman year ended in the consolation semifinals of the Mideast Regional championships at Cedar Ridge High School last Saturday. Barbee was the #4 seed in the 190-pound tournament and opened the event with a pinfall victory over Cape Fear senior Trenton Westbrook. Barbee would score two more wins in the tournament and fell one match short of qualifying for the state championships. Barbee will be an important piece as Orange wrestling looks to return to championship form next winter.

Orange Panther of the Week: Jordan Barbee

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is freshman wrestler Jordan Barbee. This season, Barbee was one of numerous freshmen who started for the Orange wrestling team. In December, Barbee won all five of his matches when the Panthers won the Rumble in the Jungle dual team event at Carrboro High School.

No last second foul. No clutch free throws. No drama.

Unlike last week’s season finale against Eastern Alamance, the Orange women’s basketball team put up a dominant performance against the Eagles. It has led the Lady Panthers to its first conference tournament championship game since 2017.

Junior Addie Atkins scored a season-high 16 points, shooting 3-of-7 from 3-point range, to help Orange in a wire-to-wire 54-36 win over Eastern Alamance in the Central Conference Tournament semifinals on the Coach Evans Court at Western Alamance High School.

Orange (17-8) will face top-seeded Western Alamance for the Central Conference championship in Elon on either Friday or Saturday. The Warriors crushed Walter Williams 77-22 in the other semifinal. The Warriors, who won the Central Conference regular season championship for the second straight year, have won 25 consecutive games against conference opponents.

Orange was the last Central Conference team to defeat the Warriors on January 3, 2024.

Atkins came up one point shy of her career-high of 17 points, set against Garner on December 12, 2023. Orange senior Evelyn George added 16 points and seven rebounds.

Aliya Trollinger paced Eastern Alamance (13-12) with 19 points. She was the only Eagle in double-figures.

The Lady Panthers have won six in a row, tying its longest winning streak under first-year head coach Josh Underwood.

“I think we picked up our defensive intensity the way we should have early on,” said Underwood, an Orange graduate who previously served as an assistant at Eastern Alamance. “We set a precedent for how good we could be early on against Cedar Ridge. Hopefully that will carry forward as we move on into the conference tournament final and the state playoffs.

Orange’s defense wore down the Eagles, who shot just 26% from the field. Orange built a lead up to 54-32 as they held the Eagles to just three points in the opening five minutes of the fourth quarter.

Shannon Murphy, a senior who drained two free throws with one second remaining to beat Eastern Alamance 64-63 on her senior night last Friday, opened the game with a 3-pointer. Eastern’s Ayanna Garner came back with a 3-pointer, notching the game’s only tie. Atkins scored five consecutive points to put the Panthers ahead for the rest of the game, including a 3-pointer assisted by point guard Maura McMurtry and a lay-in assisted by Murphy.

“Addison has had some great practices,” Underwood said. “She’s really knocked down some shots for us. Tonight, she put everything together on a night where we needed someone else to step up. She stepped up.”

George and sophomore Lily Wilson added consecutive field goals to push the Panther advantage to 13-5, but the Eagles inched back. Trollinger and J’Mya Stump keyed six consecutive Eastern points to cut the Panther lead to 13-11 at the end of the first quarter.

Atkins opened the second quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers, including one on the wing assisted by Murphy. Senior center Marshea Byrd, who finished with seven points and ten rebounds, extended the Panther run with a lay-in while getting fouled by Ayanna Garner. George scored on a lay-in off a steal to push the Panther lead to 24-13.

The Panther lead would grow to 27-13 after another lay-in by George. Atkins and Wilson added the final two field goals of the first half as the Panthers went into the locker room ahead 32-19.

The last postseason tournament championship for the Orange women’s basketball team came in 2017, when they defeated Northwood 58-34 to take the Big Eight Championship. Kaylen Campbell, currently the Orange women’s junior varsity head coach and a varsity assistant, led the Panthers with 21 points against the Chargers.

In the tournament championship game, Orange will be the decided underdog against a Western Alamance team that has defeated Orange four straight times, including last year’s tournament semifinals. The Warriors would go on to take the postseason championship.

“They have one of the best back courts in the state,” Underwood said. “They’re a tough team. I feel like we played them tough at their place. It was a game of 3-pointers the last time in Elon. We made two. They made eleven. I feel like our defense is much better now. We’re a much different team than we were at that time.”

Photo by Ben McCormick of the Courier-Times 

As the handshake line formed, several celebratory Person players taunted the Orange student section by waving goodbye.

It was reminiscent, and probably inspired by, Damian Lillard when he scored 50 points, including a 3-pointer to eliminate the Oklahoma City Thunder from the 2019 playoffs.

But in the situation that played out on Tuesday night, Person was waving goodbye not just to their Hillsborough rivals for this year, but probably for the next four years as a conference rival.

If not longer.

If so, the Rockets got the last laugh.

Person’s Tyler Wilson scored on a stickback bucket as time expired to lift Person over Orange 55-53 in the Central Conference Tournament semifinals. The Rockets (24-2) will face Eastern Alamance for the Central Conference Tournament championship at Orange High either Friday or Saturday night.

It was the third time this year that a matchup between Orange and Person was decided by two points or less. The Panthers defeated the Rockets 67-65 in Roxboro on January 9. Two weeks ago, Person’s Tae Winstead scored off an offensive rebound with 1:51 remaining to put the Rockets ahead in a 53-52 win in Hillsborough.

There was another wild finish on Tuesday night. Xandrell Pennix drained a 3-pointer contested by Wilson to tie the game at 53-53 with :7.1 remaining. Pennix, who scored his 1,000th point in Monday’s quarterfinal win over Southern Alamance led the Panthers with 21 points.

On the final play of regulation, Person forward Lance Clarke found Quante Bowman, who drove the left baseline. Bowman put up a floater that banged off the rim. Winstead had a catch-and-shoot from point-blank range, but it missed. Wilson got his first offensive rebound of the game and got the ball of his fingertips and through the net just as the final second rolled off the clock.

Clarke led the Rockets with 28 points and seven rebounds.

In the game two weeks ago, Person outrebounded Orange 53-41, including 21 offensive rebounds. Orange played a more deliberate style and limited Person’s advantage on the boards to 40-35. The Panthers actually got more offensive rebounds 12-11. As it does so often between Person and Orange, the second half was nip-and-tuck. There were eight lead changes in the second half.

Clarke scored off a pass from Kyan Lunsford with 2:19 remaining to put the Rockets ahead 48-46. Orange reserve guard Kamaal Smith, who scored a career-high 12 points, sank two free throws. On the subsequent inbounds pass, Freddy Sneed poked it away at midcourt. Panther point guard Kai Wade threw to Sneed for a lay-in to put Orange ahead 50-48, but Sneed immediately went down with a cramp injury to his right leg.

The Rockets threw the ball away on its next possession. Leading 50-48 with the ball and 1:08 remaining, the Panthers coughed it off 75 feet from their basket when Lunsford poked the ball away, leading to Sneed being called for his fourth foul.

On the next play, Lunsford grabbed an offensive rebound and found Clarke, who drove over Smith, scored on a bank shot and drew Sneed’s fifth foul in the process. Clarke’s free throw put Person ahead 51-50. Orange turned the ball over again and Winstead drained two free throws with 38 seconds remaining.

Person started the game with five consecutive points, but Orange scored eleven in a row, holding the Rockets scoreless for 6:17. Wade scored seven of his ten points in the first quarter as the Panthers led 11-7 at the end of the first eight minutes.

Orange built a 23-17 lead in the first half after Pennix scored on a lay-in off a pass from Sneed. Person scored seven straight points to take its only lead of the second quarter, ending with a lay-in by Clarke off a sharp pass from Wilson. Wade drained a pull-up jumper to put the Panthers ahead 25-24 at the half.

Orange (18-8) will wait for the 3A State Playoff brackets to be released on Sunday. They’re hopeful of earning an opening round home state playoff game. Currently, the Panthers have the #12 RPI in the East Region.

Person had to win in order to keep its hopes alive for taking one of the top eleven seeds for the state tournament. Currently, the Rockets’ RPI is #4 in the latest 3A East Region rankings. If Eastern Alamance wins the tournament championship, the highest seed in the state playoffs that Person could receive would be #12.

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The Silent Assassin has done it. Xandrell Pennix scored his 1,000 point for the Orange men’s basketball team in its win over Southern Alamance to open the Central Conference Tournament on Monday night. Pennix had a season-high 21 points. His 1000th point came on a 16-foot jumper from the right of the lane to open the second half, leading to the game being stopped. Pennix was mobbed by his teammates and exchanged chest bumps with starters Kai Wade and Freddy Sneed. In his freshman season, Pennix spent the first half of the season on the junior varsity squad. After the South Granville Holiday Invitational, Pennix was called up to the varsity and played his first game against Person in Roxboro. In just his fourth varsity game, Pennix scored 13 points against Walter Williams. In 2022, Orange finished 8-17. Two years later, they would win the Central Conference championship regular season and postseason tournaments. Pennix was a large part of that success. He was second on the team averaging 12.8 points per game in his junior season, including a career-high 24 points against Chapel Hill on December 8, 2023. For the third year in a row, Pennix will join the Panthers in the 3A State Playoffs next week against an opponent to be determined.

Orange’s Xandrell Pennix discusses scoring 1,000 career points

The Silent Assassin has done it. Xandrell Pennix scored his 1,000 point for the Orange men’s basketball team in its win over Southern Alamance to open the Central Conference Tournament on Monday night. Pennix had a season-high 21 points.