As the balance of the Big 8 regular season plays out over the next two weeks, Connor Crabtree’s game-winning shot against Southern Durham on Friday night won’t be forgotten anytime soon for anyone who watched it (be it inside Jim King Gymnasium or on social media.)

The Orange-Southern rivalry has had several classic moments in recent years, and Crabtree’s was just the latest.

“All we set up was a screen at the top of the key,” said Crabtree, who finished with 32 points. “I didn’t have much space to work with, but the shot went in. I’ll take that any day.”

Yet as soon as Orange, (15-4, 7-0 in the Big 8) won its 1tth consecutive game against the Spartans, their fourth game in six days, they had to focus on yet another game where first place may be on the line.

Chapel Hill, 7-1  will host Orange on Tuesday night. But first, the Tigers travel to Southern Durham tonight, and they face the Spartans again next Tuesday, February 7th.

For the second straight week, Orange will play three games in four days. Following a road trip to Chapel Hill on Tuesday, the Panthers host Northern Vance on Wednesday, then travel to Northwood on Friday. If Orange beats Chapel Hill, they will simply need one more win to capture the Big 8 regular season championship.

The Big 8 Boys Basketball Tournament begins February 13th. If Orange takes the number one seed, they receive a bye to the semfinals. The championship will be on February 17th at a location to be determined.

Crabtree’s lay-in with :03 remaining gave Orange an 80-79 victory over Southern, triggering a celebration where members of the Motley’s Crew student section rushed the floor. Moments earlier, Southern’s Tyriq Burris missed a free-throw, but center Rashad Dixon rebounded the miss and floated a stickback that bounced on the rim twice before dropping through to put Southern ahead 79-78.

The Spartans roared back from 13 points down in the second half to take the lead. The turning point came after Crabtree scored on a steal and lay-in to put Orange ahead 61-48. After Rashad Dixon scored on a stickback, Mitch Portman was called for a reach-in on Southern’s Antonio Daye, his fourth foul with 3:43 remaining in the third quarter. Portman was immediately hit with a technical foul and fouled out.

Not only did Orange lose Portman’s frequent scoring, but Orange lost a second quality ball handler against Southern’s suffocating full-court pressure. Within a minute, Daye and Brown hit three-pointers to put Southern within six points.

Crabtree had to handle the ball the rest of the way, but the grind of playing four games in six days and the vehement Southern pressure took its toll on Orange’s leading scorer.

“That was huge,” said Crabtree. “I definitely got tired. My legs were dead. I’m tired right now. They played good defense.

Jamoru Brown finished with 29 points to lead Southern.

Orange pushed out to a double digit lead behind the hot shooting of center Logan Vosburg, who hit four three-pointers in the first half.

“My shooting is there right now,” said Vosburg. “I worked on developing my shot last summer.

All-State candidate Connor Crabtree continued his excellent senior campaign by scoring 32 points against Southern Durham on Friday night. Of course, the biggest points came when Crabtree scored on a drive with :03 remaining to give Orange an 80-79 victory over archrival Southern Durham. The Panthers travel to Chapel Hill on Tuesday night in another game where first place is on the line in the Big 8 Conference.

Connor Crabtree Discusses His Game-Winning Shot vs. Southern

The senior hit a running bank shot with :03 remaining to sweep the season series from Southern Durham 80-79 on Friday night. Crabtree scored 32 points as Orange won its 11th consecutive game.

Vosburg scored 25 points, including four three pointers, in Orange’s 80-79 win over Southern Durham on Friday night in a classic game at Jim King Gymnasium.

Logan Vosburg Discusses Southern Durham Victory

The senior center scored 25 points, including four 3-pointers, as Orange defeated Southern Durham 80-79 in a classic at Jim King Gymnasium.

The Panthers lead the Big 8 Conference by one game over Chapel Hill following an 80-79 win over Southern Durham in a classic Friday night at Jim King Gymnasium.

Orange Coach Greg Motley Discusses the Panthers 80-79 Win Over Southern Durham

The Panthers lead the Big 8 by one game beating Southern on Friday night following Connor Crabtree’s game-winner with three seconds left.

For the second time this month, Cedar Ridge has lost a home conference game at the buzzer.

The first time it was Northwood’s Abe Omar who scored on a stickback with :03 remaining on January 5th to seal the Chargers’ 83-82 overtime victory at CRHS. On Friday night, it was even more painful for the Red Wolves.

Elijah Haynes scored on a scoop shot with :01 remaining to give Chapel Hill a 55-53 victory over the Red Wolves on Saturday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Haynes, who didn’t start the game due to disciplinary reasons, finished with 16. Chapel Hill’s Kai White led all scorers with 19, while Ben Gaynes added 15.

Once again, it was underclassmen who paced Cedar Ridge. Sophomore Terrence Crawford scored 16 points, while freshmen Mekai Collins and B.J. Freeman each scored 13.

Chapel Hill (11-8, 7-1) will host Orange on Tuesday night in a meeting for first place in the Big 8 Conference. The Tigers are one game back of the Panthers.

The Red Wolves, trailing 45-28 with 7:32 remaining, made a furious rally to tie the game at 53-53. After Gaynes’ three-pointer with 5:23 remaining put Chapel Hill ahead 48-34, the Red Wolves went on a 10-0 run, punctuated by consecutive treys by Crawford.

Trailing 53-48, Cedar Ridge reeled off five consecutive points in the final minute to tie the game. Freeman hit two free throws, then drew a charge on Haynes on the subsequent Tiger possession.  Crawford sank a three-pointer, his third of the fourth quarter, to even the game with :7.3 seconds remaining.

Coming off a win over J.F. Webb on Wednesday, the Red Wolves (7-12, 2-7) missed a chance to win consecutive conference games for the first time this season.

White started the third quarter with a personal 5-0 run, including a running one-handed to push Chapel Hill’s lead to 31-21 with 4:21 remaining in the 3rd quarter. Haynes closed the third quarter with back-to-back three pointers, then continued a running dialogue with the Cedar Ridge student section.

After Collins scored the game’s first five points, Chapel Hill reeled off 13 consecutive points. Kai White scored seven points in that span, and Haynes drained a 30-footer at the first quarter buzzer to send Chapel Hill to a 16-7 lead.

In the second quarter, CHHS extended its lead to 20-10 after Haynes and Cook scored consecutive field goals. Then the Red Wolves went on a 7-0 run behind a 3-pointer from Khalil Barnett and a lay-up from Collins. The Tigers followed with six straight, including a three pointer from White, to take a 26-19 advantage into the locker room.

Cedar Ridge will play three games in five days next week. They travel to Northwood on Tuesday, followed by a home game against Southern Durham on Wednesday and a road trip to J.F. Webb in Oxford on Saturday.

CHAPEL HILL 55, CEDAR RIDGE 53

CHAPEL HILL: Elijay Haynes 16, Ben Gaynes 15, Kai White 19, Andrew Cook 4, Darius Burnette 1.

CEDAR RIDGE: Dmonte Kinney 2, Khalil Barnett 7, Terrence Crawford 18, Mekai Collins 13, B.J. Freeman 13.

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.