There a scene in the early moments of “Hoosiers” when Norman Dale has just arrived in Hickory, Indiana. With a laced up basketball in his hands, he says to no one in particular “What kind of hand have I been dealt?”

Two games into the 2015-16 season, that’s what Greg Motley is trying to sort out. He’s had two weeks to work with a full hand, but he lost his ace in the hole before the dealer even finished.

On Thursday night, Sanderson rallied to beat the Panthers 61-58 in Raleigh. The Panthers led by as many as 8 early in the third quarter, but lost Conner Crabtree after he was called for a charge with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter. He didn’t return until 4:27 remaining in the game.

Daniel Mulligan led Orange with 18 points. Center Logan Vosburg and Crabtree added 15. Vosburg scored 11 in the second half, seven in the fourth quarter.

Crabtree’s 3-pointer with 3:57 remaining gave the Panthers a 56-5 lead, but Spartans point guard Taj Thompson took over the game in the final stanza. He nailed a trio of 3-pointers and hit five of six free throws down the stretch.

While Orange has its best performances ahead of them, it’s doubtful they’ll play a quirkier game this season.

In the first quarter, Sanderson had a free throw waved off because of a goal tending call.

Later in the third quarter, Spartan forward Antonio Freeman was fouled by Vosburg going strong to the basket. The crowd has already quieted as Freeman went to the line when one of the referees blurted out to the scorer’s table “The basket was good.” That announcement was met with confused looks from both benches and snickers from the Sanderson fan section, who could have sworn Freeman’s shot missed everything. On the next trip down the floor, Vosburg was credited with a field goal courtesy of a goaltending coal that was almost as mysterious.

Late in the fourth quarter, Thompson had a critical free throw waved off because his feet were on the free throw line.

In the end, the Panthers fell to 0-2, which is hardly surprising. Motley has six players in his rotation that just got finished with football season. Plus, there’s the loss of point guard Eryk Brandon-Dean, who is lost for the season after tearing his ACL in September against Southern Durham.

On the positive side, Orange led 39-35 going at the end of the third quarter. The Panthers only scored 35 points in its season-opening loss to East Chapel Hill on Tuesday night.

The Panthers will play its first home game on Tuesday night against Heritage.

Sanderson improves to 2-1 with the win, which has followed an early pattern. They lost to Knightdale 62-58 and defeated Holly Springs 58-56.

Orange Basketball Coach Greg Motley Discusses the Panthers 61-58 loss to Sanderson

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Cedar Ridge’s jump to the brink of the Big 8 Soccer Championship paid off with a dual honor for the team’s coach and second-leading scorer on Monday.

Red Wolves midfielder Chris Walker was named Big 8 Player of the Year on Monday. Walker led the team with nine assists, and added ten goals this season for a Cedar Ridge team that finished 13-6-2 this season. They went 9-12 in 2013.

Because of that improvement, Walker’s father, Chris Walker Sr. was voted Big 8 Coach of the Year. It was Walker’s third season as the head coach at CRHS. The Red Wolves made the 3-A state playoffs, defeating Northwood in the opening round. They fell to Cleveland 2-0 in the 2nd round.

Joining Walker on the All-Big 8 team was goalkeeper Brandon Boss, striker Ivan Carbajal, midfielder Lachlan McGrath and striker Noah Leesnitzer.

Carbajal led Cedar Ridge in scoring with with 20 goals and 45 points. Leesnitzer played 19 games and added five goals. McGrath added seven goals, which was third on the squad.

Orange, which defeated Chapel Hill for the first time in school history this season, placed centerback Chandler Compton, striker Alfredo Rodriguez and midfielder Lionel Reid-Shaw on the All-Big 8 squad.

Rodriguez finished with ten goals this season. Reid-Shaw led the squad with 15 goals and 14 assists. Compton was the 2nd Hillsboroughsports.com Orange Panther of the Week.

After earning the Big 8 individual championship at the conference championship meet in Pittsboro, there was only one natural choice for boys’ runner of the year.

Cedar Ridge’s Ian Elliot was named to the top honor on Tuesday. He captured the Big 8 Conference Championship on October 21, crossing the finish line at 16:53.54, his best time of the season.

“I hadn’t wanted to take the lead too early,” Elliot said to the Raleigh News and Observer. “I didn’t think I had the energy for that.”

On the same course in Pittsboro, Elliot finished 8th in the 3-A Mideast Regional meet at 16:51.72.

Orange’s Hunter Spitzer joined Elliot on the All-Big 8 team. Spitzer finished 2nd in the conference and 14th in the regionals.

Spencer Husen and Danny Archibald also made all-conference for the Panthers.

In Girls Cross Country, Cedar Ridge’s Jennifer Pepin was named Big 8 Coach of the Year. She guided the Red Wolves to a third place finish in the league.

Cedar Ridge’s Liz Zarzar earned All-Big 8 Conference Honors after finishing 5th in the conference meet. Orange’s Adalyn Fleming (8th) and Juliana Lester also made the All-Big 8 squad.

After a season where Cedar Ridge captured the Big 8 Championship and advanced to the Final Four of the 3-A State Tournament, Coach Charlie Oakley was named the Big 8 Coach of the Year on Tuesday.

Oakley guided Cedar Ridge to a 24-4 record, the most successful in team history. The Red Wolves finished 12-0 in the Big 8.

Led by seniors Asha Barnes, Meg Anderson and Courtney Eckmann, the Red Wolves captured the district and sectional championships before falling in the Eastern Regional Championship match to Asheboro 3-1.

That wasn’t the only volleyball honor for the Orange County area. Orange’s Andie McKinnon was named the Big 8 Player of the Year. McKinnon led the Panthers with 291 kills and a 49,7% kill percentage. She also led the team with 72 aces and 367 digs.

Orange finished 15-10 this season, including two victories over Chapel Hill. The Panthers went to the third round of the state playoffs.

Also making All-Big 8 Conference for Cedar Ridge was Barnes, Lily Henry and Karsen Lee. Joining McKinnon on the All Confernece team for Orange was Kayla Durham and Macy Hughes.

Eckmann was named Honorable Mention for CRHS. Jordan Lloyd and M’Lynn Dease were Honorable Mention for the Panthers.

Going into Thanksgiving break, the Cedar Ridge boys basketball team suffered its first loss of the young season to Person in Roxboro.

The first game after Thanksgiving turned out much better.

The Red Wolves cruised past South Granville 71-52 on Tuesday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. As usual, seniors Peyton Pappas and Jacob Thomas led CRHS in scoring. They each scored 17.

It was freshman Terrence Crawford who provided the surprise scoring punch. In just his fourth varsity game, Crawford registered 11 points.

Cedar Ridge jumped out to a 26-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back.

The Red Wolves will be right back in action tonight. They face Southern Alamance in Mebane. Before the week is over, CRHS will play three games in four days. They travel to Burlington to take on the Cummings Cavaliers on Friday night.

The Orange Panthers boys basketball team had its season opener 11 days after football season ended, and the heavy legs were apparent.

East Chapel Hill defeated the Panthers 47-35 on Tuesday night at Wildcats Gymnasium. Wildcats point guard Carter Collins paced the Wildcats with 20 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists. Junior Jonathan Runyambo, a native of Nigera who is playing his first season of basketball at East, had a career-high 11 points.

The Panthers were held to 4 points in the third quarter. Coach Greg Motley figured to have returning senior point guard Eryk Brandon-Dean back from last year’s team that came one win away from winning the Big 8 regular season championship. But Dean suffered a torn ACL playing football against Southern Durham in September. He isn’t expected to play this season.

Logan Vosburg led the Panthers with 10 points, the only Orange player in double figures. Conner Crabtree added nine.

Orange will travel to Raleigh to face Sanderson on Thursday. You can hear that broadcast here on HillsboroughSports.com.

There was every reason for Bryse Wilson to be bitter.

As he walked off the field for the final time as an Orange High football player at Durham County Stadium, Wilson was left with the same solemn feeling he had felt four other times in his career, having come up short against Southern Durham. Perhaps this time was the worst of all. It was certainly the last time, since it was the 2nd round of the 3-AA state playoffs.

Still, as he joined his teammates in the walk up the hill to the team bus for one final ride to Hillsborough, he saw Southern head coach Darius Robinson. The two embraced on the track.

“Go win it again,” said Wilson to Robinson, referring to the 3-AA state championship. Robinson softly nodded.

That’s how the latest chapter of the Southern-Orange rivalry, which has had its contentious moments, ended on Friday night.

It won’t make ESPN because, well, LeBron James probably has a game tomorrow. Or the next day. Plus, Tim Tebow is still breathing.

Still, Southern-Orange on Friday night will go down as one of those local legendary games that folks in the periphery of Clayton Road and Orange High School Road will be talking about for the rest of their lives.

As time passes, that discussion will center around questions that may sound embellished, like a good fishing story.

Was the game winning touchdown pass really thrown by Jordon Brown, who had thrown just two passes the entire year? Did Southern really run a fake punt from its own 28 up 3-0 in the 4th quarter? How did Wilson run for 228 yards against a Southern defensive front that constantly had eight men in the box? How could Orange stay in the game even though they threw one pass through the first three quarters? How did two Orange players carry the ball every play in the first half? And how could they still play linebacker, as well?

No doubt the question that Orange fans spent the weekend asking themselves is how did Southern pull another improbable victory? It seemed like this was the Panthers turn.

Instead, Wilson, Lemaster and the 17 seniors will leave Orange having gone 35-6 over the last three seasons. Five of the six losses came against Southern.

In 2014, the two undefeated teams met for the Big 8 Championship at Auman Stadium. Orange led 23-14 with 3 minutes to play, plus Spartans quarterback Kendall Hinton was carted off the field with a leg injury that had some of his teammates visibly shaken.

Yet Hinton somehow returned and led Southern to two touchdowns in the final 2:48 to give Southern a 27-23 win.

So does Southern have Orange’s number?

“I think we have each other’s number,” said Robinson. “We’ve just been fortunate enough to make more plays than them. It’s always a tough battle. I respect Bryse. I respect all of their players.”

On Friday night, it was Orange who rallied. After quarterback Jalon Green scored on a 9-yard run, Southern led 10-0 with 8:00 remaining. It seemed that Orange’s defense, which had stymied Green like no other team this year, would have its effort go in vain.

However, Wilson’s last high school game didn’t end quietly. He set up two Orange touchdowns in a span of 3:57, with separate runs of 59 and 57 yards. Drew Lemaster gave Orange the lead on a 31-yard carry around left end with 4:10 remaining.

Just as Hinton did before him, Green played the role of Southern hero, nicely. He converted two 3rd-and-10 situations. After Green was sacked by Orange’s Johnny Flynn for a 10-yard loss with 2:16 remaining, Robinson stepped in to call a trick play: the double pass.

“They took away everything we tried to do on the edge,” said Robinson. “At that point in the game, we had to find something to put it in the end zone. We put in those plays every spring just in case.”

They had run it twice all season. It worked against Hillside for a 49-yard touchdown to Jordan Mackins. The other time was against Orange, a harmless incompletion.

On Friday night, the timing was perfect. Orange’s defensive backs had keyed on Brown, holding him to 64 yards. Brown waited until the time was right to find Kaleb Barfield, who hauled it in at the goal line.

Because of that, Southern will spend this week getting ready for Cleveland in the third round of the 3-AA state playoffs. The Spartans still have a chance for its second 3-AA state championship in three years.

Orange will still be asking the same question: how did Southern do it again to us this time? It used to be the answer was: because of Kendall Hinton.

Perhaps the real answer is: because it’s Southern Durham.

Led by Peyton Pappas and Jacob Thomas, the Cedar Ridge boys basketball team heads to Roxboro tonight 2-0.

The Red Wolves will face the Person Rockets, its only game this week. CRHS will take Thanksgiving break off, then hit the ground running with three games over four days next week. They’ll host South Granville on Tuesday, December 1st. Then they’ll travel to Southern Alamance, starting with a trip to Mebane on Wednesday. Following a night off on Thursday, the Red Wolves will travel to Cummings.

On Friday night, Cedar Ridge defeated Bartlett Yancey 66-57 in Yanceyville. After scoring 25 points in the season opener against Carrboro, Pappas led the Red Wolves again with 29. Thomas, a transfer from Chapel Hill who had 18 against the Jaguars, registered 21 against the Buccaneers.

We’ll have coverage of Wednesday’s game against Southern Alamance here on Hillsboroughsports.com.

Predictably, heavy rain came on Thursday morning. Predictably, Southern Durham officials moved Friday’s 3-AA state playoff game between Orange and Southern Durham. But it won’t be played at North Carolina Central’s O’Kelly-Riddick Stadium.

Instead, the game has been shifted to Durham County Memorial Stadium, the longtime home of the Northern Durham Knights, which also has a field turf surface as opposed to natural grass.

Southern defeated Northern 36-13 at Durham County Stadium on September 18th. The last time Orange played at DCS, they defeated Northern 18-0 on August 29, 2014.

Our coverage on HillsboroughSports.com starts at 7:20. Join us then.