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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.

Sophomore Lauren Cates scored a career-high 30 points as Orange improved to 16-0 after beating Northwood 61-49 on Saturday afternoon in Pittsboro.

Orange’s Lauren Cates on Scoring 30 Points in win at Northwood.

Sophomore Lauren Cates had a career-high 30 points as Orange claimed first place in the Big 8 Conference.

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.

Cold shooting and too much Zion Copeland led to Cedar Ridge’s seventh loss in eight games.

Northern Vance never trailed in defeating the Red Wolves 68-52 on Friday night in Henderson. Kalin Jackson scored 14 points to lead the Vikings (10-7, 3-2 in the Big 8), while Zion Copeland scored 12 points and grabbed 20 rebounds.

Dmonte Kinney led the Red Wolves with 19 points, but Khalil Barnett was the only other CRHS player in double figures (11 points). The Red Wolves shot just 23% from the field and finished 5-of-24 from 3-point range.

When Northern Vance wasn’t scoring, they were scoring on stickbacks. In the first half, the Vikings rebounded 43% of their missed shots.

The Vikings surged out to a 12-4 lead, punctuated by an ally-oop dunk on an inbounds pass from Noah Seward to Jackson, which sent the half-full gym into a frenzy.

The impact of that dunk may have impacted the young Red Wolves. Northern Vance promptly went on a 9-2 run to finish the first quarter ahead 21-9. The Vikings shot 52% in the opening eight minutes and forced five turnovers.

Trailing 48-31 going into the fourt quarter, CRHS went on a 10-1 run, spurred by consecutive 3-pointers from Kinney. With the Red Wolves trailing 49-41, freshman center B.J. Freeman tried to draw a charge on the Vikings’ Malik Glasco, but was called for a block. The Cedar Ridge bench was called for a technical foul in protest, and Glasco drained three of the four subsequent free throws that ended the Red Wolves’ last threat.

The road doesn’t get any easier for the Red Wolves. They have three conference games next week, starting at Southern Durham next week. They host J.F. Webb on Wednesday, then host Chapel Hill on Friday at 7.

CEDAR RIDGE: Dmonte Kinney 19, Khalil Barnett 11,  Terrance Crawford 3, Mekai Collins 4, Isaiah Brown 2, John Vaughn 1, Colby Cashaw 4, B.J. Freeman 8.

NORTHERN VANCE-Laquad Holden 5, Malik Glasco 13, Kaylen Jackson 14, Thomas Townes 4, Zion Copeland 12, Noah Seward 10, Kenton Pettaway 8, Tyronne Davis 2

Even without its top two players, the Cedar Ridge girls basketball team found a way to earn its first win of 2017.

Taylin Jean scored a career-high 16 points while Miracle Page added 12 to help Cedar Ridge (9-6, 3-3) defeat Northern Vance 49-33 on Friday night at Vikings Gymnasium.

Cedar Ridge played without Carrie Davis and Madison Wardlow, who were both injured in last Saturday’s game against Orange. Davis injured her knee in the waning seconds trying to get her feet set for a jumper. Earlier, she suffered a cut above her left eye after colliding with Orange’s Enzyah Holt for a loose ball, but that’s not believed to be the reason why she missed Friday’s game.

Wardlow suffered a leg injury against the Panthers in the second quarter, but returned to finish the game.

That left Red Wolves’ coach Felton Page without his top two scorers, forcing him to insert several players into unfamiliar positions. Playing on the road following exam break, Cedar Ridge opened lethargic, trailing 10-8 at the end of the first quarter to the Vikings (0-5, 0-14).

Cedar Ridge’s defense held the Vikings to three points in the second quarter, while Jean and Page carried the offensive load to give the Red Wolves an 18-13 halftime lead.

Page scored six points in the third quarter to open up a 22-15 lead. After the Vikings’ Kayleigh Spencer canned a three-pointer with 5:13 remaining in the frame, Yolanda Simpson scored consecutive field goals to extend the Red Wolves’ lead to 28-19.

Jean, who had three of Cedar Ridge’s ten steals, scored six points in the fourth quarter as the Vikings never got the deficit below double figures in the fourth quarter.

Simpson finished with six points, while Natalia Garay had four points and seven rebounds. The Red Wolves beat the Vikings on the boards 32-16.

On Tuesday, Cedar Ridge travels to Southern Durham at 7, starting a span of six games in ten days. The Red Wolves are now in fourth place in the Big 8, one-half game behind J.F. Webb. Cedar Ridge will host Webb on Wednesday night at 6, followed by a Friday date at Chapel Hill.