Night in and night out, there’s one looming question riding above most Orange men’s basketball games.
Sophomore Cole Cloer will get his share of points. So will Kai Wade and Xandrell Pennix.
But who will be the X-factor? The player who will make the key block or grab an offensive rebound to score a crucial second-chance basket.
On Friday night, that player was Mason Robinson.
What can you do against a 6-foot-9 sophomore forward with a wide wingspan who is still growing?
As much of a gutsy effort that the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team provided on Friday night, that was one question they just couldn’t answer.
Robinson finished with ten points, 18 rebounds and seven blocked shots, while Cole Cloer added 24 points as Orange pulled away from the Red Wolves 68-42 at Red Wolves Gymnasium.
With the win, Orange (11-10, 9-0 in the Central Conference) maintained a two-game lead over Eastern Alamance for first place in the Central Conference with three games remaining in the regular season. The Panthers’ victory eliminated Person, the league runner-up last year, from championship contention.
The Red Wolves (3-18, 1-8) were led by senior Harrison Perel, who finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
The final score belied the fact it was very much a competitive game in the second half. After the Red Wolves trailed by as many as 31-14 in the first half, they narrowed the deficit down to 40-34 with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter after a three-pointer by Perel and a free throw from Hayden Kirk.
Yet Robinson’s presence loomed largest on the biggest plays. After Cloer drained a 22-footer to increase Orange’s cushion to 43-34, Robinson tipped in an offensive rebound as the third quarter buzzer sounded, which sapped the Red Wolves’ momentum.
“Their length is definitely an issue,” said Cedar Ridge coach Mike Jones. “Even when we get stops and cause an initial miss, it’s hard to keep them off the offensive glass. Even when you beat them off the dribble, they’ve got so much length by the rim. It’s difficult to play against them.”
Orange outrebounded the Red Wolves 55-34. The Panthers had 24 offensive rebounds.
“This was a big game for Mason,” said Orange coach Derryl Britt. “We had him with nine rebounds at halftime and my challenge to him was to get 20. I wanted him to hunt rebounds and hunt blocks. It was a huge game for him. He can have these games every single night if his motor is revved up.”
After Perel opened the fourth quarter with a second-chance basket following a Robinson block, the Panthers went on a 15-3 run to put the game away. Pennix, who finished with six steals, picked off a pass and fed Wade for a lay-in. Honeycutt and Robinson scored consecutive second-chance field goals, followed by a 18-footer from Cloer off yet another Robinson block.
For the sixth time in nine conference games, Orange never trailed. The Panthers opened the game with a 5-0 run, including baskets from Cloer and Robinson. Dalehite drained an early 3-pointer off a pass from Perel to cut the deficit to 8-5.
Orange went on a 19-4 run, starting with Pennix draining a wing jumper. Cloer went on a personal 6-0 run late in the first quarter, which ended with a 3-pointer from Pennix assisted by Robinson.
The Panthers put four players in double figures. Honeycutt came away with ten points and nine rebounds. Pennix finished with eleven points, including an acrobatic finish to the night when he took a pass from Honeycutt and banked in a layup on an up-and-under move where the ball glanced off the top of the backboard and cleanly through the net.
Cedar Ridge held nothing back in its effort right through to the end when Dalehite dove on the floor for a loose ball trailing 61-42 with 2:47 remaining.