Last Friday night, the Orange men’s basketball team needed some parts to fall together in order to secure its first regular season conference championship in seven years. They needed to defeat Southern Alamance, plus had to have Person beat Eastern Alamance in Roxboro. Fortunately for Orange, the basketball gods smiled. The Panthers crushed the Patriots 93-39, while the Rockets rallied to beat the Eagles. While Orange wouldn’t celebrate the conference title until later since the Person game ended long after the Panthers were done, they did commemorate senior night. Ryan Honeycutt, Ryan Moss and Malykhai Justice were honored in a pregame ceremony. Honeycutt led the team with 8.8 rebounds per game before he suffered a broken thumb against Cedar Ridge on February 2. He also paced the Panthers shooting 58% from the field. Moss has been a member of the Panthers since his freshman year when players had to suit up in a mask due to the pandemic. In the past four years, Moss has been a steady outside shooter when coach Derryl Britt has needed a presence from deep. Justice joined the varsity team for this season just months after being selected All-Central Conference in football. Last season, Justice was tied for the team lead in sacks. Early in the season, as forward Coleman Cloer was nursing an injured ankle, Justice started several games. Orange will finish out the regular season against Eastern Alamance on Friday night in Mebane. They will open play in the Central Conference Tournament next Tuesday night in Roxboro.