Photo by Ben McCormick of the Courier Times
ROXBORO–The Funky Freight Train rolled through Roxboro.
That’s what Derryl Britt told his Orange men’s basketball team at halftime on Thursday night for inspiration. It didn’t matter that Person, coming in with a 13-0 record, led 33-24 at halftime. At one point, Orange trailed 28-9.
Britt had faith and he needed it.
He had no way of knowing his starting point guard would sit for much of the second half because of foul trouble in a game that would likely determine Orange’s fate of winning a second consecutive Central Conference championship.
Even without Wade, Britt’s mantra that the train was coming proved true.
The Panthers (12-4) shot 11-of-14 from the field in the third quarter, keyed by Xandrell Pennix scored ten of his 19 points in the frame. Trailing by nine going into the second half, Orange led 54-45 at the end of the third quarter.
Showing a new level of grit in the midst of ten consecutive road games, Pennix scored the game-winning field goal on a driving lay-up with 2:47 remaining as Orange defeated Person 67-65 inside a feverish Rockets Gymnasium on Thursday night. The Panthers held Person scoreless in the final 3:58 aside from a meaningless 3-pointer from Quante Bowman with two seconds remaining.
By that point, Orange senior Michael Clark had sewed up the game on a lay-in off a perfectly delivered backdoor pass from center Hector Garrido.
Now, the race in the Central Conference is wide open entering the final eight games of the regular season. Person, Orange and Eastern Alamance are tied in the loss column for first place in the league. Orange is 4-1 in the league, while the Eagles and the Rockets are each 2-1.
How big was coming back from a 19-point deficit to beat an undefeated Person team in Roxboro?
“Aside from winning the conference tournament championship here last year, I’d put it right behind it,” Britt said. “We’ve had some milestone wins in my seven years here, but not as big as this. We knew that we were going to be in the mix with Person for the conference championship. For those guys to be undefeated and for us to come into this building, it’s gratifying.”
Last February, Orange defeated Person and Eastern Alamance in Roxboro to win the Central Conference Tournament.
Even though Orange erased a 19-point deficit in less than seven minutes of game time, the odds of the Panthers winning seemed to grow against them as the night progressed. Wade picked up his third and fourth fouls with 6:34 remaining in the third quarter after receiving a technical foul, singled out for taunting on a night where the trash talk between the two rivals flowed like champagne on New Year’s Eve.
Orange sophomore center Jalen Crayton, who finished with eight blocks, fouled out with 6:07 remaining in the fourth quarter.
In a heated game, it was a night of attrition. Person’s Lance Clarke, their leading scorer, was hampered throughout the second half. As Pennix scored the game-winning layup, Clarke came down wrong on his right leg and had to be carried off the floor by his teammates. He didn’t return.
Bowman led Person (13-1) with 19 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Rockets went on a 12-0 run with Tae Winstead scoring six straight points. Clarke scored off a lay-in off a feed from Jashawn Graves to put Person ahead 60-59 with 4:32 remaining. Clarke scored in transition of a pass from Bowman, which would be the Rockets final field goal before the waning seconds. Orange’s Ethan Ellis banked in a crucial 3-pointer from 25 feet to tie the game at 62-62.
Over the next 4:26, Orange’s defense forced four turnovers and Person miss three shots from the field and two free throws with Clarke being worked on the Rockets bench.
Pennix and Freddy Sneed combined to scored ten consecutive points to open the second half. Sneed’s only 3-point attempt put the Panthers’ ahead 34-33 with 6:34 remaining in the third quarter. After Person’s DaeJon Hodge dropped in a lay-in to tie the game at 39, Orange scored on five straight possessions, including 3-pointers from sophomore Kamal Smith and Michael Clark. Later, Clark dropped in a lay-up to put the Panthers ahead 53-43.
Person used hot shooting from Clarke and seven offensive rebounds to take a 20-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. Clarke score seven points in the first quarter while Bowman added six. The Rockets went on a 13-0 run in the gap between the first and second quarters with Bowman’s layup putting the Rockets ahead 28-9 with 5:44 remaining in the first half.
Orange slowly ate away at the lead in the final five minutes of the first half after Clarke picked up his second foul. Wade and Pennix drained consecutive shots from downtown. Wade made a pull-up jumper for the final field goal of the first half to get Orange’s deficit down to 33-24.