Orange Men’s Basketball

Time will tell if the first game of 2024 was the point where Orange found its basketball legs.

But for the first time this season, the Panthers finally displayed a show of dominance.

In just its third home game, the Panthers roared out to a 15-0 lead and cruised to a 81-42 victory over Western Alamance on Wednesday night at Panthers Gymnasium. Coleman Cloer scored a season-high 30 points as the Panthers built a double-digit lead just 2:45 into the game. The Warriors didn’t get any closer than 14 points the rest of the game.

Josh Long, Hamilton Plunkett and Christian Hester paced the Warriors with six points each.

Orange was coming off three straight losses in the John Wall Invitational in Raleigh. The Panthers fell to Northwood and Jordan at Broughton High School, then fell to Broughton at William Peace University on Saturday in the 7th place game.

For the first time this season, Orange got off to a strong start. They shot 11-of-14 from the field in the opening quarter, draining all three of its 3-pointers. Cloer sliced through the Warriors’ repeated double teams and scored 15 points in the opening quarter, often absorbing contact while finishing drives to the basket.

Orange senior center Ryan Honeycutt scored 12 points and grabbed eleven rebounds. Sophomore Kai Wade added eleven points, including a deep three-pointer early in the third quarter.

The Warriors couldn’t get anything going on the interior because of Orange’s size. Sophomore forward Mason Robinson finished with five blocks. Late in the third quarter, Cloer lofted an ally–oop to Robinson, who flushed it down with vigor to increase Orange’s lead to 66-36 at the end of the third quarter.

While the starters didn’t play in the fourth quarter, that didn’t mean the highlights were over. Freddy Sneed shot down the court and scored a thunderous one-handed dunk that sent the gym reeling. Sneed then scored again off a strip and steal. He finished with seven points.

It was the second time in his Orange career that Cloer reached the 30-point barrier. Last January, Cloer set his career-high with 35 points against Person in Roxboro.

Though the Panthers are only two games into the Central Conference season, they’re already alone atop the league. Walter Williams fell to Southern Alamance on Tuesday.

The Panthers will host Williams on Friday night in Hillsborough. The Bulldogs are under the direction of new head coach Jimmy Lloyd, who replaced legendary coach Tommy Cole last year. Cole coached the Bulldogs for 28 years and led them to two state championships.

In just its third home game of the season, the Orange women’s basketball team jumped out to a 15-0 lead and rolled past Western Alamance 81-42 on Wednesday night. Coleman Cloer had a season-high 30 points for the Panthers, who remained tied for first place in the Central Conference at 2-0. Freddy Sneed brought the house down with a dynamic dunk off a steal in the fourth quarter. Sneed, a junior who has been a member of the varsity since he was a freshman, finished with seven points and has been a valuable defensive presence this season. Forward Mason Robinson, a sophomore, captured an ally-top pass from Cloer for a monster slam in the third quarter. Robinson finished with six rebounds and five blocks as the Panthers started a four-game homestead. Orange rebounded from three losses in the John Wall Invitational last week, where they played at Broughton High School and William Peace University. The Panthers faced defending 3A Eastern Regional champion Northwood, Broughton and the Jordan Falcons. The Panthers will return home on Friday night to face Walter Williams. Orange is the only undefeated team in conference play in the Central Conference at 2-0 after beating Southern Alamance last month in Graham.

The Orange women’s basketball team overcame an 11-point deficit to defeat Western Alamance 45-42 on Wednesday night at Orange High School. The Warriors led 17-6 at the end of the first quarter, but the Lady Panthers held Western Alamance without a point in the second quarter. Junior Evelyn George led Orange’s offense scoring a career-high 31 points on 13-of-20 shooting from the field. George had a personal 12-0 run in the third quarter to put Orange ahead 30-22. In the fourth quarter, George put the Lady Panthers ahead with a short jumper off a baseline drive with 5:46 remaining in regulation. Orange wouldn’t surrender the lead again thanks to two important fourth quarter field goals by junior center Marshea Byrd. With 3:21 remaining, Byrd took a pass off the floor from Shannon Murphy and scored off the glass to put the Lady Panthers ahead 40-37. Orange improved to 2-0 in a wide-open Central Conference. In the Lady Panthers’ Central Conference opener, George drained two free throws with :10.2 seconds remaining to beat Southern Alamance 34-31. Last week, Orange finished seventh in the Southeast Alamance Holiday Hoopla Tournament, beating Eastern Alamance on Saturday even though George didn’t play. The Lady Panthers will face Walter Williams in Hillsborough on Friday night at 6PM in a showdown for first place in the Central Conference.

By the time Christmas rolls around, most high school basketball teams know their identity, their rotation and who they are.

Not so for the Orange men’s squad this year.

From the time that Coleman Cloer suffered an injured ankle in the final week of practice, the Panthers have been in a waiting mode.

With Cloer the highest ranked North Carolina prospect in the Class of 2026, Panthers coach Darryl Britt scheduled a series of showcase games to highlight his superstar. After Cloer’s injury kept him out four weeks, the Panthers lost to Riverside and Highland Academy.

Then starting sophomore point guard Kai Wade was injured late in a loss to Jordan. That robbed the Panthers of its two most experienced ball-handlers in losses to East Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill and Forsyth Country Day.

Cloer and Wade returned in time for the Central Conference opener against Southern Alamance on December 14, but in many respects, the Panthers are still waiting–both for Cloer to get his basketball legs back and for the team to get used to his presence again after playing nine games without him. While he scored 29 points in his season-debut against the Patriots in Graham, the Panthers never led in regulation and had a near-miraculous rally from five points down in the final :28 to force overtime. Orange emerged victorious 72-68 to end a seven-game losing streak.

“It’s been a tough road to travel without Coleman and Kai,” Britt said after a loss to Chapel Hill on December 8. “We understand who we are and how we got here. I built a tough, non conference schedule thinking we were going to be healthy to prepare us for conference play and postseason play. That hasn’t changed. The difference is we haven’t played well enough to beat some of these teams.”

Now, Orange starts play in possibly the biggest December tournament in North Carolina, the John Wall Holiday Invitational. The three-day event is contested at two different locations in Raleigh.

Orange will open in the Devonte Graham Bracket at Broughton High School against a familiar face–the Northwood Chargers this afternoon at 3:30. Northwood won consecutive Central Conference championships and 3A Eastern Regional titles in 2021 and 2023. They were a conference rival with Orange from 2013-2023, then realigned as a 2A team during the summer.

The Chargers return Drake Powell, who committed to North Carolina early in Hubert Davis tenure as the Tar Heels coach. In four years with the Chargers, Powell has averaged 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game to spearhead a Chargers attack that has lots of size and outside shooting.

Powell’s emergence has helped the Chargers gain a prominent stature across the state and nationally. Last week, they finished second in the Capital City Classic, an eight-team event in Salem, Oregon.

Northwood has beaten Orange eleven straight times, including wins by 25 and 31 points last year.

The winer of Orange/Northwood will face either Richmond County or Jordan on Friday. The final day of games will take place on Saturday.

Once the John Wall ends, Orange will focus on its main goal of winning the Central Conference, a league that takes on a new shape without Northwood’s presence. Last year, when Cloer and Wade were freshman and guards Xandrell Pennix and Freddy Sneed were sophomores, Orange finished third following several tight games with Person, who beat the Panthers three times.

Britt is a former solider who served overseas. He spent the first half of this season waiting for the Calvary to show up, Now, they’ve finally arrived and the pieces have to come together in order for this season to become everything this squad hoped it would be when workouts started after Halloween.

“We’ve treaded through some tough water,” Britt said. “It’s going to make us a better team. Coming into the season without Coleman and Kai, we wouldn’t have built the schedule that we did, truth be told. We wouldn’t have been invited to some of these showcase games without a player of Coleman’s caliber. We understand what it is. Being the adult in the room, we knew the Calvary is coming.”

JV Boys Basketball: Orange 75, Rockingham County 54: Riding a 28-10 in the final six minutes of the third quarter, the Orange junior varsity team won the Rockingham County Holiday Tournament championship game in Reidsville on Friday night.

Jamari McDaniel led all scorers with 22 points as the Panthers defeated the Cougars in the championship game. McDaniel shot 10-of-13 from three-point range and added six rebounds, five assists and five steals. Ethan Ellis chipped in 14 points for the Panthers, including 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc.

McDaniel and Ellis were named to the All-Tournament team.

Orange jumped out to a 15-5 lead behind the play of McDaniel and Ellis. Freshman Graham Coleman, who appeared in some varsity games in the absence of Coleman Cloer and Kai Wade earlier this month, fed Ellis for a three-pointer to put Orange ahead 15-3 with 4:22 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Cougars fought back and actually tied the game at 33-33 with 6:10 remaining in the third quarter. Then John Gray and Coleman hit consecutive 3-pointers for Orange to trigger a run that put the Panthers ahead for good.

Coleman fed Ellis for a 20-footer, which led to McDaniel forcing a steal and finding Jalen Crayton for a lay-in to put Orange ahead 49-40.

In the opening round of the four-team tournament, the Panthers defeated Morehead High 82-48.

Women’s basketball: Western Alamance 62, Cedar Ridge 38: In its Central Conference opener, the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team lost star guard Amiyah Ware on the opening play of the second quarter.

Ware went up for a block and came down on her right knee, which she tore before the start of the 2022-2023 season. After a lengthy period of time in the locker room, Ware eventually came out to watch the final minutes on the bench, but she didn’t return to action.

Ware opened the game on fire, scoring 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field, including two 3-pointers. Cedar Ridge led 22-13 at the end of the first quarter, but they crumbled without their All-Conference guard. Western Alamance, who finished second in the Central Conference last year, had a huge game from Tina Bowers, who finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and seven steals. Cayden White added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Without Ware, Cedar Ridge committed 31 turnovers. Junior Sarah Utley finished with eight points and four assists. The game was tied 31-31 at halftime, but the Red Wolves were held to only seven points in the second half. The Warriors outscored Cedar Ridge 22-4 in the third quarter.

Western Alamance improved to 4-2 after winning its conference opener.

Clover Garden School 43, Cedar Ridge 33: In the opening round of the Don Amos Basketball Classic at Graham High School, Clover Garden School received a big game from Kennedy Harrelson to defeat the Red Wolves. Harrelson finished with 13 points for the Grizzles, while Arissa Duff added ten points, eleven rebounds, six assists and six steals at Clover Garden improved to 8-4.

Playing without Ware, Cedar Ridge got off to a strong start from the field. The Red Wolves got a three-pointer from Jamee Watson and a field goal from Cameron Copeland to jump out to a 6-0 lead. Ultey scored on a jumper to increase the Red Wolf lead to 10-2.

Cedar Ridge senior Cierra Copeland scored an old school three-point play to lengthen the Red Wolf lead to 13-6 with 3:01 remaining in the opening quarter, but the Grizzles got consecutive field goals from Harrelson. Cedar ridge went on a 7-0 run to end the quarter with Utley ending the frame on a three-point shot to take a 19-12 lead.

Clover Garden scored nine straight points in the second quarter to take a 23-19 lead. Duff scored on a lay-in assisted by Makayla Quimby to assume its first lead at 21-19 with 4:20 to go in the second quarter.

Cedar Ridge (4-5, 0-1 in the Central Conference) will return to action against Person on January 2 in Hillsborough. That will be a varsity doubleheader with the women’s game tipping off a 6PM.

The Orange men’s basketball team was expecting an adventure when coveted forward Coleman Cloer made his season debut against Southern Alamance last week. It turned out to be a wilder night than anyone expected. The Panthers never led in regulation and trailed the Patriots by five points with :28 remaining in the fourth quarter. But Kai Wade came up with a crucial steal on an inbounds pass to put Orange within one point with 15 seconds remaining, and Cloer drained two free throws with :5.1 left to even the game 61-61 and eventually send it to overtime Wade drained a 23-foot 3-pointer for the opening field goal of regulation and the Panthers would go on to win 72-68 in its Central Conference opener. Cloer, a sophomore who has already received scholarship offers from N.C. State, Wake Forest, Mississippi State and Appalachian State, finished with 29 points to open the season after he missed Orange’s first eight games due to an ankle injury. Wade, another sophomore, finished with 17 points. Orange will start play in the John Wall Invitational next Thursday. Orange will open against former conference rival Northwood at Broughton High School. They will play three games over three days in the event in Raleigh before they start its 2024 calendar year. 

GRAHAM–When Orange sophomore Coleman Cloer suffered an injured ankle in practice four days before the season-opener on November 13, the prevalent thinking was the Panthers’ pumpkin would turn into a stagecoach upon his return, just like in Cinderella.

Cloer returned just in time for the Central Carolina opener against Southern Alamance on Thursday night, but the stagecoach had a flat tire in the first half.

That didn’t keep some Christmas magic from being spread around for Orange in the clutch.

Orange (3-7, 1-0 in the Central Conference), which never led in regulation, erased a 60-55 deficit in the final 28 seconds to force overtime. The Panthers didn’t trail in the extra session and stunned the Patriots 72-68 in overtime to end a seven-game losing streak.

Cloer, who received Division I scholarship offers from N.C. State, Wake Forest, Mississippi State, Iowa and Appalachian State in the offseason, scored 29 points and grabbed eleven rebounds in his season debut. Orange point guard Kai Wade added 17.

Chris Epps paced Southern Alamance (1-4) with 16 points.

It appeared Orange would go into Christmas break with another disappointing loss when Cloer missed two free throws with :30.8 left. Southern’s Tyler Moore got the rebound but fell down and was called for traveling. Cloer drained two free throws after being fouled by Moore with :23.5 remaining. Moore became the third Patriot in regulation to foul out.

No Orange comeback would be complete without Wade stealing the ball on an inbounds pass. Sure enough, Wade picked the dribble away from Southern’s Jordan Moore and banked it in with :19.3 left to cut the Southern lead to 60-59.

Southern’s Evan Jacobson was fouled with :10.2 on the clock. He split a pair to make it 61-59. Cloer took the inbounds pass and roared to the basket like a teenager going for Taylor Swift tickets, drawing a blocking foul on Jordan Moore. Cloer made the two free throws with :5.8 left to even the game at 61-61, the first tie of the game.

Incredibly, Orange had a chance to win in regulation when Wade forced a held ball on Jacobson, but Epps stole the inbounds pass from three-quarters court as the buzzer sounded.

Orange center Ryan Honeycutt drained two free throws to open overtime after being fouled by Myles Darroch, giving the Panthers its first lead of the game with 3:42 remaining in overtime. After Moore missed for Southern, Cloer fed Wade, who drained a three-pointer from near the Burlington city limits, which left nearly everyone in Orange visiting standing in awe.

Orange guard Xandrell Pennix sank two free throws to increase Orange’s lead to 70-63 with 1:124 left, but the Patriots had some comeback moxie of its own. Reserve forward Myles Darrouch, who played only seven minutes, scored on a lay-in. With the score 71-66 with 48 seconds left, Moore streaked down the floor for a lay-in. Jacobson tied up Wade for a held-ball at midcoast. But Epps three-pointer to tie was short. Wade knocked down a free throw to finish it off.

Much of the night was frustrating for Orange. They shot just 3-of-22 from 3-point range, only 37% from the field overall. Just five Panthers scored. With 2:15 remaining in the second quarter, Southern led 31-17. A smaller Patriots team out rebounded Orange 24-14 in the first half, including 13 offensive boards.

Southern led 32-22 at halftime. The Panthers struggled to cut into the lead in the third quarter. It remained a 10-point deficit after Tyler Moore drilled a 3-pointer on a field from Jacobsen with 1:03 remaining in the frame, but Xandrell Pennix finished the quarter with four straight points to make it 47-41.

Even some of Orange’s highlight reel plays were swiftly answered by Southern. Wade hit Cloer on an ally-oop, which started after a steal by Freddy Sneed. Undeterred, Tyler Moore looped a pass to Epps, who scored on a sweeping lay-in to increase the Patriots lead to 56-50 with 4:18 left in regulation.

Orange will face Northwood to start the John Wall Invitational at Broughton High School in Raleigh on December 28. Tipoff will be at 3:30.

ORANGE 72, SOUTHERN ALAMANCE 68 OT

ORA–7     15    19   20   11-72

SAL–19    13    15    14    7-68

ORANGE: Xandrell Pennix 10, Kai Wade 17, Coleman Cloer 29, Ryan Honeycutt 8, Freddy Sneed 8.

SOUTHERN ALAMANCE: Liam Forrester 7, Jordan Moore 13, Evan Jacobson 5, Josiah Aiken 7, Tyler Moore 12, Myles Darroch 4, Chris Epps 16, Cooper Dodson 3, Kolby Kronbergs 1.

3-point goals: Orange 3 (Cloer 2, Wade), Southern Alamance 5 (J. Moore, Jacobson, T. Moore 2, Dodson)

Fouled Out: Orange (Sneed), Southern Alamance (Forrester, Aiken, T. Moore)

Rebounds: Orange 50 (Cloer 11), Southern Alamance 40 (Forrester 8).