Orange High School

Comeback wins don’t come much more special than what the Orange men’s basketball team pulled off on Thursday night. Trailing 28-9 in the second quarter, the Panthers shot 11-of-14 from the field in the third quarter to stun Person 67-65 in Roxboro. The Rockets came into the game with a 13-0 record. Senior Xandrell Pennix scored 19 points, scoring ten points in the third quarter to lead the comeback. Another senior, Michael Clark, added eleven points, including two 3-pointers in the third quarter. Clark also had a lay-in with 12 seconds remaining off a gorgeous pass from Hector Garrido that put the game away. It was a crucial win for Orange, who tied the Rockets for first place in the Central Conference. Senior Ethan Ellis drained a huge 3-pointer after Person took a 63-60 lead midway through the fourth quarter. From there, the Rockets were held scoreless in the final 3:50 of regulation until the very end. Orange sophomore Kamal Smith scored a career-high nine points, all of 3-pointers. Two of them came in the third quarter. Pennix is now at 894 career points as he plays the final games of his Orange career. Orange will continued a 10-game road swing when they travel to Graham to face Southern Alamance on Tuesday night.

Orange basketball’s Xandrell Pennix, Michael Clark and Kamal Smith discuss comeback win at Person

Comeback wins don’t come much more special than what the Orange men’s basketball team pulled off on Thursday night. Trailing 28-9 in the second quarter, the Panthers shot 11-of-14 from the field in the third quarter to stun Person 67-65 in Roxboro. The Rockets came into the game with a 13-0 record.

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.

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The Orange men’s basketball team claimed its eighth straight win over crosstown rival Cedar Ridge 63-41 at Red Wolves Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Early in the third quarter, Cedar Ridge led 23-22, but Orange went on a 18-6 run to put the game away. Orange’s Ethan Ellis drained a 3-pointer as the first half expired to put Orange ahead 22-18, which was its largest lead of the game at that point. Orange’s defense held the Red Wolves without a field goal in the second quarter. A big part of that was sophomore Jalen Crayton, who finished with seven points and five blocks. Crayton, the younger brother of 2024 Orange graduate Lily Crayton, found himself manning the middle after the transfer of Mason Robinson from Greensboro Day School last summer. Crayton has continued to make progress for a different type of Orange squad compared to last year’s conference championship team. This Panther team is driven defensively by guard Kai Wade, Xandrell Pennix and Freddy Sneed. Last week, Ellis hit two crucial 3-pointers in Orange’s win over Williams in Burlington. It was the Panthers fifth straight win over Williams and their third straight in Burlington. Orange will continue a busy week wit a trip to Roxboro to face rival Person in a crucial Central Conference battle on Thursday night.

Orange’s Jalen Crayton and Ethan Ellis discuss win over Cedar Ridge

The Orange men’s basketball team claimed its eighth straight win over crosstown rival Cedar Ridge 63-41 at Red Wolves Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Early in the third quarter, Cedar Ridge led 23-22, but Orange went on a 18-6 run to put the game away.

Since her freshman year, Evelyn George has gone about things her own way with the Orange women’s basketball team.

She’s never been the most physically imposing or boisterous. But she has been remarkably consistent as the Lady Panthers have reached the 3A State Playoff each of the last four years.

Very quickly during her senior year at Orange, George has had the landmark moments in her career add up. Last Friday, she registered her 20th career double-double in Orange’s 58-41 win at Williams, the Lady Panthers first victory in Burlington since 2018.

On Tuesday night, George became the first Lady Panther to score 1,000 career points in six years. True to form for one of the most consistent finishers in school history, George surpassed the milestone off a lay-in assisted by Maura McMurtry.

George is the first Orange player to score 1,000 points since Lauren Cates, a three-point ace who graduated in 2019. Cates was a member of Orange’s last conference championship team in 2016-2017.

George finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals as Orange (7-6 overall, 2-2 in the Central Conference) defeated Cedar Ridge 47-22 at Red Wolves Gymnasium. After Cedar Ridge freshman Elliott Wisenfeld scored on a lay-in assisted by Kassidy Tolliver, Orange went on a 12-2 run. The Lady Panthers limited the Red Wolves to three field goals in the first half.

Orange senior Kyla Mehl had a career-high five points during the early spurt that put the game away. Natalie Robertson and Marshea Byrd had field goals to close out the first quarter as Orange shot 5-of-8 from the field in the opening eight minutes.

George opened the second quarter by sinking a jumper, then created a steal off full-court pressure and scored off a lay-in.

Cedar Ridge, who swept the regular season series from Orange last year, was led by Wisenfeld with six points. The Lady Panthers defense sunk its claws into the Red Wolves defensively. Cedar Ridge shot just 13% from the field.

Senior Shannon Murphy added eight points for Orange, while senior center Marshea Byrd added six points and seven rebounds.

BURLINGTON–There’s no place like home for the holidays.

Unfortunately, it’s a place that Orange basketball won’t be seeing for awhile.

On December 23, the Panthers played the Ivanhoe Knights out of Australia at Northeast Guilford High School. It started a string of ten consecutive games away from Panther Gymnasium.

In the midst of the coldest winter in several years, there’s also the problem of illness and fatigue.

Sure enough, the Orang men’s basketball team was sick and tired as they entered Burlington last Friday night. Coach Derryl Britt didn’t make the trip because he was under the weather. Assistant coach Lemont Jones, who lives six minutes away from Williams High in Graham, learned at about 1 o’clock on Friday afternoon that he would serve as acting head coach.

While Orange’s shooting was as cold as the winter early, the Panthers overcame foul trouble to post its fifth straight win over Williams 66-60. Junior point guard Kai Wade led the Panthers with 20 points as Orange improved to 10-4 overall, its best start ever in Britt’s seven-year tenure.

Orange didn’t trail after the midway point of the first quarter, but never built a lead larger than eight points until the final minute of regulation.

Jaeden Smith paces Williams (5-6, 0-1 in the Central Conference) with 21 points.

With Orange leading 29-24 at halftime, Panther senior Michael Clark opened the second half with a stickback bucket to give the Panthers its largest lead of the game. Whenever Orange pushed its lead out to seven points, the Bulldogs found a way to draw closer. Williams’ Cavion Stokes drained his only field goal of the game beyond the arc narrowed the Panthers’ lead to 38-34. Orange senior Freddy Sneed, who finished with 14 points, scored on an acrobatic lay-in. Just moments after checking into the game for the first time, the Bulldogs’ Kyrian Fuller scored off a lay-in while getting fouled by Jalen Crayton. Fuller’s free throw reduced Orange’s lead to 38-37 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Orange junior Ethan Ellis came up with back-to-back 3-pointers from the same spot in the left corner to extend the Panther advantage to 44-37.

Elliot, who scored eleven of his 15 points in the second half, started the fourth quarter with a dribble drive lay-in to cut the Panther lead to 44-42. Orange center Hector Garrido got two offensive rebounds on a possession that wound up with Xandrell Pennix scoring his first three-pointer of the game. After Elliot scored on another lay-in, Pennix immediately drained another shot from downtown. Wade knocked down seven free throws in the final minute to keep the Bulldogs at bay.

Smith scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half.

Women’s Basketball: Orange 58, Water Williams 41: On the night she claimed her 20th career double-double, Orange senior Evelyn George may have come the closest anyone has in women’s basketball history to a triple-double.

George finished with 18 points, ten rebounds and seven assists as Orange rolled past Williams in Burlington to win its first Central Conference game. Senior center Marshea Byrd added eleven points and four rebounds as the Lady Panthers won in Burlington for the first time since December 6, 2018.

Despite finishing seventh in the Southeast Alamance Holiday Hoops Invitational, the Lady Panthers made its presence felt. They extended Southeast Alamance to double overtime on December 27 before falling 74-72. Orange senior Shannon Murphy scored a career-high 18 points against the Stallions. Maura McMurtry added 21 points to lead Orange against the Stallions,

After losing to Green Hope in the consolation round, Orange easily put away Northeast Guilford 60-28 in the seventh place game. George finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Byrd came away with five points and ten rebounds. McMurtry finished with 14 points off 4-of-9 shooting from 3-point range.

With the win over Williams, Orange is now 6-6 overall.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior point guard Kai Wade. The Panthers opened the season with a win over Voyager Academy on November 15. Wade set a career-high with 31 points in a 75-64 Orange victory. After Coleman Cloer and Mason Robinson each left Orange after their sophomore seasons last June, a greater scoring load fell on Wade’s shoulders. He has responded by being the team’s leading scorer, averaging 14.7 points per game after 13 games. Wade led Orange with 18 points in Orange’s 60-50 win over Williams on Friday night. It was the Panthers third straight win over Williams at Spike Gymnasium. Wade has been a winner in basketball dating back to his days at Gravelly Hill Middle School, where he was a starter on the Grizzlies 2020 Orange Person Athletic Conference championship team. He formed a bond with teammates Freddy Sneed, Xandrell Pennix, Cloer and Robinson from the time he started as a freshman at Orange. Last year, he was the starter for Orange’s 2024 Central Conference Tournament championship team, the first time since 2016 that the Panthers won a postseason conference tournament. Wade also helped the Panthers to the 2024 Central Conference regular season title, the first time since 2017 that the Panthers won a regular season crown. Wade will continue his junior season at Cedar Ridge on Tuesday night.

Orange Panther of the Week: Kai Wade

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior point guard Kai Wade. The Panthers opened the season with a win over Voyager Academy on November 15. Wade set a career-high with 31 points in a 75-64 Orange victory.

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