jjohnson@heraldsun.com; 419-6667
HILLSBOROUGH -- Playing in a new conference means playing some unfamiliar teams, and that's what Orange faced at home on Friday night.
For the boys, it meant a 45-43 loss to Northern Vance, while the girls cruised to a 42-20 win.
The Panthers, who moved up to 3-A during the most recent NCHSAA realignment, are going through a learning process with some of their new Carolina 6 Conference partners.
Northern Vance and Southern Vance are the least familiar teams, according to boys' coach Greg Motley, while Chapel Hill and Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons are the most familiar. Oxford Webb has been an on-again, off-again opponent for the Panthers in the past.
Chelsea Moore scored 11 points to lead the Orange girls (9-5, 2-0) to their second straight conference win, as they jumped out to a 13-4 first quarter lead and weren't threatened the rest of the way.
"It's a new conference for us, and we don't know a lot about some of the teams," Orange coach Don Hibert said. "We're respectful that we've moved up, and there are some very good teams in the conference."
Hebert said that winning the first two league games was a nice accomplishment but there will be tough tests as the season goes on.
"We've still got our work cut out for us," Hibert said.
The Panthers lack of familiarity with Northern Vance was more apparent in the boys' game.
Orange (7-8, 1-1), despite playing at home, seemed less comfortable in the early going. The Panthers didn't really hit their stride until they were down 12 points in the fourth quarter and rallied to tie it with less than a minute to play.
"It's the first time in my 16 years that we've played them," Motley said. "We went with the flow of the game. We're a perimeter team, and we had some good looks early that didn't go in and that got us down a bit. I'm proud of the way we came back in the fourth quarter."
Jeremy Ruffin scored eight of his 15 points in the fourth quarter to spark Orange's comeback attempt. The Panthers, who lead only once in the game at 2-1 and tied it twice in the first half before trailing 18-14 at halftime, mounted two big rallies in the second half but never regained the lead.
After Nate Jackola hit a shot in the lane to tie the score at 26, Northern Vance's John Nelson hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the corner in the final minute to give the Vikings a six-point cushion heading into the third quarter.
Northern Vance (10-2, 1-0) then scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to go up 38-26. Orange started pressing, and that turned the momentum back the Panthers' favor.
Ruffin got to the line on two occasions and made all four of his shots to spark the Panthers' comeback. He later was fouled on a 3-pointer when Orange was down by four and was able to make two of his three attempts.
Cameron Butler, who finished with 14 points, missed the front-end of a one-and-one with 20 seconds left and Orange got the rebound to Ruffin for a driving layup with 16.3 seconds left to tie the game at 43.
Orange then forced a turnover on the inbounds pass but turned it right back over.
Northern Vance got the ball into Shawn Brown's hands, and he was fouled with less than five seconds left. Brown, who led Northern Vance with 15 points, made both and Orange wasn't able to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.
"Orange is a tough place to play," Northern Vance coach Wilton Baskett said. "I didn't expect us to give up that lead, but we took their best shot and we stood up."
Motley said his team would learn from the mistakes they made in the final seconds of the game.
"We had some crucial mistakes, but the team played well," Motley said. "We ask them to play hard and they did. This was a game we thought we could win and maybe shake things up in the conference. We'll make some adjustments for the next time we play them."
GIRLS' SUMMARY
Orange 42, Northern Vance 20
NORTHERN VANCE - Ciera Thompson 5, Jasmine Evans 3, Sharquella Branche 2, Jaquesha Hunter 2, Seekeedra Hunter 7, Jazmine Haywood 1.
ORANGE - Chelsea Moore 11, Bria Berry-Holly 9, Tireka Brooks 8, Shae Torain 3, Camille Jones 5, Kaprishia Clark 2, Ashley Poteat 2, Dani Pherribo 2.
Northern Vance 4 9 2 5--20
Orange 13 8 10 11--42
3-Point goals--Northern Vance 1 (Evans). Orange 4 (Berry-Holly 2, Torain, Jones).
Records--Orange 9-5, 2-0 Carolina 3-A.
BOYS' SUMMARY
Northern Vance 45, Orange 43
NORTHERN VANCE -- Cameron Butler 14, John Nelson 6, Shawn Brown 15, Brandon Hargrave 6, Phillip Martin 2, Koffi Sneed 2.
ORANGE -- Jeremy Ruffin 15, Drevis Torain 3, John Kenion 2, Donovan McCulley 5, Devontay Jones 6, Quan Jones 6, Nate Jackola 6.
Northern Vance 10 8 14 13--45
Orange 7 7 12 17--43
3-Point goals--Northern Vance 5 (Buter 2, Nelson 2, Brown). Orange 3 (Q.Jones 2, Torain). Rebounds--Orange 16 (Jackola 4). Assists--Orange 3 (D.Jones 2).
Records--Northern Vance 10-2, 1-0 Carolina 3-A. Orange 7-8, 1-1.
