The Panthers (7-9, 1-4 Carolina 3A) came into Chapel Hill knowing they were facing an uphill task, but for one half they played excellent basketball and thwarted the Tigers' offensive speed to keep the game close.

Using a box-and-one sometimes and a triangle-and-two at other times, Orange held conference scoring leader Denzel Ingram to 3-for-8 shooting from the outside in the first half, although all three hits were for 3-pointers. And the Panthers' pressed on enough possessions to force Chapel Hill into eight turnovers before halftime.

The Tigers turned over four straight possessions in one stretch as Orange put together a 6-0 run. Brandon Frye put Orange ahead at 19-15 on a driving layup with 30 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Panthers led by four for the last time on a layup by Keegan Crabtree to make it 35-31 game 21 seconds before halftime.

"We knew we'd get their 'A' game," Ingram said. "But we still came out sluggish in the first half. On defense, we made some errors we had to correct before we could pull out a tough win."

Chastised by coach Tod Morgan at halftime, the Tigers shut down Orange in the third quarter. The Panthers missed seven of their first nine shots of the second half and committed 12 second-half turnovers. Flummoxed, Orange committed both an intentional and technical foul in the second half.

"We just got pushed into playing a little bit faster than we wanted to in the third quarter," Orange coach Greg Motley said. "We missed some shots.

"That's been our thing this year. ... We just go through stretches where things kind of slide away from us."

The result was a Chapel Hill 20-6 scoring run in the third quarter. Orange took advantage of Chapel Hill's failure to get a field goal on its last 10 possessions and got as close as 60-55 on two free throws by Jalen Pittman with 2:13 remaining, but the Tigers made 5 of 10 free throws in the final 1:11, enough to ice the 65-56 conference victory.

"We made some free throws (but) missed 18 of them," Morgan said later, exiting the CHHS locker room. "How many of those were back ends, where we could set up our press? How many of those were on the front end, where we don't even get the second chance? We should have scored a lot more points."

Ingram was held slightly under his 24.5 ppg average but still had a game-high 22 points. Stephen Himmelberg added 11 and Dillon Winters 10 points for Chapel Hill (19-0, 5-0). Keegan Crabtree led Orange with 17 points.

Many of Chapel Hill's struggles on offense, like its 15-for-45 shooting from the field, were linked to its failure on the defensive end to get turnovers and the transition baskets the Tigers have come to expect.

"I'm glad we got a win. It's always good to win," Morgan said. "But the lack of effort on the defensive end was not acceptable; that's just not Tiger basketball.

"Give them credit. They were prepared for us, definitely. ... They were playing to win, and we were just playing."

Morgan said that a team like Chapel Hill, heading into a showdown last Friday night with Cardinal Gibbons (10-9, 3-2), has to expect every opponent's best effort.

"Last year we snuck up on some people. This year, there's no more sneaking upon anybody," Morgan said. "We've been No. 1. every week since the polls came out. As long as we keep winning, that's going to be the same. So, we're going to get everybody's best effort. ... We better be ready to play."

(Note: Friday's CHHS-Gibbons game was played after deadlines for today's Chapel Hill News. See www.newsobserver.com for complete coverage.)

Tigers take two more

The Chapel Hill girls' team (17-2, 4-1), ranked No. 7 by the News & Observer, handily won back-to-back games on the road last week: 63-42 Tuesday at Orange in a Carolina 3A Conference game, and then 71-19 at 4A Roxboro Person.

Catherine Romaine hit 10-of-16 shots and scored a game-high 20 points at Orange (3-11, 1-3), while Jamella Smith recorded another double-double with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Lila Scott hit 2-of-3 attempts on 3-pointers.

On Wednesday night in Roxboro, with a game at conference leader Cardinal Gibbons (13-5, 5-0) coming up two nights later, Chapel Hill coach Sherry Norris rested her starters most of the game.

Ninth-grader Tamia Eatmon led Chapel Hill's scoring by going 3-for-3 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line for 13 points. Lila Scott added 12 points and Arianne Jacobs 10 for the Tigers as they won their sixth straight since a 42-40 loss to Gibbons on Jan. 10.

Akira Outlaw led the Rockets (5-14) with 10 points.