Shorthanded Orange drops Holiday Classic opening game to Incline, Nev.

Orange’s leading scorer Friday night Ivan Kim in the tournament opener. (PHOTOS: Tom Connolly, For OC Sports Zone).

Orange’s boys basketball team got off to a slow start and couldn’t recover, falling to Incline High of Nevada 52-32 in an opening round game of the 60th annual Orange Holiday Basketball Classic Friday at Orange.

Incline forward Halen Hanson led all scorers with 17 points to help the team snap a five-game losing streak and improved its record to 4-6 while Orange (5-9) lost its third consecutive game.

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“We lack basketball awareness and making adjustments,” said Panthers Coach Jake Rhodes, who was missing four players due to sickness and unavailability. “We’re not shooting well. I think we’re shooting something like 18 percent from the 3-point line. We can’t continue to try and shoot over taller opponents in the paint. We must push through this and be focused on the fact that the team comes first.”

The Panthers fell behind 14-7 in the opening quarter but held Incline scoreless over the final 3:40 of the quarter and added baskets by Sebastian Nunez and Fernando Reyes to cut the lead to 14-11 after eight minutes of play.

Both teams didn’t shoot well in the second quarter. The Panthers were held to two baskets by Anthony Randle and Ivan Kim in the quarter but still only trailed 23-15 at halftime.

Orange’s shooting woes continued in the third quarter as the Panthers didn’t sink a bucket until Alex Villa nailed a 3-pointer with 1:12 left in the quarter, but Orange trailed 36-21 after three quarters and the Highlanders cruised to a victory.  

“Shooting has been our big problem,” said Panthers assistant coach Rob Nasman. “Our defense is improving but as a team we’re still having too many lapses and we’re giving up too many second chance points.”

Orange forced 13 turnovers in the game but was never able to draw any closer than 10 points of the lead in the second half. 

“We didn’t have the energy today; we need to come out with more energy,” said Ivan Kim , who led Orange with 13 points. “We know we’re better than this and we know what we are capable of, but we have to prove it.”   

The Highlanders were consistently able to drive into the lane for layups and limited Orange to one shot on the offensive end. Incline also outrebounded the Panthers and moved the ball efficiently.   

“Tonight was the best job we did all season getting Lucas MacDonald the ball in the key,” said Incline’s coach Tim Kelly. “We need to get him the ball more in the paint for him to be effective. We are still trying to find our identity as a team.”

“We did good getting back on defense, moving the ball, rebounding and getting key baskets,” said Hanson, who scored 10 points for the Highlanders.  

In other tournament games, Fullerton defeated Boulder City, Nev. 54-42 and Shadow Ridge topped Irvine 50-49.

Notes:

—Orange will play Shadow Ridge of Nevada on Saturday at 6 p.m. while Incline faces Irvine at 7:30. 

–—The Orange Holiday Basketball Classic is the longest running Christmas basketball Tournament in Orange County. The event started Friday, including boys’ and girls’ divisions with the girls championship game scheduled Tuesday at 6 p.m. The boys’ final will follow at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday night.

—In the boys division, Pool A consists of Incline, Nevada; Irvine, Orange and Shadow Ridge of Nevada, Nev. Pool B will include Boulder City, Nevada, Cerritos, Fullerton, and Long Beach Wilson.

—In the girls division, Pool A includes Apple Valley, Laguna Hills, Montclair, and Valley Christian. Pool B includes Cabrillo, Fullerton, Irvine, Orange.

—Incline’s coach Tim Kelly is the son-in-law of former Servite football coach Larry Toner. Kelly said his son, John Paul Kelly, is currently an eighth grader and is a skillful basketball player who plans to relocate to Southern California next season and attend Servite or Mater Dei and play basketball.

—Incline High School is in Nevada on the north shore of Lake Tahoe.