Month: February 2022

The Orange women’s basketball team enjoyed a solid victory on Senior Night over crosstown rival Cedar Ridge on Wednesday night at Panther Gymnasium. Orange center Haley Reynolds made it a big night. Reynolds made her first start and scored a career-high seven points. Reynolds has played at the varsity level for the past two years. She’s played basketball since she was in the 7th grade, but in the fall, Reynolds has been a cheerleader for the football team. Aisha Caron also made her first career start. She scored two points against the Red Wolves. Caron joined the varsity team in December and has played forward in ten games this season. Orange has guaranteed itself a winning season. The Lady Panthers are 13-6, 4-5 in the Central Carolina Conference. Orange will host Eastern Alamance for its final regular season home game on Friday, then travel to Cedar Ridge on Saturday morning at 11:30 to finish the regular season. Orange will also host a first round game in the Central Carolina Conference Tournament next week.

Katie Belle Sikes has spent a significant portion of her life under water.

From the time she was in third grade, Sikes has been a daily fixture in the pools of the Orange County Sportsplex. Day after day of practice with the Orange Panthers swim team and the Hillsborough Aquatic Club has lead to her becoming the #1 ranked female sophomore swimmer, private schools included, in the state of North Carolina.

Now, Sikes’ goal of becoming the first Orange High swimmer (regardless of gender) to win a state championship is in clear focus after a successful regional weekend in Greensboro.

After winning the 50-yard freestyle regional title in 2021 as a freshman, Sikes captured two regional championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Saturday in the 3A Central Regional Championships. In the 50-yard freestyle, Sikes repeated her championship by touching the wall at 23.63 seconds. Carrboro’s Lindy Bilden came in second at 24.45. Northwood’s Julia Earnshaw, who lost to Sikes by just nine-hundredths-of-a-second in the Central Carolina Conference championships on January 27, came in third.

Sikes earned her 3rd career regional title in the 100 yard freestyle. Sikes finished at 51.66 seconds, holding off Carrboro Kate Hegland, who came in at 51.84 seconds.

“I’m incredibly proud of how well our team did and how supportive we are of each other,” Sikes said. “I was very excited going into this meet as it was my first ‘large-scale’ normalish meet. I was also excited to be joined by most of my team, which is all because of my incredible coach, Ron Geib.”

The only Orange aquatic state champion in school history came in 1999 and 2000, when Jennifer Rehm won the 4A State Diving Championship. In 1999, Rehm finished with 474.65 points to claim the first swimming or diving championship in Hillsborough history. The following year, Rehm repeated her title with a total of 458.60.

The last state swimming championship came from Cedar Ridge High School when Becca Churchill won the 2014 3A State Championship in the 100 yard breaststroke.

Following an undefeated regular season in dual matches, the Orange men’s swimming team finished 2nd in the Central Regional team competition, the best finish in program history. The Panthers, who won the Central Carolina Conference championship, finished with 301 points. Carrboro had 380 points to come in first.

The women’s team, which had six ladies competing, finished in third place, another program best. Carrboro finished first with 460 points while Northwood, the CCC championships, was runner-up at 337 points.

The Orange men had nine competitors qualify for the state championships, which will take place on Friday at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary.

While Cedar Ridge had several competitors qualify for regionals, eight swimmers tested positive for COVID-19 and were unable to travel to Greensboro. Only one Red Wolf swimmer, freshman Phillip Cauwels, wound up in the water. Cauwels finished 12th in the 200 yard freestyle.

In addition to Sikes, four individual female swimmers qualified for the state championships. There were also two women’s relay teams and two men’s medley relay teams who will compete in Cary next Friday.

In the 200 yard medley relay, Sikes joined senior Sandra McCouch, senior Melissa Campbell and junior Ellie Wileman to finish third at 1:59.67. Northwood, which claimed the CCC Championship, took home the regional title at 1:53.27. The Chargers team consists of Earnshaw, Mia Corrado, Lauren Emlich and Gwen Hoeg.

In the 200 yard freestyle relay, Sikes teamed with McCouch, Wileman and Campbell to finish 2nd at 1:47.19. Carrboro won the regional title.

Orange freshman Luke Roman, coming off winning the 500 yard freestyle in the conference championships, finished 2nd in the 200 yard freestyle at 1:52.70. Carrboro’s Andrew Commins came in first. Orange’s Nick Baczara came in fifth in the 200 yard freestyle.

Roman also qualified for the state championships in the 500 yard freestyle with a fourth place finish. Alexandre Andre, an Orange freshman, came in 5th.

Orange’s men’s 400 yard freestyle relay team also claimed a runner-up finish. Roman, Baczara, Andre and Evan Phillips touched the wall at 3:38.21. Carrboro came in first.

In the 100 yard breaststroke, Orange junior Evan Phillips came in second at 1:05.07. Aaron Reyes of Atkins came in first.

Orange senior Ian Moore finished 3rd in the 100 yard backstroke at 59.56 seconds. Moore also qualified for the 100 yard butterfly following a 7th-place finish.

Andre reached the state finals in the 200 yard individual medley. He came in with a time of 2:08.21. Orange’s Phillips finished 7th in the same event, which also led to him qualifying for states.

Other individual female state qualifiers for Orange included Sandra McCouch, who finished 6th in the 100 yard breaststroke. McCouch will join Sikes in the 50 yard freestyle after she came in 8th.

Campbell finished 5th in the 100 yard butterfly. She came in 4th in the 200 yard freestyle.

From the moment the Orange wrestling team resumed a normal, standard schedule in November to the time it ended its dual season against Union Pines last Wednesday in the 3A Eastern Regional Championship match, the proof of improvement of the squad lays in the numbers.

9: the number of new starters for Orange wrestling after a loss season in 2020-2021 because of the pandemic.

148: Combined wins for the season by Orange’s new starters this season.

51: Point differential when Union Pines defeated Orange on November 23 in the Orange Thanksgiving Duals.

25: Point differential when Union Pines defeated Orange to win the Eastern Regional Championship last Wednesday.

Last Thursday, Orange fell to Union Pines 49-24 in the Eastern Regional Championship match in Cameron. It was the Vikings first-ever regional title. On Saturday, Fred T. Foard defeated Union Pines 58-12 to win the 3A State Championship at the Greensboro Coliseum Fieldhouse.

Orange was deprived of a 12th regional title. They last reached the state championship match in 2018, when they lost to Piedmont in Greensboro.

Earlier on Thursday night, the younger Orange wrestlers came through in a 39-33 victory over Croatan, who won ten regional championships in 16 years in the 2A ranks. In a match where every point counted, four Panther newcomers came through with wins over a Cougar team that reached the 2A State Championship match in 2020, the last time a dual team state tournament was contested (The event was canceled in 2021 because of the pandemic).

At 120 pounds, Orange’s Braden Crawford started the night by pinning Colton Leiske in 2:00 to give Orange an early 6-0 lead. Junior Dillon Heffernan, a three-year starter who leads the team with 29 wins this season, scored his own pin over Tommy Williams at 4:35. At 132 pounds, Jared Hutchins pinned Angelica Steffy in 1:58 to increase the Panthers’ lead to 18-0.

Croatan’s Cody Raymond (138) and Josh Steffy (145) earned pinfall victories to reduce the Panthers’ advantage to 18-12. At 152 pounds, Samuel Crawford pinned Garrett Cortese in 1:42. Crawford is 18-11 on the season.

The Cougars got consecutive wins at 160 and 170 pounds. Eli Simonette pinned Andre Hill in 1:03, while Drake Egan defeated Nate Hecht 6-3 to cut the Panthers’ lead to 24-21.

Orange senior Brendon Worsham, who qualified for the 3A State Championships last year, earned a 7-1 decision over Blake McCabe. Worsham improved to 27-5 on the season.

The heavier weight classes have been the most reliable part of Orange’s team this season and it was no different in its final dual victory of the season. After Worsham’s decision victory, Acoya Isley held off Croatan’s Landon Gray 13-7. Isley, who has won two individual tournaments this season, is 23-5 in his first year as a starter.

At 220 pounds, Elijah Acosta earned the most thrilling win of the night. Acosta went to sudden victory against the Cougars’ A.J. Pile Jr., but earned a trip takedown which led to back points in the first extra session, resulting in a 7-2 victory. Acosta, whose father Mike wrestling under Bobby Shriner in the 1990s at Orange, is 28-3.

Heavyweight Hugo Vazquez, who captured the Jim King/Orange Invitational in December, ensured the Panthers would advance to the Eastern Regional Championship match with a pin over Tomas Aguero in 2:54.

In the championship match against Union Pines, Heffernan opened with a forfeit victory at 120. Hutchins held off Johann Diaz 11-9 to push Orange’s lead to 9-0.

The Vikings’ Joseph Vrabcak earned a 9-0 major decision at 138, while Gaige Lloyd scored a pin to give UPHS the lead at 10-9. Samuel Crawford pinned Houston Leeah in 1:15, but that was the last time the Panthers would have the overall lead. The Cougars earned three consecutive individual wins, including two pins, to go ahead 24-15.

Acoya Isley pinned Dantrell Williams at 195. Colton Collins earned a pin over Acosta, who suffered only his fourth loss of the season. At heavyweight, Vazquez earned a 3-1 decision over Kellen DeVries, but it was the Panthers final win of the match. Vazquez will go into the 3A Mideast Regionals at Union Pines High on Friday with a 25-6 record.

Also at regionals on Friday, several Cedar Ridge wrestlers will go for spots in the 3A State Championship. The last Red Wolf to make the state championships was Daina Pritchard last summer at Eastern Guilford High School, where the regionals were also held.

Cedar Ridge junior Fernando Martinez is in the hunt for 100 career wins before the end of the season. Martinez will go into regionals with 89 career wins. He will compete in the 113-pound weight class. Other Red Wolf grapplers making their regional debuts will be Kaden Tatro and freshman Leo Oguntoyinbo.

Entering the final week of the regular season, the Orange women’s basketball team is in line to return to the state playoffs for the first time since 2020.

Barring a collapse, the Lady Panthers will host a first-round game in next week’s Central Carolina Conference Tournament, have a winning season and possibly be at home for the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs.

Which is pretty good for a team that hasn’t been at full-strength in two-thirds of its games.

On Saturday, the Lady Panthers played its fourth game in five days. Nonetheless, the Lady Panthers rolled past Western Alamance 73-47 on Coach Erma Evans Court in Elon.

Senior Aaliyah Harris led Orange with 22 points.

Western Alamance’s Emma Johnson paced the Warriors with 18 points. After Warriors guard Allie Sykes picked up two fouls in the opening 22 seconds of the game, Johnson was forced to carry the offensive load early.

After Johnson scored on a lay-in midway through the first quarter to push the Warriors ahead 8-6, Orange senior guard Samantha George got an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and sank a 3-pointer. On the next Western possession, George picked off a pass and dribbled coast-to-coast to put Orange ahead 12-8.

The Lady Panthers used its defense to create steals that led to transition opportunities and pull away from the Warriors. Orange senior Jarmil Wingate triggered three straight Panther field goals late in the first quarter, starting with a steal that led to Harris’ first field goal on a lay-up. Wingate knocked down two long jumpers on consecutive Orange possessions to increase their lead to 18-10. Harris lobbed a pass to Wingate for a lay-in with three seconds remaining in the quarter.

Wingate, who led Orange in scoring against Person with 13 points, established a new career-high of 14 points. Junior Jada Reed also established a new career-high of 16 points, including a 3-pointer in the second half. Harris missed tying her career-high, which was also set against Person last Tuesday, by one point.

Orange (12-6, 4-5 in the Central Carolina Conference) all but sewed up fourth place in the Central Carolina Conference with the victory. The Lady Panthers now lead the Warriors by one game, but also own the head-to-head tiebreaker after sweeping the season series. The Lady Panthers have a chance to tie Eastern Alamance for third place. On Wednesday night, Orange hosts Cedar Ridge, then faces Eastern Alamance in Hillsborough before journeying to Cedar Ridge on Saturday morning to wrap up the regular season.

Eastern Alamance travels to Northwood, undefeated in the CCC, on Tuesday night.

MEN’S BASKETBALL: WESTERN ALAMANCE 56-50

After a strong performance against Northwood the night before, the Orange men’s basketball team couldn’t put together another steady game in Elon.

Western Alamance never trailed in defeating the Panthers 56-50 on Saturday night. The Warriors (10-8, 6-3), who were coming off a loss to Cedar Ridge the night before, were led by Eric Hardy, who scored 15 points. Erik Wagoner added 14 as the Warriors swept the season series from Orange.

The Panthers’ Jerec Thompson scored 16 point, but was held without a 3-pointer in the first half. The only tie of the game came after Orange freshman Michael Clark sank an early trey to even the score 3-3. The Warriors led by double-figures most of the night

Thompson was the only player in double figures for Orange (4-16, 0-9).

The night before, Orange went toe-to-toe against Northwood, who is 10-0 in the Central Carolina Conference. The Chargers pulled away to win 78-62, but the Panthers had an early lead after Clark, in his first start, scored 12 points in the first quarter. Clark led Orange with 17 points against the Chargers, while Thompson added 16.

Orange will host Cedar Ridge on Wednesday night, welcome Eastern Alamance in its final home game of the season on Friday, then travel to Cedar Ridge on Saturday.

Jaden Hurdle: After her freshman season at Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville, VA, Hurdle has announced that she will play softball at Division II Catawba College in Salisbury in 2023. Hurdle was supposed to start her final season at PHCC this weekend, but a series of games in Hickory was canceled due to inclement weather. The Patriots were supposed to face Catawba Valley Community College, which includes Hurdle’s former teammate Grace Andrews. Hurdle and Andrews shared the same side of the infield (Hurdle at 1st base, Andrews at 2nd base) for the Lady Panthers’ 2017 3A State Championship team. In her first season at PHCC, Hurdle hit .328 with ten home runs and 32 RBIs. She was tied for the team lead in home runs. Hurdle also had 17 pitching appearances, going 4-3 with a 4.61 ERA with 40 strikeouts and 17 walks. PHCC will officially start its season against the USC-Union on Friday. At Orange, Hurdle was a part of two Big 8 Conference Championship teams.

Will Walker: Former Orange High first baseman Will Walker started his first game as the Pitt Community College Bulldogs defeated the Mount Olive junior varsity squad 8-7 on Wednesday night at the Minges-Overton Baseball Park in Greenville. Walker started as the designated hitter and went 0-for-2 with a walk. He scored in the 4th inning off a bases-loaded walk drawn by Houston Koon. Pitt return to action against the Barton junior varsity on Wednesday. Walker graduated last summer. He was a first baseman and designated hitter for the Panthers under head coach Jason Knapp.

Dylan Boyer: The Division II Queen’s University men’s lacrosse team rolled past Lees-McRae 21-5 at Dickson Field in Charlotte on Friday. Boyer played for the Royals to start his sophomore season. Queens will travel to Savannah, GA to face Lynn University next Saturday.

Connor Crabtree: The Richmond Spiders men’s basketball team defeated St. Bonaventure 71-61 at the Robins Center on Friday. Crabtree, who didn’t play in the Spiders’ previous two games, came off the bench to play two minutes. The Spiders are 15-8 overall, 6-4 in the Atlantic 10. This week, the Spiders will host George Mason on Monday, then face the Patriots in Fairfax, VA on Wednesday.

Joey McMullin: The Sandhills Community College men’s basketball team has won eleven in a row. On Wednesday, the Flyers defeated Wren College 125-67 in Pinehurst. McMullin led the Flyers with 22 points, one of eight Flyers in double figures. McMullin shot 9-of-10 from the field, including both of his attempts from 3-point range. McMullin added six assists and four rebounds. On Saturday, the Flyers held off Oxford College of Emory University 87-82. McMullin started and scored nine points. He added four rebounds, four steals and two assists. On Tuesday, the Flyers defeated Hosanna Bible College 93-83. Once again, McMullin led the Flyers with 27 points, shooting 12-of-19 from the field. McMullin added six rebounds and a blocked shot. Last Sunday, the Flyers defeated Oxford College of Emory University 109-82 in Oxford, GA. McMullin had ten points, eight rebounds and two assets. Sandhills is 18-6, 6-0 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Marvin Jones: Former Cedar Ridge Red Wolf Marvin Jones earned a victory for the North Carolina Central indoor track and field on Saturday. In the Liberty Open in Lynchburg, VA, Jones won the high jump with a leap of 2.06 meters. It was the second meet in a row that Jones has won. Next week, Jones will compete in the Champion College Team Challenge in Winston-Salem. He has already qualified for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championships in Virginia Beach, VA, starting February 21.

For two months, the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team has had plenty of chances to earn its first Central Carolina Conference win, only to suffer agonizing close losses.

On Tuesday night, the Red Wolves led Eastern Alamance by 13 points in the third quarter, only to have the Eagles go on a 15-4 run to even the game. Eastern eventually prevailed 66-64.

Finally on Friday night, it was the Red Wolves time to shine, Kamil Harrison in particular.

Harrison scored on a finger roll with :3.1 seconds remaining to propel the Red Wolves past Western Alamance 55-53 on Friday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. It was Harrison’s only field goal of the second half.

Junior Colton Taylor led the Red Wolves with 21 points, while Neco Clark added 14 points and seven rebounds. Western Alamance (9-8, 5-3 in the Central Carolina Conference) was led by Davone Wagoner, who finished with 17 points and ten rebounds.

The victory snapped a nine-game conference losing streak for the Red Wolves (4-11, 1-8).
It appeared the Red Wolves would suffer another heartbreak in the final minutes. Cedar Ridge led 48-39 with 4:00 remaining after a stickleback bucket by Clark. Western responded with a 12-3 run in a span of 2:48, led by Kristopher Barnwell, who finished with 16 points. Barnwell scored eight points during the run, which led to Wagoner tying the game following a free throw with 1:12 remaining.

With the game even at 51-51, Clark hit two free throws to put Cedar Ridge ahead 53-51. On the Warriors subsequent possession, Barnwell missed a 15-footer, but rebounded his own miss and scored off the glass to tie the game.

Coming off a Western timeout, Harrison took an inbounds pass from Taylor, dribbled around a screen set by Rawling Taylor, cut down the paint and scored on a lay-in to send the Red Wolves bench into jubilation.

It was Cedar Ridge’s first win since December 13, when they defeated Raleigh Charter.

The Red Wolves won despite being outrebounded 39-20. The Warriors also had 16 turnovers compared to nine for the Red Wolves. Western Alamance was also 12-of-23 from the free throw line, while Cedar Ridge was 15-of-19.

Western Alamance never trailed in the first half. They started the game on a 12-5 run, keyed by consecutive 3-pointers with King Dorsey, which finished with ten points. The Red Wolves had only one rebound in the opening quarter.

With Western leading 24-15 at the half, Cedar Ridge opened the second half on a 14-2 run, keyed by Colton Taylor. Harrison found Taylor in transition for a lay-in, which led to a foul against Western’s Nick McGhee. Taylor made the free throw, then knocked down a jumper on the next possession. After two free throws by Harrison, Taylor knocked down a 3-pointer off an assist from Harrison. Garrett Ray gave Cedar Ridge its first lead with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter off a reverse lay-in on another fast break keyed by an outlet pass by Clark.

Jonavan Wingate put the Red Wolves ahead 40-31 at the end of the 3-pointer off an assist from Cameron Harper, but Western’s Wagoner drained a trey at the third quarter buzzer.

NORTHWOOD 78, ORANGE 62

Unlike Cedar Ridge, Orange did not end its conference losing streak on Friday night, but the Panthers let Central Carolina Conference leader Northwood know they were there.

Following a dismal 80-57 loss to Eastern Alamance in Mebane on Wednesday night, Orange led 42-41 against Northwood with 5:38 remaining in the third quarter following two free throws by Michael Clark. Griffin Hobbs scored on a lay-in to put the Chargers ahead 43-42, and the Panthers ran out of gas in the fourth quarter as Northwood pulled away to win 78-62 at Panther Gymnasium.

Clark, making his first start for Orange, injected energy into the Panthers with 12 points in the first quarter. Clark finished as the Panthers’ leading scorer with 17 points, while Jerec Thompson added 16.

Frederico Whitaker paced Northwood (16-3, 10-0 in the Central Carolina Conference) with 24 points. Kenan Parrish added 15, while Drake Powell had 14.

Orange led by as much as six points in the first half, but the taller and deeper Chargers put all five of its starters in double figures to improve to 10-0 in the Central Carolina Conference.

Northwood has won 16 in a row against conference opponents, dating back to last year in the final days of the Big 8 Conference.

Orange travels to Western Alamance on Saturday.