Month: January 2023

Cedar Ridge’s Fernando Martinez discusses being the Silver Fox Most Outstanding Wrestler

The Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High School was the final regular season individual tournament in the storied career of Cedar Ridge wrestler Fernando Martinez. While it wasn’t his final tournament, he did earn Most Valuable Wrestler honors in winning the 113-pound championship at the Silver Fox. Martinez started the day pinning Brandon Mann of South Granville in 1:39. In the championship match, Martinez defeated Daniel Dickerson of Riverside 9-3. It was the 135th career win for Martinez, placing him third all-time in school history. He likely would have approached the school record of 166 wins if the pandemic hadn’t occurred, which roughly cut Martinez’s sophomore season in half. It was Martinez’s first individual tournament win this season. Martinez is the defending Mideast regional champion at 113-pounds. Cedar Ridge will host the regional championships starting January 26. Next Saturday, Martinez and the rest of the Cedar Ridge wrestling team will compete in the Central Carolina Conference Tournament at Orange High School.

 

Cedar Rodge’s Kaden Tatro discusses winning the Silver Fox Invitational

After competing in numerous tournaments throughout the course of this year, Cedar Ridge junior Kaden Tatro has several reasons to celebrate on Saturday. He won the Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High School in Durham at 182 pounds. To start the day, Tatro defeated Rocco Prolillo of Apex in 20 seconds via pinfall. It was Tatro’s 100th career win, becoming the sixth Cedar Ridge wrestler to reach that milestone. Tatro is now 45-4 this season with 34 pins. It was a gratifying way to end the regular season for Tatro, who also won the Red Wolf Invitational in November. Tatro finished third at the WRAL Invitational on December 17 in Knightdale. Now, Tatro will focus on the postseason, which will begin next Saturday. The Central Carolina Conference Championships will be held at Orange High School. Tatro will likely be the favorite at 182 pounds. In addition, earlier this week it was announced that Cedar Ridge will host the 3A Mideast Regional Championships next month. The top four placers in each division will qualify for the 3A State Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum.

 

 

 

Alumni Update: Gill rings the siren for Hurricanes as rookie NFL season ends

Trenton Gill: The first Cedar Ridge player to ever play in the National Football League had his rookie season come to an end on Sunday. The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Chicago Bears 29-13 at Solider Field. In his final game of the season, Gill had three punts for an average of 37 yards. Two of them were downed inside the 20-yard line. His longest punt was 44 yards. To end his rookie season, Gill had 66 punts for an average of 46 yards, which was tied for 23rd in the NFL. His longest punt was 63 yards. 20 of his punts were downed inside the 20-yard line, which was tied for 24th in the NFL. The Bears will have the #1 overall pick in April’s NFL Draft after they finished 3-14. On Saturday night, Gill came home and spun the siren for the Carolina Hurricanes for the third period of its game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PNC Arena in Raleigh. The Hurricanes held on to win 2-1.

Bryse Wilson: After being designated for assignment, Wilson was traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Milwaukee Brewers last week. He was traded for cash considerations. It will be Wilson’s third Major League Baseball organization. Last season, Wilson went 3-9 with an 5.52 ERA with Pittsburgh. He had 79 strikeouts and 32 walks. Wilson’s son, Levi, was born last month. Wilson will report to spring training next month looking to take a spot in the Brewers’ starting rotation.

Connor Crabtree: On January 4, the Richmond Spiders men’s basketball team held off George Washington 73-63 at the Robins Center. Crabtree played one minutes. He has not played in Richmond’s subsequent three games: a 75-73 win over Duquesne; a 61-57 win at Davidson and  71-63 loss against St. Bonaventure.

Joey McMullin: The Sandhills Community College men’s basketball team has won three in a row. On Saturday, the Flyers defeated New Hope Collegiate 122-87. McMullin came off the bench to lead Sandhills with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. He sank both of his 3-point attempts. McMullin also had five rebounds. On Wednesday, Sandhills defeated Johnston Community College 98-77 at Harrison Gymnasium in Smithfield. McMullin scored 16 points in 18 minutes. He finished 7-of-12 from the field and knocked down his only shot from downfield. McMullin also had four rebounds. On January 5, Sandhills rolled past Brunswick Community College 101-87. McMullin scored 14 points and grabbed four rebounds. Sandhills is 15-3 overall, 1-1 in Region 10 of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Aaliyah Harris: The Division III Randolph-Macon women’s basketball team rolled by Lynchburg 56-30 on January 11 at Crenshaw Gymnasium in Lynchburg, VA. Harris played 15 minutes and shot 1-of-6 from the field. She scored three points and grabbed one rebound. On January 5, Randolph-Macon defeated Eastern Mennonite 65-30 in Ashland, VA. Harris scored three points off 1-of-6 shooting from the field. She had three rebounds. The Yellow Jackets are 10-5 overall, 7-2 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.

Braden Homsey: The Division III Ferrum College wrestling team split a pair of dual matches at the Budd Whitehill Duals at Lycoming Wrestling Center in Williamsport, PA on Saturday. The Panthers defeated Pennsylvania Tech 27-21. Wilkes defeated Ferrum 28-17. Homsey won both of his matches by technical fall at 197 pounds. Against Wilkes, Homsey defeated Hunter Lowe 16-1. Against Penn Tech, Homsey rolled past Gabriel Kennedy-Citeroni 17-2. On Friday, Ferrum dropped three matches at Lycoming College. #21 Ithaca defeated the Panthers 30-12. Chibueze Chukwuezi defeated Homsey by technical fall 18-2 at 197 pounds. Williams defeated Ferrum 20-13. Homsey earned a major decision over Thomas Goodwin 14-1. York College of Pennsylvania edged Ferrum 25-17. 25-17. Homsey won another technical fall over Devon O’Dell 16-0. Ferrum is 3-7 overall on the season, 1-1 in the ODAC. They will return to action against Averett in a dual match on Thursday in Ferrum. On January 27, Ferrum will compete in the Pete Wilson Invitational.

Cloer, Honeycutt help Orange dunk Eastern Alamance 67-56

MEBANE–“Even if I didn’t have my son on the team, I’d still pay $8 to watch Orange play.”

Those words from an Orange High parent after the Panthers 67-56 win at Eastern Alamance on Wednesday night sum up the attitude around the program right now. It’s not a state championship team, but for the first time in years, Orange basketball is doing more than just winning consistently.

They’re a lot of fun to watch.

Against the Eagles, freshman Coleman Cloer had a drive down the lane for a one-hand slam in the opening minutes, the video of which went viral across social media before midnight. It instantly snapped a malaise inside the small gymnasium to a sudden and startled roar from the spectators. Even the Eastern Alamance substitutes exchanged shocked glances on the bench.

In the second half, Cloer flushed down an off-the-backboard ally-oop from classmate Kai Wade, while junior Ryan Honeycutt and freshman Ryan Honeycutt both had dunks as the Panthers pulled away late.

With seven games remaining in the regular season, it’s already the most successful team at Orange (12-6, 4-2 in the Central Carolina Conference) in the five-year tenure of head coach Derryl Britt.

The game marked a signature point in Orange’s season. For starters, it was their last contest before exam break. It also marked the halfway point of the Central Carolina Conference schedule. Going 4-2 into the turn, as they say after completing the front nine holes in golf, felt a lot better than going 3-3. Especially when all of Orange’s wins came on the road.

Cloer, coming off a 35-point game against Person, finished with 28 points against the Eagles. Junior center Ryan Honeycutt had 13 points.

Michael Reaves paced Eastern Alamance (9-7, 2-4) with 15 points.

It was Orange’s seventh road win of the season. In the previous three years, Orange won eight road games.

“We call Cloer our closer,” Britt said. “Down the stretch of games, we tell him to use any move he can to get us across the finish line. Dribble drives. Pivot. Drop steps. Up and unders. We call him ‘Stat’ too, because he can fill up the stat sheet.”

Orange led 47-39 with 2:09 remaining in the third quarter when the Eagles reeled off six in a row. Reaves had a chance to tie the game but was called for a charge just before the end of the frame after he ran into guard Jackson Barretto.

To open the fourth quarter, Eastern’s Antoine Pugh was called for an illegal screen as the Eagles were set to inbound. Honeycutt dumped an offensive rebound off to Cloer for a two-hand dunk.

Reaves came back with a one-handed runner while drawing a foul on Mason Robinson. Reaves’ free throw cut the Panthers’ lead to 49-48. The Eagles had a chance to take the lead after a steal by Pugh, but the Eagles missed. After Robinson, who played a season-high 21 minutes, grabbed the offensive rebound, Cloer found Honeycutt at the other end for another two-handed dunk.

Cloer extended Orange’s lead with a duck and fade move in the lane where he tossed it in from ten feet with the left hand. Following two free throws by Reaves, the Panthers used a three-way passing play where Robinson found Kaleb Barnhardt, who dropped it off to Isaiah Seymour for a lay-in.

Later, Barnhardt knocked the ball away from Pugh and found Wade for a transition basket put Orange ahead 58-50, equaling the Panthers largest lead of the game.

Orange will get six of its last seven games of the regular season at home, starting with Western Alamance next Friday night. Currently, the Panthers are tied with Walter Williams for third place in the loss column in the Central Carolina Conference with a 4-2 record. Orange currently holds the tiebreaker over Williams. If the Panthers host a game in the Central Carolina Tournament, it will be the first time they’ve hosted a postseason game since 2017, when they faced Northern Guilford in the 3A State Quarterfinals.

 

 

 

Orange Panther of the Week: Sam Crawford

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior wrestler Sam Crawford. This season, Crawford is 23-7 with 16 pins. On Wednesday night, Crawford was in the first match for Orange in their dual match against Person. Crawford scored a pin in the third period to get the Panthers off to a strong start. Orange went on to win 43-25 and claim the Central Carolina Conference championship for the third straight season. It’s Orange’s 19th conference championship in wrestling in the last 20 years. This season, Crawford finished second in the Eastern Alamance Eagle Invitational in Mebane. Just before Christmas, Crawford finished fourth in the 152-pound tournament at the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School. Next Saturday, Crawford will compete in the 152-pound tournament in the 1st annual Central Carolina Conference individual tournament at Orange High School. Crawford will aim for a high finish to prepare for the 3A Mideast Regionals. This weekend, Crawford and the rest of the Panthers will journey out east to compete in the Havelock Duals.

Orange’s Xandrell Pennix & Mason Robinson discuss basketball win at Eastern Alamance

Win or lose on Wednesday night, the Orange men’s basketball team would arrive at the halfway point of its conference schedule once they finished its game against Eastern Alamance. They would either leave Mebane with a 4-2 record or go 3-3 into the second half of the Central Carolina Conference schedule. Once again, Coleman Cloer proved to be the closer as Orange defeated Eastern Alamance 67-56 at Tal Jobe Gymnasium in Mebane. It was Orange’s first win over the Eagles in Mebane in over 20 years. Xandrell Pennis finished with 10 points, including three 3-pointers in the first half. Freshman center Mason Robinson played almost the entire second half and had key offensive rebounds. Robinson stuck in the final field goal of the first half to keep Orange within two points at the break. He finished with five of the Panthers’ seven bench points. The Panthers will get the rest of the week off with a 4-2 record in the Central Carolina Conference. All four of the victories were on the road. They’re only one game behind Person for second place. The Panthers will resume its season on Tuesday when they face Western Alamance in Hillsborough.