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So far, the closest thing Katie Belle Sikes has had to an in-person class at Orange High was freshman orientation last summer. But she’s already made her mark in swimming. Last weekend, Sikes, a freshman, finished 2nd in the 50 Yard Freestyle during the 3A State Swimming and Diving Championships at Pullen Aquatic Center in Raleigh. On February 6, Sikes won the 3A Central Regional Championship in the 50 Yard Freestyle at the Greensboro Aquatic Center with a time of 23.31 seconds. In the state championships, Sikes finished at 23.26 seconds, behind only Olivia Rhodes, a senior from Charlotte Catholic. In the Central Regional Championships, Sikes joined Riley White, Brooke Walker and Melissa Campbell to finish 5th in the 200 Yard Medley Relay. White also qualified for the state championships on Orange’s 400 yard Freestyle Relay team, joining senior Abby Dease, senior Calla Walker and Riley White. If you’ve been to the Orange County Sportsplex, chances are you’ve seen Sikes working out in the pool. She’s a constant in the water, whether its swimming in meets with Orange or with the Hillsborough Aquatic Club. We’ll have a complete profile of Sikes coming up this weekend on the website.

Marvin Jones: The former Cedar Ridge star captured the high jump championship in this weekend’s Camel City Invite in Winston-Salem. Jones’ jump of 2.10 meters, two inches better than runner-up Tony Jones of Wake Forest. Jones matches his career-best leap. In four indoor events this season, Jones has now won the high jump twice and finished second twice. At the JDL January Kickoff in Winston-Salem, Jones had a jump of 2.06 meters, good enough for 1st place. UNC Pembroke’s Bradley Thompson finished second at 1.96 meters.

Jamar Davis: The 2018 Orange High graduate has started his junior season with the N.C. State track and field team. On January 16, Davis opened the indoor campaign with a fifth-place finish in the long jump at the Gamecock Opener at the University of South Carolina. His best jump was 23-feet, 7.25 inches. At the Hokie Invitational at Virginia Tech, Davis finished 6th with a leap of 7.08 meters.

Mia Davidson: As she starts her senior season at Mississippi State, Mia Davidson has been named a 2nd-team All-American by Justin’s World of Softball. A 2019 All-American, Davidson is a lifetime .369 hitter in Starkville. he holds Mississippi State’s career leading for home runs with 52, and slugging percentage at .789. In 2019, Davidson set the school and Southeastern Conference record with 26 home runs on her way to a school-record .882 slugging percentage.

Her junior season was limited to 21 games because of the pandemic. She hit .330 with a .659 slugging percentage.

Montana Davidson: Montana, Mia’s older sister, will return for her senior season with the Bulldogs. Mississippi State starts its season with a doubleheader against Miami (Ohio) on Friday.

Tori Dalehite: The former Big 8 Hitter of the Year will start her freshman season at UNC Greensboro on February 12. The Spartans face North Carolina at the Carolina Classic at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. During the three-day event, UNC-G will also face Louisville and South Carolina.

Grace Andrews: Fate has a funny way of working in college sports. In Grace Andrews’ first softball game at Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, she faced Patrick Henry Community College, featuring Andrews’ longtime teammate at Orange, Jaden Hurdle. In fact, Hurdle and Andrews comprised the right side of Orange’s infield when they defeated Piedmont to win the 2017 3A State Championship. So naturally, for Andrews first at-bat for the Red Hawks, the pitcher she faced was Hurdle–in the 8th inning of a tie game. Andrews lifted a sacrifice fly to score Lillie Pennington as the Red Hawks won 4-3 in the opening game of the Catawba Valley Clash in Hickory.

In the second game, Catawba Valley defeated Surry Community Center 7-0. Andrews, playing shortstop, went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a triple and a run scored.

On January 30, the Montreat junior varsity defeated Catawba Valley 8-7 in eight innings in the opening day of a doubleheader. Andrews, starting at shortstop again, went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

In the second game, Catawba Valley shut out Cleveland Community College 9-0. Andrews went 0-for-1 with a walk.

Through four games, Andrews is hitting .500.

Wyatt Jones: The former Orange High midfielder and starting quarterback quietly made history over the weekend. Jones became the first Orange lacrosse player to play as a member of a Division I college team. The Mercer Bears defeated the Division II Lenoir-Rhyne Bears 17-4 at Five Star Stadium in Macon, Georgia. Jones entered the game as a reserve in the fourth quarter. Jones was named to the All-State team as Orange ended the 2020 campaign ranked #3 before it abruptly ended because of the pandemic. He was also a member of the Carolina Hilltoppers summer travel team coached by Franklin and Chandler Zirkle. On Saturday, Jones will sorta come home when Mercer faces #1 Duke at Koskinen Stadium in Durham.

Dylan Boyer: During the summer, Boyer signed with Division II Queens University in Charlotte men’s lacrosse. Boyer, who graduated from Orange in June, is slated to start his college career on February 20 when Queens travels to Mount Olive.

Jaylin Jones: A former Orange High midfielder and safety, Jones will start his senior season at Division II Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse on Saturday when the Falcons host Centenary.

Luke Hernandez: A former defenseman at Cedar Ridge, Hernandez will start his junior season with the Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team, as well.

Aidan Poole: Last week, the Division III USA South Athletic Conference announced they will have a spring season, despite the pandemic. That means Poole, formerly of Cedar Ridge, will suit up for the Greensboro College Pride. Poole, a sophomore, played in seven games last season for Greensboro. He scored goals against Guilford and Chatham and recorded an assist against Hampton, which turned out to be the season-finale.

For the first time since 2015, the Orange volleyball team has defeated Chapel Hill. The Lady Panthers, playing its first game of the season on December 1, topped the Tigers 3-1 on Tuesday night in a Panther Gymnasium limited to only junior varsity players and Orange staff. Sophomore middle blocker Erin Jordan-Cornell had several huge kills during the third set, including back-to-back finishes that evened the sore at 10. From there, Orange never trailed again in the match. Senior outside hitter Chloe Riley, a co-captain, started and had several important kills in the first set, which saw seven lead changes before Orange rallied from a 23-20 deficit to win 26-25. Orange will host Southern Durham on Thursday before traveling to undefeated Cedar Ridge for Hillsborough Heat on Friday night.

Well, this whole “not have a game stuff” certainly puts it all into perspective, doesn’t it?

Too much perspective, if you ask me.

(Ed. note: in the interest of fairness, that quote is from “This is Spinal Tap.” I don’t have an ear for most modern pop culture references, and Spinal Tap is old but timeless)

The most amazing thing regarding the coronavirus pandemic is how quickly the spring sports landscape in Hillsborough, and everywhere else, went from rich to barren. On March 10, the Orange baseball team beat East Chapel Hill. The following day, they were taking batting practice preparing for the second game of the series on Friday.

No one had any idea that, in all likelihood, it would be their final practice together. Or that the North Carolina High School Athletic Association would suspend the spring sports season less than 24 hours later.

When you’re a senior in high school, things are never as final as they seem. Many of the students who will graduate in the Smith Center in June (if they’re allowed to) will eventually live in Orange County or somewhere near it. Many of them will continue to carry friendships with people they’ll turn the tassels with, hopefully closer than five feet apart.

Yet the Class of 2020 will hold a unique place in history, but locally and abroad. Especially those that play spring sports.

Hopefully all of them live a long, rich life. And when they get to my age, they can look back and talk about their incomplete senior year. Every other athlete in the history of Orange and Cedar Ridge had the chance to succeed or do otherwise, based on their own abilities.

With each passing day, it feels like the Class of 2020 won’t be able to even say that. Their chance was taken away by an invisible enemy that has shut down everyday life like nothing we’ve seen before it. And hopefully never will again.

Last Saturday night, I received a DM from a friend who graduated with me from Orange in 1991. She asked if I was doing OK. Like many freelancers, I depend on games to make ends meet and the media paradigm isn’t as steady as it once was. I didn’t have a good answer for her because, after 30 years of covering sports, this is all so new to me.

As I’ve written before, high school sports has usually carried on through even the worst disasters, locally and nationally. Three days after 9/11, I was doing play-by-play for Northern Durham at J.F. Webb in Oxford. It may have been the most numb atmosphere for a game I’ve ever seen (especially since Northern won 67-0), but they still played. Well, at least Northern did.

The last thing anyone should do is feel bad for me.

But here’s who I do feel bad for:

Braden Thompson and Braxton Mergenthal: They’re senior lacrosse players at Cedar Ridge. When Thompson was a freshman, the Red Wolves defeated Chapel Hill 11-8 to win the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional Championship. They became the first lacrosse team from Hillsborough to play for a state championship in lacrosse. Mergenthal was a defenseman who helped the Red Wolves shut out Roxboro Community School 16-0 in the season opener. It appeared Cedar Ridge was set to battle Orange for the Conference 9 Championship.

Wyatt Jones, Noah Davis and the rest of the seniors on the Orange lacrosse team: Orange tied the best start in school history last Friday at 6-0. Orange coach Chandler Zirkle approached the game with a sense of finality, which appears to be prescient. Jones is the first lacrosse player from Orange to commit to a Division I school. Hopefully next spring, Mercer won’t have its season interrupted like the rest of the spring sports teams, high school and college, did this year.

Cameron Hartley, Chris Pearce, Grant Fox and Fransisco Martinez: The Cedar Ridge baseball team is a young one, but Coach Bryson Massey got a win over The Burlington School on March 6. It wasn’t easy. It was a blustery night and Martinez got some big outs while wind gusts of 25-miles-per-hour swirled around him. I hope Martinez, Hartley, Fox and Pearce all get a chance to play again.

Joey Berini: Somehow, it would be prophetic if Joey Berini’s last game at Orange is the East Chapel Hill one from March 10. That would mean that Berini hit a grand slam in his last official at-bat. (He drew a walk in his final plate appearance in the sixth inning, but that doesn’t count as an at-bat.) Joey has started at Orange for four years at shortstop. I’ve interviewed him about eight times and he’s never cracked a smile once. He also isn’t known for long answers. Our last discussion was one minute and 37 seconds, mainly comprised of me filling up time with run-on sentences. Joey was always high on production even when he was low on words. Hopefully East Carolina beat writers will enjoy his production as much as Orange fans have.

Dayne Watkins: In Orange’s first game of the year, Dayne injured his hamstring running out a ground ball against Western Alamance. He was set to play again last week against East Chapel Hill, which never happened. Dayne also kindly asked me for a video interview despite not playing the past three games. Dayne, we’ll do that soon. What else am I going to do, watch March Madness?

Emma Roby: Taking the place of a three-year starter is not easy. Emma replaced Kymberlie Thacker as catcher for Cedar Ridge’s softball team and was off to a solid start. Thacker had a .370 career batting average with seven home runs and 57 RBIs. Roby went 2-for-4 in her first game against Cardinal Gibbons, an 11-7 Cedar Ridge win.

Cailyn Thornton: A starter for Cedar Ridge in right field, she opened the year 6-for-12 with five RBIs. Also made the state playoffs as a volleyball player last fall. She deserved a chance to win another Big 8 Conference Championship in softball.

Alyssa and Rachel Serre: Two more Cedar Ridge softball seniors who finally had a chance to start together for the first time at the varsity level.

Grace Andrews: As a freshman, she started at 2nd base for Orange’s 3A state championship team. Maybe Grace doesn’t need anyone weeping for her, after all. But she did deserve a chance to finish her career with a chance to win a conference title, one that Orange tied Cedar Ridge for last year. She already had two.

Maddy Bartlett and Rachel Tilley: Orange’s softball team was already dealt a tough hand with season-ending injuries to three infielders before practice started. Yet Bartlett and Tilley fought through all that to propel Orange past East Chapel Hill 10-8 on March 10, despite trailing 7-1. I know Maddy’s cousins, Mia and Montana Davidson, were proud in Starkville, MS.

And the list goes on and on. There are women’s soccer players. Men’s tennis players. Track & field athletes. All of whom are sidelined by something they can’t even envision.

Two weeks ago, I was out in the freezing cold at Cedar Ridge Softball Field to do play-by-play for Cedar Ridge vs. West Johnston. It was 49 degrees at first pitch and it only grew worse with 25-mile-per-hour winds. It was as if I had never left Appalachian State.

In the midst of all this, I though to myself “This is a weird way to make a living.”

Now, as I finish writing this in 70-degree temperatures on a calm night at the American Tobacco Campus, I can honestly say I can’t wait to feel that weird again.

The Orange baseball team won its Big 8 Conference opener over East Chapel Hill on Tuesday night. Catcher Ethan Guentensberger went 2-for-4 with 4 RBIs as the Panthers won 9-4 at Panther Baseball Field. In the bottom of the third inning with the Panthers trailing 1-0, Guentensberger lined a two-out single to right field to score Bryce Clark and Will Walker. That hit led to shortstop Joey Berini sending a grand slam over the centerfield wall. In the sixth inning, Guentensberger sent a double to right centerfield to score Walker and Connor Funk for Orange’s final runs of the game. Ethan is the younger brother of former Orange right fielder Colin Guentensberger, who is now a walk-on linebacker at Appalachian State. Ethan has started four games at catcher so far this season for the Panthers. Coming into Tuesday’s game, Guentensberger had walked six times and has been hit by pitches twice. Orange will travel to East Chapel Hill on Friday afternoon.

Lauren Cates: The Wake Tech women’s basketball team won the Region X Tournament Championship over Louisburg College 86-59 at Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville, VA on Saturday. It is the first championship in program history. Wake Tech, who entered the tournament as the #3 seed, won three games in three days. They opened with a victory over USC-Salkehatchie 88-65 on Thursday. The Eagles knocked off 2nd-seeded Cape Fear Community College 76-57. Cates, a freshman who graduated from Orange in June, will accompany the Eagles to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Tournament starting March 17 at SC4 Fieldhouse in Port Huron, MI.

Icez Barnett: The Division II Chowan women’s basketball team had its season end in the opening round of the Conference Carolinas Tournament. On Tuesday, Belmont Abbey defeated the Hawks 87-37 in Belmont. Barnett started for Chowan and played eight minutes. In her freshman season, Barnett played 19 games with four starts. She averaged 9.4 minutes per game and scored 39 points. Barnett averaged 2.4 rebounds per game. Chowan finished 6-21 overall, 6-16 in Conference Carolinas.

Marvin Jones: At the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships in Landover, MD, Jones earned the bronze medal in the high jump for North Carolina Central. Jones cleared 2.05 meters. North Carolina Central’s men’s team finished eighth with 23 points, its best showing since 2013. Jones concluded the indoor season with three individual championships.

Jamar Davis: At the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships at Notre Dame’s Loftus Sports Center, Davis finished seventh in the long jump at 7.37 meters. Davis, a sophomore, finished 20th in the triple jump at 13. 39 meters.

Jonathan Hall: At the Southern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships in Lexington, VA, former Cedar Ridge star Jonathan Hall had a new personal best in the 60-meter hurdles. Competing for Wofford, Hall finished 7th at 8.51 seconds. Hall earned two points for the Terriers’ team standings.

Bowen Collins: The Lenoir-Rhyne men’s lacrosse team, ranked #17 in Division II, defeated #3 Adelphi 17-16 at Moretz Stadium in Hickory on March 1. It was the second-highest opponent the Bears have ever defeated. Collins assisted on a goal scored by LR’s Toron Eccleston that tied the game 11-11 in the third quarter. The Bears are 4-1.

Zach Wright: The Division II Mars Hill men’s lacrosse team is 3-4. On February 29, Lander defeated the Lions 23-10 inside Van Tyler Stadium in Greenwood, S.C. Wright, a senior who graduated from Orange, scored a goal and had an assist. He finished with three shots, two on goal. On Saturday, Catawba defeated Mars Hill 13-4 in Salisbury.

Aidan Poole: A sophomore for the Division III Greensboro College men’s lacrosse team, the Pride defeated Randolph College 16-5 on Saturday. Poole started on defense for Greensboro and had two ground balls and created one turnover. On Thursday, Greensboro defeated Chatham University 12-5. Once again, Poole started and scored his second goal of the season in the first period off an assist from Patrick Bell. Poole finished with two shots, three ground balls and created one turnover. Greensboro is 4-3 and will host Hampton on Wednesday afternoon at 2.

Luke Hernandez: The Division III Pfeiffer men’s lacrosse team scored 13 goals in the first half to blast Averett University 23-6 at Lefko Field in Misenheimer on Saturday. It was the Falcons USA South Athletic Conference opener. Hernandez, who graduated from Cedar Ridge last summer, created two turnovers and scooped up two ground balls for Pfeiffer.

Jaylin Jones: Jones, who graduated from Orange in 2018, is also a member of the Pfeiffer lacrosse team as a midfielder. He had a ground ball in the win over Averett. On Wednesday, Southern Virginia defeated Pfeiffer 23-14. Against the Knights, Jones had two ground balls and created one turnover. The Falcons are 2-3 overall.

Stanford and Stanback wrestling: While the Orange wrestling team’s string of dominance in the Big 8 Conference ended last week, the Stanford Chargers’ run continues. In front of a large crowd inside Charger Gymnasium, Stanford defeated Stanback 51-45 on Friday afternoon. The victory completed the Chargers’ 20th consecutive Orange-Person Athletic Conference championship and its 18th straight undefeated regular season. Earlier in January, the Chargers defeated the Bulldogs by one point at Stanback.

Five Stanford wrestlers completed undefeated seasons. Wyatt Hedrick scored a pin at 85 pounds. At 92 pounds, Kale Womble earned an 11-4 decision to give Stanford an 15-0 lead. Jared Hutchins pinned his opponent in 31 seconds at 108 pounds. Josh Cowan completed a perfect regular season with a pinfall victory in 2:00 at 115 pounds. At 134 pounds, Jace Womble earned a pin in 3:10.

Unlike the matchup on January 10, Stanford got off to a strong start, winning the first three matches. Luke Stitz earned a pin to open the match at 76 pounds. Wyatt Hedrick picked up a forfeit win at 86 pounds, which was followed by Kale Womble’s victory to put Stanford ahead 15-0.

Stanback’s Pierce Prescod, who won his match against Stanford in their initial meeting, scored a pin in 90 seconds on Friday. Then the Chargers reeled off consecutive pins from Hutchins and Cowan. The tightest match of the day came at 122 pounds, where Stanford’s Luke Nevius defeated Stanback’s Abinijah Lewis 9-7 in overtime.

Stanford’s Colton Jones claimed a 7-3 decision for a victory at 128 pounds.

For Stanback, Kaden Tatro earned a pin at 140 pounds in 2:20. Marcos Esparza squeezed out a 7-5 decision at 162 pounds. At 172 pounds, Joe O’Melia scored a pin in 20 seconds. Marcos McNeil picked up a forfeit win at 184 pounds. Stanback’s Carlos Vera de Lara pinned his opponent at 197 pounds in 2:00 minutes to reduce Stanford’s lead to 51-33.

At 222, Stanback’s Kellan McMullen won via forfeit. He completed his own perfect regular season at 11-0.

At 154 pounds, Stanford’s Sasha Van Praag earned a pin in 50 seconds, which turned out to be the final win of the day for the Chargers. The Chargers’ Luciano Grimaldo also earned a pin in 30 seconds. Colton Jones earned a 7-3 decision for the Chargers at 128 pounds.

The Orange-Person Athletic Conference Tournament will take place on Saturday.

On January 29, Stanback defeated Gravelly Hill 84-24. Among the winners for the Bulldogs: Flavio Jaramillo Esparza via pinfall (78 pounds), Gavin Stone (85 pounds), Tommy Heckler (92, via a forfeit), Prescod, Zoey Morendo (108 pounds), Oguntoyinbo, Ryan Rakouskas, Juan Estrada Parra (128, via pinfall), Edwin Hernandez Huerta (who finished the season at 9-2 at 134 pounds), Tatro (ended the year 12-0), Esparza (162, who claimed a forfeit win and is now 10-0), O’Meila (10-1 on the year), McNeil, and McMullen.

Gravelly Hill boys basketball: The Gravelly Hill Grizzles claimed the OPAC Northern Division championship by beating Northern Roxboro 46-28 in Person County last Thursday. Landon Dalehite led the Grizzlies with 23 points, a career-high. Kai Wade added 12. Sincere Hanner had five. Nathan Sorrells added four and Crawford Farmer had two. The Grizzlies will complete the regular season against McDougle on Tuesday in Efland, they play in the OPAC Championship game at a time to be determined.

Stanford girls basketball: The Lady Chargers defeated Southern Roxboro 30-19 in Hillsborough on January 28. Evelyn George led the Chargers with eleven points. Shannon Murphy added five. Katie Wolter and Dyreshia Farrish each had four. Olivia Jones scored three, and Samiya Baldwin scored two.

Stanford defeated Northern Roxboro 36-27 on January 30.

Orange senior Grace Andrews scored 14 points in the Lady Panthers’ 54-40 win over Cedar Ridge at Red Wolves Gymnasium on Friday night. She scored 12 points in the second half as Orange improved to 10-8, 4-6 in the Big 8 Conference. In previous years, Andrews didn’t have to score in order for Orange to put together wins. But this season, Orange has lost Mary Moss Wirt, Jarmil Wingate, and freshman center Erin Jordan-Cornell, in addition to the four senior starters who graduated last June. Andrews had 15 points against East Chapel Hill in Hillsborough, and followed with eleven points in Vance County on Tuesday night. Andrews and the rest of the Lady Panthers will host Big 8 leader Northwood on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. 

At the turn of the year, the Orange men’s basketball team essentially started over.

Center Machai Holt was dismissed from the team on January 3 after a sensational start to the season. He was Orange’s leading rebounder and was the spark plug behind a 7-1 start, the best stretch of Panther basketball since winning the Big 8 regular season championship in 2016-17.

Holt’s teammates learned of his departure mere hours before a long road trip to Vance County. Many of his classmates had played with Holt since they were in 5th grade and were stunned. That shock carried over to the court, where the Vipers romped to a 31-3 lead and cruised to a 74-57 win.

Without Holt, they were a different team. After a disappointing homestand where the Panthers lost three consecutive games last week, the new version of Orange can say definitively they’re making progress after upsetting Chapel Hill earlier this week.

Though Southern Durham defeated Orange 88-70 on Friday night at Spartan Gymnasium, the Panthers fought all the way against a more talented and experienced group led by former Orange Coach Greg Motley. Spartan senior Ricky Council, who is being recruited by Cincinnati, UNC Greensboro and Elon, scored 28 points to lead the Spartans (10-3, 4-1 in the Big 8 Conference). Ahmad Hamilton added 26, including 14 points in the third quarter.

Unlike losses to Vance County and Northwood, Orange didn’t back down despite a barrage of highlight reel ally-oops and 3-pointers from Southern. Joey McMullin scored 24 points while junior Jason Franklin added 21. It was Franklin’s highest total since he scored 27 against Southern Alamance on December 6 in Graham.

The Spartans hit ten 3-pointers in the first half, yet Orange only trailed 26-20 at the end of the first quarter. McMullin scored nine points in the second quarter to keep things close, but Southern’s T.J. Richardson had 11 of his 15 points in the 2nd to help the Spartans build a 15-point halftime lead.

Orange junior Kyle Stanley had a career-high 12 points, and likely would have had more if it hadn’t collected three fouls by the 6:08 mark of the second quarter. Without Holt and Stanley, the Panthers didn’t have any rim protectors and the Spartans had open season along the offensive glass.

None of which was lost on Orange coach Derryl Britt, who wasn’t discouraged by his team’s performance.

“I was really happy with the effort,” Britt said. “The guys fought. We didn’t stop playing. We knew what we were coming into. Southern’s really athletic, they have one of the best players in the state. And he’s surrounded by some pretty good basketball players. It was good to see our guys fight and execute against a quality basketball team.”

It is Southern’s seventh straight win over Orange. The Panthers last defeated the Spartans on Connor Crabtree’s running-one hander with :05 remaining to win 80-79 on January 27, 2017.

Orange is now halfway through its conference schedule, one that started with a 50-point win over East Chapel Hill. But that was the old Orange team, and glances backward will only lead to steps backward at this point. McMullin, a senior, hasn’t been to the state playoffs since his freshman year when Orange advanced to the state quarterfinals. No one else on the team has sniffed the state playoffs.

They will work the next three weeks trying to get there. Orange enters a week off and won’t take the floor again until they face the same East Chapel Hill team next Friday, one that won’t forget what happened to them before Christmas.

Britt just wants to keep building.

“We know we’re trying to get back to playing a brand of basketball that’s going to work for us,” Britt said. “Some teams are more physical than us, and Southern is one of them. There are some things we could have done better tonight. We will bounce back and we’re so looking forward to next week.”

SOUTHERN DURHAM 88, ORANGE 70

ORANGE: J.J. Thompson 4, Jason Franklin 21, Kyle Stanley 12, Joey McMullin 24, Hunter Birch 2, Tucker Miller 2, Kendrell Brooks 5.

SOUTHERN DURHAM: T.J. Richardson 15, Ricky Council 28, Ahmad Hamilton 26, Xavier Sorenson 10, Jaybron Harvey 2, Alex Phelps 5, Todd Wall 2.