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It was the final swim inside the pool at the Orange County Sportsplex for Orange senior Katie Belle Sikes on Wednesday night. Sikes started swimming at the Sportsplex when she was seven years old. She had no idea at that time what was ahead–three individual state championships, five regional championships and a scholarship to swim at the University of Georgia. On Thursday night, Sikes was named the Central Conference Female Swimmer of the Year after she won three conference championships. She captured the 100 yard freestyle and the 200 yard freestyle. She won the 200 with a time of 1:53.92. In the 100, Sikes touched the wall at 50.81 seconds. Sikes also teamed with Riley White, Ainsley Rasinske and Piper White to win the 200 yard freestyle relay. Sikes, White, Rasinske and White won the state championship in the same event in 2023. Sikes is the defending 3A State Champion in the 50 yard and 100 yard freestyle. She has won the state championship in the 50 yard in 2022 and 2023. The Orange women’s team won the Central Conference championship on Wednesday night with 444 points. Now, Sikes will focus on the Central Regional Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center next Saturday. Sikes has won the last three regional championships in the 50 yard freestyle.

The Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team is in position to reach the 3A State Playoffs for the first time since 2018. The Red Wolves are 9-6 as they prepare to face Walter Williams in Burlington on Friday night. The Red Wolves defeated crosstown rival Orange last Wednesday behind 35 points from Amiyah Ware, which was the most points any player from Orange County has scored so far this year, regardless of gender. Last Monday, the Red Wolves defeated Chatham Central 46-35 at Red Wolves Gymnasium in its final nonconfernce game of the regular season. Ware led the Red Wolves with 17 points. Freshman Calla Lundberg, who was called up from the junior varsity team last month, chipped in with nine points as the Red Wolves reached nine wins in a season for the first time in six years. Lundberg and Kate Finnegan were both moved up to varsity before Christmas and have provided an immediate contribution. Cedar Ridge is only one game behind Orange, Western Alamance and Eastern Alamance for first place in the Central Conference as the second half of the conference campaign starts next week. Ware, who signed to play with Division II North Greenville, is having another All-Conference season. She scored 24 points in a loss to Eastern Alamance on Friday.

Last month, Coltin and Wyatt Hedrick each signed letters of intent to play baseball at Wake Technical Community College. In 2023, the Orange baseball team won its third consecutive conference championship and they did it with their depth. The Panthers top two pitchers were injured for lengthy period of time, which forced all hands to be on deck against a challenging schedule. Coltin Hedrick, who was a junior last year, earned the win in relief against Walter Williams on March 24 in Hillsborough. Hedrick threw four-and-two-thirds innings to close out a 1-0 Panther win. He struck out four and allowed just one hit. The win would eventually propel the Panthers to the Central Conference championship. Wyatt Hedrick shared time with Cross Clayton at second base. The most memorable moment for Wyatt came in the second round of the 3A State Playoffs when Orange trailed Triton 8-3 going into the bottom of the tenth inning. Hedrick reached base twice during a six-run tenth inning. In his first trip, he walked and eventually scored when Ryan Hench was hit by a pitch. Moments after Neo Best tied the game at 8-8 with a bases-loaded walk, Hedrick delivered the game-winning hit with a single up the middle to complete the greatest comeback in school history. In that state playoff game, Wyatt went 3-for-5 with an RBI. Wyatt and Coltin will be instrumental parts for Orange this spring as it aims to repeat as Central Conference champions. The baseball season will start for Orange on February 28 against Northern Durham at Panther Field.

The Orange women’s basketball team has had three close games to open its Central Conference season with three big wins. On Friday night, the Panthers held on to defeat Walter Williams 46-44 at Panther Gymnasium. After Williams built a six-point lead early in the third quarter, Orange went on a 20-4 run behind balanced scoring from Evelyn George, Maura McMurtry, Shannon Murphy and Mariah Poole. George scored off a strip and steal and scored on a lay-in with 1:06 remaining in the third quarter. McMurtry started the fourth quarter with a three-pointer, followed by another lay-in from Georgia with 6:37 remaining in regulation, Orange’s final field goal of the game. McMurtry finished with nine pints and three assists while Addie Atkins had eight points and seven rebounds. Orange is atop the Central Conference with a 3-0 record with wins over Southern Alamance and Western Alamance. During the Southeast Alamance Holiday Hoopla Tournament in the final days of 2023, McMurtry was named to the All-Tournament team after she scored 12 points in a 48-39 win over Eastern Alamance in the 7th place game. Murphy also scored 12 points for Orange, who won despite not having George in the lineup. The Lady Panthers, under first-year head coach Lemont Jones, are 8-4 and goes into the Cedar Ridge game on a three-game winning streak.

Women’s basketball: Orange 34, Southern Alamance 31 In a new world within the Central Conference with Northwood now in the 2A ranks, Orange relied on one of its leaders for a last-minute rally against Southern Alamance.

Junior Evelyn George put Orange ahead after two free throws with :15 remaining to lead the Lady Panthers past the Patriots 34-31 in Hillsborugh on Thursday night. Southern Alamance led 31-28 with 1:48 remaining, but Orange scored the final six points in a game that was statistically incredible.

Orange sophomore Maura McMurtry scored 16 points to lead all scorers. George finished with 14 points, eight steals and four rebounds.  Morgan Isley paced Southern Alamance with 14 points.

Things looked good for the Patriots when Isley scored on a transition lay-in off a pass from Madison Brouillard with 1:46 remaining to increase Southern Alamance’s lead to 31-28. Following an Orange timeout, McMurtry took a pass from George and drained a strightaway three-pointer to tie the game. The Patriots missed two free throws on its subsequent possession. As George got the rebound under her own basket, she was fouled.

After George converted the free throws that proved to be the margin of victory, she stole the Patriots inbounds pass and added an insurance point from the line with seven seconds remaining.

The game had ten lead changes. Neither team led by more than five points.

The Lady Panthers won despite making just one two-point field goal the entire game. George scored on a stickback basket with 7:36 remaining in the second quarter. Orange shot 1-for-15 from 2-point range and just 19% from the field. Yet they finished 7-of-26 from 3-point range and 11-of-20 from the foul line, which was the game’s biggest difference.

The Patriots shot 5-of-17 from the stripe, 2-of-10 in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Panthers, under new head coach Lemont Jones, are 5-2 and have won four of its last five. They will play Northwest Guilford for its holiday tournament starting December 28.

Wrestling: Orange 42, Person 30: 

The Orange wrestling team scored six pins to defeat Person in Hillsborough on Wednesday night for its second Central Conference win of the season.

After dropping the opening 150-pound match, Orange scored four straight victories, including three pins. At 157 pounds, Andrew Pavalonis scored a 11-7 decision over Addison Carey for his second victory of the season. Then Conner Harward pinned Mason Grace at 165 pounds.

Orange’s Andre Hill defeated Davis Garrett to improve to 15-1 on the year. It was Hill’s 12th pin this year. He has individual tournament wins at the Jim King/Orange Invitational and at the Joe Via Memorial at South Stokes High School in Walnut Cove

Jayden Medley, in his first year as a starter, pinned Malakai Newman to put Orange ahead 21-6. Person’s Gavin Jones and all-conference selection Trevquan Gary each scored pins for Person at 215 and 285, respectively, narrowing Orange’s lead to 21-18.

That’s as close as Person would get. At 106 pounds, Chris Winstead improved to 12-5 by pinning Ryan Wilson in 4:16. Winstead has scored pins in six of his last nine matches going into the Eagle Invitational in Mebane.

Logan Scarantino held off Aydon Dymes of Person 12-10 at 113 pounds, putting Orange ahead 30-18. After Person’s Tavern Moss earned an 11-6 decision over Adrain Sierra, Orange junior Braeden Crawford pinned Gavin Campbell at 126 pounds. Crawford, who won his first JKO Invitational title earlier this month, improved to 14-1 with his eighth pin of the year.

Jamee Farmer kept Person’s faint hopes alive with a pin over Jackson Runkle at 138 pounds. But Orange’s Jared Hutchins ensured the Panthers win its a pin over Emanuel Garcia. Hutchins improved to 14-3 with eleven pins this season.

In dual matches, Orange is 3-6, 2-2 in the Central Conference. They will return to action with its traditional pre-Christmas Trip to the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School on Friday. The tournament will conclude on Saturday.

It’s just the second week of high school swimming season and it’s already been a busy one for Katie Belle Sikes.

Last week, in her opening meet of her senior season at Orange at the Orange County Sportsplex, Sikes qualified for regionals in the 50 yard freestyle, where she is the two-time defending 3A State Champion. She also qualified in the 100 yard freestyle, a state championship she won last year, as well. She also qualified for regionals with Riley White, Piper White and Ainsley Rasinske in the 4×50 medley relay and the 4×100 yard medley relay. Sikes, White, Rasinske and White won the 4×50 state championship last year, the first relay team in Orange High history to win a state championship.

Orange defeated Southeast Alamance and Southern Alamance to win their opening dual meets of the year.

This weekend, Sikes took her considerable talents to the Speedo World Junior Championships. Competing at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on the campus of Ohio State University, Sikes finished second in the 50 yard freestyle among the East Region at 21.95 seconds. Sikes competed for her club team, East Carolina Aquatics, coached by Claudio Battaglini.

Only Julie Mishler of Syracuse, Indiana, who has committed to swim at the University of Louisville, finished ahead of Sikes at 21.87 seconds.

Sikes time in the 50 freestyle was also faster than everyone in the West Region except one swimmer. The West Region championships were held in Westmont, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, over the weekend.

In addition to her silver medal, Sikes also competed in the 100 freestyle at the World Junior Championships. She finished fifth in the 100 freestyle at 48.93 seconds. Sikes was one of only two competitors to finish in the top five in both the 50 and 100 yard freestyle. Jillian Crooks of North Carolina won the 100 meters after finishing 4th in the 50 yard.

Sikes also competed in the 100 yard butterfly, where she finished 21st.

Last month, Sikes formally committed to compete at the University of Georgia, a school that has won seven national championships in women’s swimming. She is the first female swimmer to win a state championship in Orange High history.

As a freshman, she won the Central Regional championship in the 50 yard freestyle and finished second in the 2021 state championships, which were contested in the midst of a pandemic. She has won the 2022 and 2023 3A State Championship in the 50 yard freestyle.

Sikes made the move to East Carolina Aquatics, where Battaglini put more of an emphasis on high school swimming. It led to Sikes being named the Most Outstanding Female Swimmer of the 2023 3A State Championships, where she won two individual state championships, along with the relay state title.

Photo by Genesis Garcia 

Rice can now beat Texas in football.

Clemson basketball can win the ACC Tournament.

Vanderbilt can play in the SEC Championship game against Alabama next year. Provided their quarterback is healthy, of course.

That’s because Cedar Ridge wrestling has beaten Orange. And it really wasn’t that close.

It would have been unthinkable to write those words five years ago. Orange wrestling has been the most consistent athletic program at the school, winning 19 conference championships in the last 20 years and five state championships since 2005.

The Red Wolves scored pins in eight of the 14 matches to beat the Panthers 54-21 on Wednesday night at Cedar Ridge High School. Orange, which has won three straight conference titles since falling to Chapel Hill in 2020 just before the COVID-19 pandemic, is 3-6 overall, 1-2 in the Central Conference.

While the win was a historic moment for Cedar Ridge, it wasn’t shocking to anyone paying attention to the middle school scene recently. Two years ago, Stanback defeated Orange Middle School to end the Chargers long winning streak, which spanned well over a decade. The Bulldogs head coach was Grant Gibson, who is now in his first season at Southeast Alamance High in Haw River.

Orange had to replace ten seniors from last year’s team that won the Central Conference title and advanced to the 3A Eastern Regional Final in the state playoffs, where they fell to Union Pines. The Red Wolves return seniors Kaden Tatro and James Este-Wittinger, both of whom qualified for the state championships last year. On top of that, Cedar Ridge won the Central Conference Tournament last year at Orange, after the Panthers had secured the regular season crown.

For Cedar Ridge coach Scott Metcalf, it was bittersweet. From 1999-2002, Metcalf wrestled at Orange under the tutelage of Bobby Shriner, the legendary coach who won over 500 dual matches and five state championships before retiring in 2017. Shriner, who now travels and works with the UNC wrestling program, was in attendance Wednesday night.

“This is huge,” Metcalf said.” They pounded us for years. I think it was something like 82-6 when we faced them the first year I was here. We’ve come a long way. We’ve had some ups and downs over the years. To progress, it takes some parents being committed and kids being committed. Everybody working together, a great athletic director and support from the staff.”

Cedar Ridge junior Pierce Prescod opened the night with a pin over Adrian Sierra in 1:33 at 120 pounds. Orange’s Braden Crawford, who won the 126 pound championship at the Jim King/Orange Invitational last weekend, pinned Nathan Vendura in 1:58 to even the match at 6-6.

Cedar Ridge’s Graylon Collins pinned Jackson Runkle in 1:33 to put the Red Wolves back in the lead, but Orange’s Jared Hutchins scored a pin at 138 pounds over Jordin Blue in 1:10 to square the dual match again.

The Red Wolves notched pins in four straight matches to take control. At 144 pounds, Alejandro Briones defeated Talan Pearly in 1:31. Senior Angus Pritchard pinned pinned Colton Jones in 31 seconds. Junior Ryan Rakouskas, who finished third in the Mideast Region in 2022, pinned Aye Zan in 31 seconds to put the Red Wolves ahead 30-12. Then Cedar Ridge’s Shea Spiller added another pinfall win over Connor Harward in 2:14.

Cedar Ridge senior James Este-Wittinger earned the win that ensured the Red Wolves first-ever victory over Orange. Este-Wittinger defeated Jayden Medley 10-4 to give the Red Wolves an insurmountable 48-12 lead with four matches remaining.

“Pierce, Kaden, James and Ryan have all been our strongest wrestlers this year,” Metcalf said. “They’ve really led by example and worked really hard. I think the guys really feed off their example.”

Cedar Ridge senior Kaden Tatro defeated Orange’s Andre Hill 13-8 at 175 pounds. In Cedar Ridge’s subsequent dual match against Rosewood, Tatro pinned Aldinio Previl in 3:19.

The Red Wolves are now 3-0 in the Central Conference following earlier wins over Person and Southern Alamance. Next week’s trip to Eastern Alamance will play a huge factor in the Red Wolves chances of winning a regular season conference championship for the first time since 2010, when they competed in the 2A Mid-State Conference.

“It would be huge,” Metcalf said. “We’ve always fallen short of making the playoffs. Last year, there were a bunch of teams from other conferences that made the playoffs that we beat. And we were sitting at home. It was kind of painful. It would be something special for us to finally make it.”

The Jim King/Orange Invitational is a staple during the opening weekend of December at Orange High School.

During a time of transition for the Orange wrestling team, the Panthers still crowned two individual champions on Saturday. At 126 pounds, junior Braden Crawford captured his first JKO championship.

In the most competitive championship match of a lengthy day, Orange senior Andre Hill earned his first JKO title at 170 pounds.

Crawford, whose sister Josie recently won a regional championship in volleyball for Orange, pinned Tiaj Thao of Davie County in the 126 pound championship match. Thao, the top-seed with a 11-0 record going into the final, shot in for the opening takedown. Crawford eluded Thao and gained his side, then pushed off his legs to put Thao on his back. Crawford scored the pin in 1:00.

Crawford, who is now 8-0 on the season, pinned East Chapel Hill’s Jackie Crozier of East Chapel Hill in 3:16 in the second round. In the quarterfinals, Crawford defeated Connor Herbert of Hough 7-2. Following a scoreless first period, Crawford gained three back points on a near fall to take a 6-2 lead midway through the third period. In the semifinals, Crawford held off Tremayne McNeely of Eastern Guilford 5-1. Crawford scored a takedown with 14 seconds remaining in the first period and never trailed again.

Hill, an offensive lineman for the Orange football team, had a hotly contested final against Giancarlo Evans of Hough. Evans led 2-1 at the end of the first period. On the coin toss to start the second period, Evans elected to start from the bottom. Hill struggled the entire period to gain the escape point to tie the match. Hill broke free, but Evans wrapped his arm around his leg to maintain contact. At first, the officials ruled Hill had not escaped, but changed course at the end of the period.

With things all square at 2-2 to begin the third, Evans got an escape. Hill gained Evans back with 1:04 remaining to take the lead, then held on for all he was worth to keep Evans from escaping. Hill’s grip was strong enough to gain the win 4-3. Hill, who was seeded #3, is 10-0.

In a tight team race, Eastern Guilford won the team title on the penultimate match of a long second day. In the 215 pound championship match, Xavier Wilson pinned Jiwaun Flemming of Pine Forest in 2:47 to earn the Wildcats six points.

Davie County could have tied the Wildcats in the final championship match of the day. At heavyweight, the War Eagles’ Ryder Strickland defeated Eastern Guilford’s Christopher Riley 3-1 in sudden victory, while only gave Davie County three points. Eastern Guilford won the team title with 264 points, while the War Eagles finished with 261.

Orange senior Jared Hutchins, who qualified for the state championships last year, finished 2nd at 138 pounds. Hutchins defeated Andrew Davis of Davie County 16-7, Jackson Rowling of Hough took a big lead early in the championship match, then held on to defeat Hutchins 6-4.

Hutchins pinned Cedell Alexander of Northern Durham in 2;50 of the second round. Hutchins scored a major decision over Andrew Matters of Cary 11-1 in the quarterfinals.

At 106 pounds, Orange senior Chris Winstead finished fifth, the only other Panther to place. Facing Tyron Grant of Pine Forest in the fifth place match, Winstead blocked a shot in the second period. He pinned Grant at 1:14.

The JKO also had a women’s event this year. Ava Lytle of Orange finished highest in the female tournament. She came in 2nd at 126 pounds. Alfa Dominguez of Cary won the final over Lytle 3-1 in the championship. At 165 pounds, Kode Phillips of Orange finished in fifth place. Millbrook was the women’s team championship with 137 points, barely holding off Wake County rival Cary, who had 134 points.

Life is never easy on the road in high school basketball. Just before Thanksgiving, the Orange men’s basketball team had to battle a humid new gymnasium at Northern Durham, 12 straight fouls called against them in the second half and the loss of their leading scorer in a victory over Northern Durham on November 22. Junior guard Xandrell Pennix drained two clutch 3-pointers, including one with :54 seconds remaining that put the Panthers ahead 57-53. Pennix drained his final two shots from downtown and finished with 14 points. Orange center Ryan Honeycutt led the Panthers with 17 points. He also had seven rebounds. Orange won the first varsity game inside the new Northern Durham Gymnasium. Kai Wade added ten points as Orange improved to 2-0 despite the loss of sophomore Coleman Cloer, who suffered a left ankle injury two weeks ago during practice. Orange suffered a tough loss to Riverside on Tuesday night in Hillsborough, dropping its record to 2-2. The Panthers will play Jordan coming up tonight (Thursday) at Falcon Gymnasium. It will be the fourth DAC-VII opponent that the Panthers have faced this season. Orange defeated Hillside in the opener. Hillsboroughsports.com will broadcast tonight’s game starting at 7 PM.

The Orange men’s basketball team’s season opener will go down as a classic. The Panthers defeated Hillside in front of a packed Orange High Gymnasium on Friday night. In a frantic final 15 seconds, Kai Wade tied the game with a 12-foot jumper with ten seconds remaining. As Hillside tried to inbound, Freddy Sneed poked the ball away. Sneed threw the ball to Xandrell Pennix, who found a wide-open Malachi Poole on the wing. Poole, who had not attempted a shot in the game, fired in a 3-pointer with two seconds remaining. The crowd rushed the floor as Orange defeated Hillside for the first time since 2009. Wade has been a spark plug on offense since he started his first varsity game as a freshman last year in Orange’s opener against East Chapel Hill. With the leading scorer from last year, Coleman Cloer, out for the Hillside game with a sprained ankle, Wade carried the load offensively for the Panthers scoring 18 points. Orange will go for its second win of the season tonight (Tuesday) when they trek to the new Northern Durham High School to face the Knights. It will be the first trip for Orange to the new Northern Durham High School.