Boys basketball: With two games remaining in the regular season, the Gravelly Hill Grizzlies are in first place in the Orange Person Athletic Conference Northern Division. On Thursday, the Grizzlies defeated the Stanback Bulldogs 45-27 in Hillsborough. Gravelly Hill is 8-1 overall, 6-0 in the OPAC. Landon Dalehite and Kai Wade led the Grizzlies with 14 points each. Hayden Kirk finished with eight. Crawford Farmer finished with four, D.J. Norman had three and Nathan Sorrells had two.

Gravelly Hill will travel to Northern Roxboro on Tuesday. They will conclude its regular season with a home game against McDougle Middle School in Efland.

Girls Basketball: On Wednesday, the Stanford Chargers defeated Stanback 40-13. It was a balanced effort for the Chargers, who put nine players in the scorers column. Shannon Murphy paced Stanford with eleven points. Evelyn George added seven Olivia Jones and Dyreshia Farrish each scored six. Samiya Baldwin, Karleigh Johnson, Caden Robinson, Katie Wolter and Kennady Winters each scored two points.

Stanford will return to action on Tuesday against Southern Roxboro. Tipoff will be at 4:45. The Chargers will travel to Northern Roxboro on Thursday at 4:45.

Wrestling: Following a tight 47-46 win over Stanback on January 10, the Stanford Chargers have followed with two decisive victories. The Chargers defeated McDougle 96-12 on January 15. Two days later, Stanford defeated Gravelly Hill 72-30. The Chargers are 8-0.

Against the Grizzlies, Aidan Cain (98 pounds), Jared Hutchins (106), Josh Cowan (113), Luke Nevius (120), Jace Womble (132) and Josh Merrill (160) all won by pitfall.

For the season, Wyatt Hendrick, Vincent Stevens, Hutchins, Cowan, Womble and Vincent Joubert-Stenzel all remain undefeated for Stanford. The Chargers travel to Northern Roxboro Middle School on Wednesday.

The Stanback wrestling team continues to have a strong season. On Wednesday, the Bulldogs defeated Southern Roxboro 75-24 in Roxboro. At 76 pounds, Mason Pierce won via decision 13-7. Stanback’s Gavin Stone defeated his opponent 8-5 at 83 pounds.

At 90 pounds, Michael O’Melia won by pitfall in the third period. Pierce Prescod faced Southern’s Christian Lemaire, who defeated Prescod earlier this year. Prescod redeemed himself with a 7-2 victory.

Zoey Moreno pinned his opponent in the first period at 106 pounds. At 113 pounds, Will Meyer, replacing Lee Guntoyinbo (who was sick), won by pinfall in the opening period.

Abinijah Lewis won via pinfall at 120 pounds in the third period. Lewis replaced Ryan Rakouskas, who was also ill.

At 126 pounds, Jose Estrada-Parra won by pin in the opening period.

Edwin Hernandez Huerta claimed a victory at 132 pounds via pinfall.

At 138 pounds, Kaden Tatro won by pin in the second period.

Marcos Esparza won by pin at 160 pounds in the first period.

At 170 pounds, Joe O’Melia won by pin in the second period. Marcos McNeil won at 182 pounds, also via pinfall in the first period.

At heavyweight: Kellan McMullen won via forfeit.

Also last week, Stanback defeated Gravelly Hill 87-12 in Efland.

For the Bulldogs this season, Tatro, Esparza, and McMullen are all undefeated.

Prescod, Moreno, Hernandez Huerta, O’Melia and Carlos Vera de Lara each have only one loss this season.

Stanback will host Gravelly Hill on Wednesday in Hillsborough.

The OPAC Tournament will be held on February 8 at a location to be determined.

After winning two Orange-Person Athletic Conference championships at Stanford Middle School, Orange freshman Dillon Heffernan won his first individual high school title on Saturday. Heffernan captured the 106-pound championship at the Silver Fox Invitational at Riverside High in Durham. In the championship match, Heffernan defeated Cary’s Ali Hason 4-3. The third period was tight. Heffernan started from the top and worked an arm brace to hold on to Hason, who desperately tried to gain an escape point to even the match. Heffernan held on for the win. Earlier in the day, Heffernan defeated Northern Durham’s David Smith via pinfall in 5:57. In the semifinals, Heffernan held off Person’s Derrick Laycock 10-9. Heffernan will join Orange in two dual matches this week. The Panthers travel to Northern Durham on Wednesday night, then will host Chapel Hill for the Big 8 Conference championship on Thursday in Hillsborough.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is track & field sprinter Keanu Mims. Last Saturday, Mims finished first in the 300 meters at the East Chapel Hill Polar Bear at Dave Thaden Stadium in Chapel Hill. Mims finished with a time of 37.24 seconds, just short of qualifying for the 3A State Indoor Track & Field championships. Mims finished 2nd in the 55 meter dash at 6.94 seconds. Last spring, Mims joined Jose Torres, Thomas Kaltenbach & Cameron Michalski as Orange qualified for the 3A NCHSAA Outdoor State Track & Field Championships in the 4×400 relay at North Carolina A&T University. Mims competed in three different relay teams for Orange last season, his first at Orange. A junior, Mims still hopes to qualify for the indoor state championships this season before the outdoor schedule starts in March.

Orange’s Matthew Geib, Noah Jamison, Abby Dease and Ashley Behringer have all ensured a trip to the Greensboro Aquatics Center next week, and possibly another one after that.

On Wednesday night, the Orange and Cedar Ridge men’s and women’s swimming teams competed in the Big 8 Swimming Championships at the Taisean Aquatics Center at Duke University.

Though no Panthers or Red Wolves came away with individual conference championships, several qualified for the 3A Mideast Regionals, which will be held next Friday at the Greensboro Aquatics Center next to the Greensboro Coliseum.

Orange’s Matthew Geib qualified for the Mideast Regionals in three different events. In the 200 yard medley relay, Geib teamed with Noah Jimison, Cross Roman and Owen Rasinske to finished 3rd at 1:43.63.

Geib also finished 2nd in the 100 yard butterfly at 52.82 seconds. In the 100 yard backstroke, Geib finished 4th at 57.15, which earned him a spot at regionals.

Rasinske also qualified for regionals in three events. In addition to the 200 relay, Rasinske finished 3rd in the 50 yard freestyle at 23.49 seconds. In the 100 yard freestyle, Rasinske also finished third at 51.44.

Orange’s Roman picked up a spot in regional qualifying in the 50 yard freestyle, as well, with a 5th place finish at 23.64 seconds.

Jamison broke the Orange High School record in the 200 yard individual medley at 2:05.44. He finished 4th to earn a spot next week in Greensboro.

Cedar Ridge senior Devin Bunner came in second in the 200 yard individual medley, the highest finish of any Red Wolf swimmer. Banner touched the wall at 2:02.27, behind only Chapel Hill’s Peter Bretzmann.

Orange’s Ashley Behringer automatically qualified for the Mideast Regionals in three events. She finished fifth in the 200 yard individual medley at 2:21.11, just under the NCHSAA-mandated automatic regional qualifying team of 2:21.99. Behringer also qualified in the 100 yard butterfly, where she finished third at 1:02.92. East Chapel Hill’s Emily Regelsberger captured the 100 butterfly championship.

Orange’s 200 yard medley team of Behringer, Brooke Walker, Abby Dease and Calla Walker qualified for the Mideast Regionals. They finished 2nd at 1:59.76. East Chapel Hill’s Sofia Georgallis, Mary Holmes, Regelsberger and Bri Acome finished first at 1:58.94.

Orange’s Calla Walker finished 2nd in the 50 yard freestyle at 25.81 seconds, behind only Northern Durham’s Bridgette Ervin. Walker also finished 7th in the 100 yard freestyle at 59.44 seconds.

Orange’s Abby Dease qualified for two regional events. In addition to the 200 relay, she finished 2nd in the 200 yard freestyle at 2:07.96. East Chapel Hill’s Margaret Sept came in first at 2:00.69.

For Cedar Ridge, Olivia Aitkin finished 13th in the 50 yard freestyle at 27.37 seconds. Aitkin could potentially finish on the All-Big 8 Conference team, which would be the second sport she’s received league honors this year. Aitkin made All-Big 8 in women’s golf during the fall. Her main sports is softball, which starts practice in three weeks.

The regionals will start at 4 o’clock next Friday afternoon.

In addition, Orange diver Stasz Zitko has qualified for the 3A Mideast Men’s Regional Diving Championships next week. Zitko, who won the 2019 Big 8 Conference Men’s Diving Championship, will compete Thursday morning. He qualified for the state championships last year.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior swimmer Devin Bunner. On Wednesday night, Bunner finished 2nd in the Big 8 Conference Swimming Championships in the 200 individual medley at the Taisean Aquatics Center at Duke University. His time of 2:02.28 automatically qualified him for next week’s 3A Mideast Regionals at the Greensboro Aquatics Center. Bunner also joined Cedar Ridge in the 4×400 relay to end the night. Bunner is focused on qualifying for the 3A State Championships, which he can do next week in Greensboro. Devin is also a percussionist for the Cedar Ridge band. Like many people throughout the world, he was saddened by the death of legendary Rush drummer Neil Peart two weeks ago. Bunner will return to action next Friday for the Mideast Regionals.

Orange senior Noah Jimmerson finished 4th in the 200 individual medley on Wednesday night in the Big 8 Conference Championships at Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion at Duke University. Jimmerson broke the school record with a time of 2:05.44, meaning he is under consideration for next week’s 3A Mideast Regionals at the Greensboro Aquatics Center. Orange’s Owen Rasinske finished 3rd in the 50 yard freestyle. His time of 23.49 seconds means he is also under consideration for the regionals. Rasinske automatically qualified for the 100 yard freestyle, where he finished third after he touched the wall at 51.14, a full second ahead of the 3A qualifying standard mandated by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. The Mideast Regionals will take place next Friday the Greensboro Aquatics Center next to the Greensboro Coliseum.

Orange’s Abby Dease finished 2nd in the 200 yard freestyle on Wednesday night inside Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion at Duke University. Dease finished with a time of 2:06.47. She also was part of Orange’s women 200 yard medley relay team, which also included Abby Behringer, Brooke Walker and Calla Walker. The Panthers relay team finished 2nd behind a group from Chapel Hill. They qualified for regionals with a time of 1:59.76. Abby’s father Dean is the former Orange High baseball coach who won over 500 games. Her mother Jan also helps with Orange’s swimming team during workouts at the Orange County Sportsplex. Abby will now focus on the 3A Mideast Regionals, which will take place next Friday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, next to the Greensboro Coliseum.

Hello everyone! In this edition of the ramble: not every team gets a prediction for one of their games as I said I would do last week because it’s already Tuesday night as I write this and I have been doing the whole college thing more so than usual this week. Also of note, I’m only doing analysis on 6 teams this week and we might stay at 6 from here on out because of the overwhelming number of irrelevant teams in the conference right now. Anyways, let’s get on with it. 

Duke

Duke has taken a bit of a fall lately coming off a bad loss at Clemson and another loss at home to Louisville. That being said, they just bounced back with a huge victory over Miami. Miami is a really bad team, and Duke did what great teams do to bad teams. K’s squad has some issues defensively with Wendell Moore still out with an injury, but the W against the Hurricanes is a step back in the right direction for the Blue Devils.

NC State

NC State is coming off a solid week. While a 60-54 win over Clemson and a 53-51 win over a struggling Virginia team don’t necessarily look that good on paper, those are games the Pack don’t win a year ago. Markell Johnson is a baller, and he finally has a supporting cast with guys like CJ Bryce. This gives State a secondary scoring option to Markell Johnson and CJ has taken advantage of his opportunity. Now a message to State fans, you literally won the game against Virginia. Stop complaining about the officiating in a game that you won, that’s not something that has historically happened for the Pack. You’ve been angry (and for good reason) long enough. Celebrate, y’all. Winning should be fun!

North Carolina

What is there left to say about Carolina? They are turrible (no, that is not a typo.) Say what you want about Roy Williams comment about this being the “least gifted” team he has coached, but that statement was 100 percent true. Maybe when Cole Anthony is back the Heels can get a win against NC State or something.There’s not really anything else to look forward to if you’re a Carolina fan.

Syracuse

The Orange just needed to figure out how to win games without relying on the 3 point shot. Against Virginia Tech, they did just that. Buddy Boeheim took some drives to the hoop, as did Elijah Hughes. And some solid paint minutes for Quincy Guerrier got the job done for the Orange in Blacksburg. Syracuse has now won 3 consecutive games. Cuse has finally found their stride and will start creeping closer to the projected field of 68 if they keep it up.

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech is so much fun to watch. The team shoots 3 after 3 after 3 and when you have shooters like the Hokies do, it’s a pretty sight. The issue for Tech remains though in that they have no paint defense. Syracuse exposed their interior defense on Saturday. Look for their opponents to start feeding the low post from here on out. Earth to Carolina: feed Garrison Brooks in the post Wednesday night.

Notre Dame

John Mooney is one of the best rebounders in the country, but he can’t win games for the Irish alone. Notre Dame finally got a scoring performance from someone not named Mooney. Prentiss Hubb gashed Georgia Tech for 25 points in a hard fought victory in Atlanta. Notre Dame has an outside shot at the tournament, but they’re going to need somebody to consistently help out John Mooney. Prentiss Hubb looks like he might fit the part.

Power Rankings

1. Florida State
2. Louisville
3. Duke
4. NC State
5. Syracuse
6. Virginia Tech
7. Virginia
8. Clemson
9. Notre Dame
10. Pittsburgh
11. Georgia Tech
12. Miami
13. Boston College
14. Wake Forest
15. North Carolina

Predictions

Syracuse at Notre Dame: Syracuse 78-77

North Carolina at Virginia Tech: Virginia Tech 83-68

Clemson at Louisville: Louisville 73-62

NC State at Georgia Tech: Georgia Tech, 65-62

Virginia at Wake Forest: Virginia 55-51

Last week’s picks: 6-2

Season record: 25-14