On Thursday, Orange senior Brooke Fryar officially signed with Gardner-Webb University, where she will play volleyball in the Big South Conference. This season, Orange had the most wins than any other Lady Panther volleyball team this decade. Fryar led the team with 276 digs in the regular season, including 42 against East Chapel Hill and 33 versus Northern Durham in the final win of her high school career. Fryar was a libero who helped Orange to 16 wins this season and an appearance in the 3A State Playoffs. As a junior, Fryar had 176 digs and received 234 serves. 

Icez Barnett: The Division II Chowan women’s basketball team started its season with two games in two days. On Friday, North Georgia defeated the Hawks 82-67 in the opening game of the UNG Nighthawk Classic at the UNG Convocation Center in Dahlonega, GA. Barnett, who graduated from Orange in June after being named the co-Big 8 Conference Player of the Year in her senior season, played three minutes without scoring. She was 0-for-1 from the field with one steal. On Saturday, Georgia College defeated Chowan 59-54. Against the Bobcats, Barnett played 12 minutes. She went 0-for-2 from the field and grabbed two rebounds. Chowan plays its home opener against Francis Marion in Wednesday in Murfreesboro.

Lauren Cates: The Wake Tech Community College women’s basketball team is off to a 3-2 start. Cates, who also graduated from Orange last June, has started all five games for the Eagles. On Wednesday, Cates scored 12 points in a 67-64 loss to Cape Fear Community College. Cates went 4-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-10 from 3-point range. She also had three rebounds and two assists. Cates also started in a 67-61 win over CCBC Essex last Sunday. Cates led the Eagles with 12 points in a 58-50 loss to USC-Salkehatchie on November 9. In a 117-24 rout of Fayetteville Technical Community College, Cates scored a career-high 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting.

Kaylen Campbell: The Division III Trinity women’s basketball team won its first game of the season with a 74-52 victory over Montclair State at Trinity Tip-Off Tournament at Oosting Gymnasium in Hartford, CT on Saturday. Campbell, now a redshirt sophomore who graduated from Orange in 2017, played eight minutes. She grabbed three rebounds and had one assist. Eastern Connecticut State defeated Trinity 77-67 on Friday. Campbell came off the bench to score two points.

Trenton Gill: Louisville, coached by 1991 Orange High graduate Scott Satterfield, defeated N.C. State 34-20 on Saturday night at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh. Gill punted twice. He averaged 54 yards per punt. His longest was 58 yards. Gill also had four kickoffs. Two of them went for touchbacks.

Keshawn Thompson: In FCS action on Saturday, Monmouth defeated Campbell 47-10 at Barker-Lane Stadium in Buies Creek. Thompson had a tackle for loss. The Camels are 6-4, 3-2 in the Big South Conference. They conclude its season at Charleston Southern next Saturday.

Adam Chnupa: Maine defeated Elon 31-17 on Senior Day for the Phoenix at Rhodes Stadium. Chnupa played special teams for Elon. The Phoenix are 4-6, 3-4 in the Colonial Athletic Association. They will conclude its season next Saturday at Towson.

Rodney Brooks: Johnston C. Smith defeated Livingston 34-6 at Alumni Memorial Stadium in Salisbury. Brooks finished the year with four tackles, including one-half tackle for loss. He also had a pass breakup. The Blue Bears end the season 4-6, 1-6 in the CIAA.

Kevin Wright: North Carolina Wesleyan had a successful end to the season on Saturday. The Battling Bishops defeated Maryville 23-0 at the Vernon T. Bradley Complex in Rocky Mount. Wright played safety. Wesleyan finished the year 6-4 overall, 5-2 in the USA South Athletic Conference. They finished one game behind conference champion Huntingdon.

Jack Schmid: Division III Wheaton College completed an undefeated regular season with a 10-0 record as they routed Elmhurst 58-0 in Naperville, IL. Schmid, a former quarterback at Orange, has played two games for the Thunder this season. Wheaton will host Martin Luther in the opening round of the Division III playoffs next Saturday at McCully Stadium.

Taylor Jean: The Division II Limestone women’s soccer team had its season end on Thursday. Mount Olive defeated the Saints 1-0 in the semifinals of the Conference Carolinas tournament. Jean started as the Limestone goalkeeper and made five saves in the loss. This season, Jean started 16 games in net. She finished with a 8-8 record and a 1.37 goals against average and 56 saves.

Going into its third game of the season against Williams on September 13, Orange was 0-2 on the heels of a loss at South Granville.

The good news was they had stumbled upon their new top running back who would go on to become their workhorse for the rest of the season. Sophomore Omarion Lewis was originally penciled in for the junior varsity team this season. After the Panthers had early fumbles against Granville, Lewis was inserted into the game against the Vikings by Coach Van Smith for the 2nd half.

It wasn’t much of a gamble. The junior varsity season hadn’t started yet and if Lewis struggled, he would spend the fall playing mainly on Thursdays instead of Fridays.

Playing only in the second half, Lewis ran for 119 yards and a touchdown against the Vikings.

He didn’t play on Thursdays this year.

Both Williams and Orange went into its game at Auman Stadium with skill position problems. Williams lost its starting quarterback, Kennedy Miles, suffered a torn ACL against Western Alamance. The Bulldogs’ second-string quarterback, freshman Jaelen Brown, also suffered a season-ending injury the previous week against Eastern Alamance.

Orange was without Machai Holt, its most dynamic playmaker as a wingback on offense and as a safety on defense.

The Bulldogs used four different players at quarterback against Orange, including All-Mid Piedmont Conference linebacker Shane Whitter. Williams jumped out to a 13-0 lead after Kendrel Briggs, Williams’ top receiver, threw to Whitter for a 26-yard touchdown pass on a trick play.

Whitter committed to Wake Forest shortly after this game.

After Williams’ Dalton Little picked off a Wyatt Jones pass, William’s Alijah Richmond bolted down the field on an 80-yard touchdown run. But the extra point was wide right and the Bulldogs lead was only 13-0.

Orange was a good takeaway team in 2019. They finished +13 giveaway-takeaway and scored 35% of its points off turnovers. Against the Bulldogs, they scored 14, starting when Orange linebacker Owen Brimmer picked off a pass by Evan Breedlove at the Williams 20-yard line.

The tide of the game turned in a quirky way. It didn’t come on a 80-yard bomb or a pick-six. It came when Orange’s Nigel Slanker tried to kick a field goal, but Williams was whistled for back-to-back offside penalties.

Now faced with a 4th-and-1 from the Williams’ 4-yard line, the Panthers opted to go for it. Fullback Courtney Edwards used his 270-pound frame to barrel behind offensive linemen Dari’us Matkins and Kalen Moore for a touchdown with :47 second remaining in the first half. It was Edwards first touchdown since his Pop Warner days.

Joe Kiger came up with another big interception on Williams’ opening possession of the second half. The Panthers put together a 10-play, 46-yard drive. Quarterback Wyatt Jones hit Elliott Woods for a 19-yard completion on 3rd-and-4. On 4th-and-2 from the Williams 9-yard line, Jones called his own number and ran around left end for five yards. On the next play, Lewis gave Orange the lead for good with a 4-yard touchdown run.

Orange’s defense took over after halftime. They held the Bulldogs to 86 yards and three first downs in the second half.

Jones scored his first rushing touchdown of the season on a quarterback sneak in the fourth quarter to put Orange ahead 21-13. The Bulldogs crossed midfield on its final drive of the game when Whitter found Briggs for a 35-yard pass. But that would be William’s final first down as J.J. Torres picked off a pass to secure the win and end Orange’s four-game home losing streak.

In the film “Rounders,” Martin Landau’s character Abe Petrovsky tells Matt Damon “We can’t run from what we are. Our destiny chooses us.”

Whether that’s a corny line depends on your perspective, but what may be deemed schmaltzy doesn’t make it false.

Tori Dalehite’s father, Danny, was a sprawling, dirt-eating right fielder for a PAC-6 Conference Championship team for Orange High in 1992, and later for a modified-pitch recreation softball team in White Cross. Her mother, the former Beth Simmons, graduated the year after Danny and played softball at Orange when the North Carolina High School Athletic Association mandated slow-pitch only.

In fact, Beth still plays co-ed games on summer nights at Oak Grove Church, just on the edge of Mebane.

So maybe it was destiny that chose Tori Dalehite to walk into a gym packed with friends, family and coaches on Friday night at Cedar Ridge High School. 12 years after her softball career started at the age of 6, Tori signed with UNC Greensboro to continue playing at the college level.

As a three-sport athlete at Cedar Ridge, Tori has dished out many assists in her career, whether it was on the diamond, in volleyball or basketball. On Friday, Tori was the one receiving an assist from her mother, who consoled her daughter at the podium as the emotion of the moment caught up to her.

“I am so grateful for to all of my current and former coaches for supporting me on this special day,” Dalehite said as tears streamed down her face. “You’re the ones who helped me become a better player and a better teammate.”

Dalehite committed to UNC Greensboro last winter. She’s played on two Big 8 Conference Championship teams at Cedar Ridge in 2018 and 2019, the first two in school history. In 2018, Dalehite was named the Big 8 Hitter of the Year after she posted a .582 batting average. She led the team with 29 runs, 32 hits, 32 RBIs, and five triples. She added six home runs as the Red Wolves went 17-2 overall, including 14-0 in the Big 8 Conference.

In the state playoffs, Cedar Ridge reached the third round for the first time in school history. In a 10-0 win over West Carteret in the second round, Dalehite went 1-for-3 with an RBI single.

In the third round, Cedar Ridge traveled to West Brunswick, where Dalehite’s power and toughness were on full display. She cracked a three-run homer over the centerfield fence in the third inning. The Trojans came back to tie and forced extra innings.

In the fifth, Dalehite was hit by a pitch that broke her hand. She continued to play 2nd base, but the Trojans won 4-3 in eight innings to end the career of storied Red Wolves pitcher Rivers Andrews. As her teammates gathered for a four-hour bus ride back home, Dalehite stayed behind in Shallotte to have her hand examined at a nearby hospital.

Last spring, the Red Wolves reached the third round of the state playoffs before losing to eventual 3A State Champion Eastern Alamance in Mebane. Cedar Ridge finished 21-3 and again claimed the Big 8 Championship after beating Orange in a one-game tiebreaker to determine the #1 seed for the state playoffs.

In 2019, Dalehite also earned All-Big 8 honors.

Among those on hand on Friday night was Cedar Ridge softball coach Allen Byrd, former women’s basketball coach Felton Page, Athletic Director Andy Simmons and assistant principal Heather Witherspoon.

“Tori is awesome, period,” said Witherspoon. “She is one of the first people I met when I started here at Cedar Ridge. Tori is a hustler. She gave it all she got in volleyball, she gave it all she got in basketball and she gave it all she got in softball. She also does it in the classroom.”

Also on hand was Dalehite’s friend, Jaden Hurdle, an Orange High softball player that Tori competes with twice a year, at least. It’s a tradition that Jaden and Tori gather for a photo following every game they compete against each other.

Dalehite has a 3.8 grade point average. At UNCG, Dalehite plans to major in kinesiology and then master in physical therapy.

Last winter, Cedar Ridge 2nd baseman Tori Dalehite announced her commitment to UNC Greensboro. On Friday night, she officially signed with the Spartans in front of a packed auxiliary gymnasium at Cedar Ridge Gymnasium with family and friends. In 2018, Dalehite was the Big 8 Conference Hitter of the Year. Playing 2nd base, Dalehite hit .582 and led the team with 32 hits, 29 runs scored, 32 hits and five triples. In 2019, Dalehite hit .544 with 43 hits. She was tied for the team lead with 41 RBIs. Tori was joined in Friday night’s ceremony by her father Danny and her mother, Beth. Along the way, Dalehite has maintained a 3.9 GPA and continues to excel in three sports at Cedar Ridge. She is a member of a Cedar Ridge softball team that has claimed back-to-back Big 8 Championships. This fall, she helped the Cedar Ridge volleyball team reach the state playoffs for the first time since 2015. Also in attendance at the ceremony was Dalehite’s former basketball coach, Felton Page. 

While he’s been the starting quarterback for the Orange football team for the past two seasons, Wyatt Jones has had a goal of playing professional lacrosse.

Over the past year, the Premier Lacrosse League has become the latest underground darling among the sport’s faithful who hope it will fully establish lacrosse at the professional level.

While Jones’ professional hopes are still years away from being resolved, on Friday he officially achieved another milestone that will forever be his own.

Jones committed to Mercer University in Macon, GA. At the same time, he became the first Orange lacrosse player to commit to a Division I program.

“Wyatt is a special player,” said Orange Lacrosse Coach Chandler Zirkle, who also coached Jones on the Carolina Hilltoppers travel team. “He’s extremely competitive and works incredibly hard. I expect that he will do very well at the next level.”

Last season, Jones was voted third-team All-State as a midfielder. He helped the Panthers win a game in the state playoffs for the first time since 2015. Wearing his signature #19, Jones led the team with 39 goals. He added 17 assists and was second on the team with 56 points.

In Orange’s 17-13 victory over Northside-Jacksonville in the NCHSAA 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs, Jones scored four goals. It was the second state playoff win in team history.

In his sophomore season, Jones started as a midfielder as the Panthers finished 8-7 in Zirkle’s first year as head coach. Among the highlights that season was a 16-4 win over Riverside at Linny Wrenn Stadium in Durham, a game where Jones finished with four goals.

Jones’ announcement came one week to the day after his last football game, where he threw for two touchdowns in the Panthers’ 30-6 victory over Chapel Hill on Senior Night at Auman Stadium. Jones went 9-of-15 for 154 yards and two touchdowns against the Tigers. His final touchdown pass was a 44-yard strike to Elliott Woods, who was Jones’ favorite target this season.

This season, Jones threw for 1,164 yards and 12 touchdowns. He also ran for three touchdowns for an Orange team that finished 5-6.

Jones started all eleven games for the Panthers this season on the gridiron. In the season opener against R.J. Reynolds, Jones went 9-of-19 for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Against Vance County, Jones set a career-high with 13 completions for 141 yards and a 40-yard touchdown pass to Omarion Lewis.

He also scored the game-winning touchdown on a quarterback sneak against Walter Williams on September 13. Jones added rushing touchdowns against Southern Durham and East Chapel Hill.

Mercer started a men’s lacrosse team in 2011. It was the first such program in the state of Georgia. The Bears play in the Southern Conference against Jacksonville, Richmond, High Point, Furman, Air Force, Bellarmine, and VMI.

There are seven North Carolina prospects currently on the Mercer roster. The Bears are coached by Kyle Hannan, who will start his eighth season in February.

“Having a kid go on to do great things like that is huge for us in trying to grow a program,” Zirkle said. “It shows younger guys what is possible if they work hard.”

Taylor Montague committed to play women’s soccer at the University of Richmond during a ceremony inside Orange High Gymnasium on Thursday afternoon. Montague has spent the bulk of her high school career playing with the North Carolina Courage’ Academy in Cary. This fall, Montague played goalkeeper for the North Carolina Courage’s U-18/19 squad in the U.S. Soccer Girls DA Cup. She tallied a clean sheet. In the Courage’s 1-0 win over FC Virginia. So far this fall, Montague has started four games in net for the Courage. In September, she earned another clean sheet as the Courage defeated Weston FC 1-0 in Raleigh. Most recently, Montague earned a win as the Courage defeated the Cincinnati Development Academy 2-0 in Pineville. Montague will suit up for the Spiders starting next fall and become the latest women’s soccer product from Hillsborough to advance to the next level. That list includes former Orange High star Kayla Hodges, now at Elon University; Jordan Rogers, now at William Peace University; Taylin Jean, a goalkeeper at Limestone College who graduated from Cedar Ridge, and Brittany Daley, another Cedar Ridge graduate now at Greensboro College. 

785 days. That’s the amount of time Cedar Ridge varsity football waited for a win.

In fact, the heartache went deeper on several levels. On August 18, 2017, Cedar Ridge defeated Carrboro 21-6, but the game was stopped late in the second quarter. Though there was little doubt the Red Wolves would still defeat the Jaguars that night, you had to go all the way back to November 4, 2016 to find the last time Cedar Ridge won a game that lasted all four quarters.

That win was against Northern Vance, a school that no longer exists.

On October 11, Cedar Ridge was due. In particular, it was a special night for seniors Bradon Thompson, Braxton Mergenthal, Zach Holmes, K.J. Barnes, Brandon Poteat, Jai’Keel Gibbs and Matthew Hinton. It was Homecoming against Chapel Hill.

As tough as Cedar Ridge’s 1-10 season in 2019 ended up being, it wasn’t nearly as painful as the year before.

That’s because, in 2018, the varsity Red Wolves varsity didn’t play at all.

The deceit, staff turnover, player turnover and stress from that decision has been told time and again in this space. It not only hurt Cedar Ridge in football, but none of the other men’s athletic teams at Cedar Ridge made the state playoffs in 2018-19. It’s doubtful that was a coincidence.

Any or all of Cedar Ridge’s seven seniors could have elected to leave in the summer of 2018. No one would have blamed them. Five of their teammates did. But those seniors remained and they started to see the fruit of their courageousness pay off against Chapel Hill.

Cedar Ridge would defeat Chapel Hill 20-19 behind 190 yards and three touchdowns from sophomore running back Isaiah McCambry.

Cedar Ridge spent much of the game playing catch up. Chapel Hill’s Caleb Clegg opened the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run. Tyler Roberts extra point bolted the Tigers ahead 7-0.

McCabry scored his first touchdown on a 53-yard run late in the first half.

Chapel Hill opened the second half with a 75-yard touchdown drive. Jaylen Mitchell scored off a two-yard touchdown run, but the extra point failed.

Barnes returned the opening kickoff of the second half 40 yards. McCambry rumbled up the middle for a four-yard touchdown run to cut Chapel Hill’s lead to 13-12.

Clegg struck pay dirt for the second time midway through the third quarter. With Chapel Hill leading 19-12, McCambry scored his third touchdown with a 36-yard burst up the middle. Cedar Ridge Coach Torrean Hinton didn’t hesitate on the extra point, sending out his offense for a two-point conversion.

Instead of going to McCambry, the Red Wolves ran a trick play. Quarterback Willam Berger faked a handoff to McCambry, instead sending the ball to Barnes, who ran an end-around. He had the entire end of the field to himself and scored untouched into the left corner of the end zone to give Cedar Ridge a 20-19 lead with four minutes remaining.

The Tigers managed to drive into Cedar Ridge territory late, but junior Desi Raspberry broke up a late pass attempt. A desperation field goal attempt came up short for the Tigers and Cedar Ridge finally savored a long-awaited taste of victory on their Homecoming night.

The 2013-2016 years of Orange baseball could be labeled the Wilson/Debo era.

The period that followed that have been the Berini/Cooper era.

Joey Berini and Cooper Porter each started their varsity careers on March 1, 2017 in a 6-0 win over Riverside in Hillsborough. Berini started at shortstop, Porter entered as a courtesy runner. Ironically, Porter started at shortstop in the next game at Jordan, the only time in his career that Berini didn’t start. Since then, Berini has been Orange’s starting shortstop for 69 consecutive games.

After beginning their high school careers together, Berini and Cooper took the next step in their respective baseball journey on Friday afternoon at Orange High Gymnasium.

Now, they have to prepare for the very likely possibility they’ll be opposing each other in college.

Porter, who committed to N.C. State shortly after his freshman season, formally signed with the Wolfpack.

“I just felt like State was the best option,” Porter said. “It’s in the ACC. It’s close to home. It felt more like home to me when I went on my visit.”

Berini signed with East Carolina, where he committed last spring. He was courted by UNC, UNC Asheville, Western Carolina, UNC Greensboro and North Carolina Central, among others.

“I’ve always wanted to (play college baseball),” Berini said. “I guess I knew when I started getting some (college recruiting) looks that I could play in college. It’s always been my dream to play in college and I’ve worked towards that.”

Berini was named the Big 8 Conference Player of the Year in 2018. He led the Panthers in five offensive categories with a .541 batting average, 35 runs scored, 33 hits, 12 doubles and four triples. He was third on the team with 26 RBIs.

As Berini prepares for his senior year, his younger brother is set to take over his long-held spot in the Orange infield. Jackson Berini is a shortstop at Stanford Middle School. Jackson hit leadoff with the Chargers last season, where they captured the Orange-Person Athletic Conference Northern Division championship.

N.C. State coach Elliott Avent wasted no time with a scholarship offer after Porter’s freshman year, when he played four different positions, including four appearances on the mound. Wolfpack coaches maintained contact with Porter while he played on the Showcase summer circuit with Canes Central.

“They reached out immediately to me,” Porter said. “They came to all my tournaments and stayed in contact with me more than the other coaches did.”

Berini and Cooper started as freshmen just as the program was in the midst of change. At the time, they had no idea the biggest transformation was yet to come.

After leading Orange to four consecutive Big 8 Conference championships, Bryse Wilson and Brad Debo had just graduated in 2016. Wilson was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the fourth round of the Major League Baseball Draft days after he turned his tassel at the Smith Center. Debo was en route to N.C. State.

Berini and Porter learned on the job in their freshmen year as Orange started 9-11. They reached the postseason and had a remarkable run, beating South Johnston in Four Oaks 4-2. The following Friday, the Panthers pulled a 2-1 upset over Southern Lee in Sanford, despite being held to four hits and six baserunners. Porter had the game-winning hit with an RBI single to score Dalton Brown in the 2nd inning.

The following Tuesday in Shallotte, Orange was two outs away from another upset against West Brunswick, leading 1-0 in the seventh inning. Berini scored Orange’s only run off a groundout by Caige Clayton. In the 7th, West Brunswick’s Garrison Gause launched a solo homer to centerfield just beyond the extended glove of Jayden Poteat to tie the game, only the second home run hit in the Trojan’s spacious ballpark the entire year. It was something that was more than poetic.

Gause’s father died the week before from cancer. The Trojans won 2-1 in eight innings.

In their sophomore season, Orange defeated Jacksonville 6-2 in the state playoffs. Porter had an RBI double to score Poteat in the opening inning as Orange roared out to a 6-0 lead. It was Orange’s seven consecutive year with a postseason win, tying Southeast Guilford for the longest streak in 3A baseball.

It was also be Dean Dease’s final one.

The following month, Dease retired after winning 504 games in 34 years.

Berini and Porter helped new Coach Jason Knapp usher in another Panther era in 2019, where they finished second in the Big 8.

Berini and Porter weren’t the only members of Orange’s 2019 squad to sign with a college team this week. On Wednesday, former Cedar Ridge and Orange infielder Dante DeFranco signed with Charlotte. DeFranco’s commitment to the 49ers was reported on Hillsboroughsports.com last month.

Shortly after his freshman season ended at Orange in 2017, Cooper Porter committed to N.C. State. On Friday, Porter officially signed with the Wolfpack during a ceremony at Orange High gymnasium. Porter has been the ultimate utility man for the Panthers from the time he started as a freshman. He’s played 3rd base, left field, centerfield, catcher, and pitcher. Last year, he was Orange’s 2nd day starter in the rotation, he went 3-0 with a 2.21 ERA in 12 appearances. He also earned two saves. At the plate, Porter hit .355 with 22 hits. He was second on the team with 28 RBIs. Porter has spoken with an Orange High graduate, Brad Debo, about possibly attending N.C. State. He will play under Coach Elliott Avent in Raleigh. But first, Porter hopes to help Orange to its first Big 8 Conference Championship since 2015.