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It’s the final game before Christmas break for Orange tonight, and it serves as a litmus test going into the Holiday Tournament at Pinecrest. The Panthers face Northern Vance, which is off to a 2-0 start in the Big 8 after a win on Tuesday against Cedar Ridge.

Orange is 1-0 in conference play, but have dropped two games this week against Riverside and Northern Durham, arguably the two best teams in the 4-A PAC-6 Conference. Of a more immediate concern for the Panthers is point guard, which has been the case since September.

Returning starter Eryk Brandon-Dean was lost for the season after a torn ACL suffered in a football game against Southern Durham. On Tuesday night, starter Demares Drummond suffered a shoulder injury after colliding with teammate Daniel Mulligan. Drummond didn’t return, and didn’t play the following night in a 67-54 loss to the Knights.

Coach Greg Motley is already down to his third quarterback in Reggie Bradsher, who came off the bench to score 12 points against Riverside. Orange is 2-5 going into tonight’s game.

With Orange basketball down two point guards, Connor Crabtree has had to handle the lion’s share of the ball handling duties. Which isn’t unusual until you consider Crabtree is often the tallest player of the floor. Regardless, Crabtree is the leading scorer for the Panthers through the first seven games of the season. On top of that, Lehigh coach Brett Reid, most famous for leading the Mountain Hawks past Duke in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament, took in Connor’s game at Bartlett-Yancy. A formal scholarship offer came shortly afterwards.

Connor is the first Orange Panther of the Week for winter sports season.

Coming off a victory in its Big 8 opener against Oxford Webb, Northern Vance kept its winning streak alive in Hillsborough on Tuesday night.

The Vikings defeated Cedar Ridge 58-40 at Red Wolves Gymnasium, the first losing streak of the season for CRHS. Cedar Riege played without leading scorer Payton Pappas, who is still with the team.

Without Pappas, the Red Wolves found points hard to come by. Jacob Thomas was the only Cedar Ridge in double figures with 11 points. Khalil Barnett added seven.

Cedar Ridge is 0-2 to start the Big 8 slate. They face a huge game Friday night at Southern Durham, which you can hear on the Facebook page for HillsboroughSports.com starting at 7.

With 13 straight wins and a Jim King Invitational Championship under its belt, the Orange Wrestling team is off to the type of start that is common under coach Bobby Shriner.

But none of that will matter on Wednesday night.

The Panthers travel to Pittsboro to face Northwood. Orange is ranked #2 by the Raleigh News and Observer’s Preps Now, while the Chargers are #12.

Over the weekend, the Panthers swept the Jim Coggins Hall of Fame Classic at Southwest Guilford High School. In four dual matches, Orange defeated Rockingham County 52-19, Eastern Guilford 63-9, North Davidson 60-15, and Rockingham County 52-19.

While the results may not show it, the event was a milestone event in Orange Wrestling history, and state wrestling for that matter. It was the first time that Bobby Shriner was absent for one of his team’s matches.

Shriner’s oldest daughter Madison graduated from Appalachian State University on Saturday. She has been in Ireland as part of an international teaching program. For the first time in 29 years, extending back to his days as an assistant at Chapel Hill High, Shriner missed one of his team’s matches.

Sophomore 120-pounder Bailey Hawkins was named Most Outstanding Wrestling of the tournament. Hawkins went 3-0 to improve his record to 15-1 on the season. He has eight pins.

It was another strong showing for heavyweight Daylen Alston, who scored four victories, all of them pins. Alston is 15-2 with 12 pinfalls. Jamison Askew(126), Payton Wilson (220), Shannon Thompson (195), and Avery Jenkins (138) also went 3-o on Saturday.

Jamison Askew is 13-3 on the season with seven pins. Thompson is tied with Hawkins for most wins on the season with a 15-2 mark. Jenkins pushed his record to 6-2. Wilson, after a 3rd place finish at the JKO, is now 11-2.

Following the Big 8 match against Northwood, the Panthers travel to Mebane for a two-day tournament at Eastern Alamance starting Friday.

There’s a difference between a basketball game and a rivalry game.

Most coaches treat all games like they’re the same, regardless of whether the gym is slammed full or sparse. On an average night, you hear the cheerleaders back their feet against the bleachers while chanting in unison while a member of the opposing team shoots a free throw. The gym feels cold, even when it’s only in the low-50s outside. Attendance is limited to some students and mainly parents of players and cheerleaders. It’s important enough, but it’s not a townwide event.

Then there’s crosstown rivalry nights, featuring things you’ll only see in prep sports.

Of course, the home team will have a student section. But so will the visitors of nearly the same size. Can you imagine Duke students making up 30% of the Smith Center attendance for a Carolina game?

You aren’t supposed to feel humidity during the winter, but you do on rivalry nights. Of course, Friday had unseasonably warm highs in the low-70s, two weeks before Christmas. That led to a scorching Jim King Gymnasium on a night when emotions were already high.

You can’t hear the cheerleaders on either side. The students chant the harmony from “Seven Nation Army,” which may be cliche. It’s also noisy.

Then there’s the “Beat the Ridge” t-shirts worn in unison on one side. “Beat Orange” on the other.

Most importantly, it wouldn’t be a rivalry night at Jim King Gymnasium without Charles Watters behind the PA microphone.

Hey, Rome ain’t Rome without the Pope.

And it was the conference opener.

It’s all about atmosphere on rivalry nights. That’s when they stop being players and become heroes and villians. Next month at Cedar Ridge, the roles will be reversed, as it is in Chapel Hill, Durham and every other town in various sizes across the state which makes high school sports a labor of love for those live with it.

On Friday night, Connor Crabtree wore the white uniform for Orange—and the white hat.

Crabtree, who earned a scholarship offer from Lehigh on Wednesday, scored 32 points as the Panthers defeated crosstown rival Cedar Ridge 71-67 at Jim King Gymnasium. The Panthers never trailed in the contest, but the game was tied at 60 with 3:20 remaining.

That’s when Logan Vosburg and Crabtree took over. Vosburg scored on a jump hook in the lane to give the Panthers the lead for good 62-60. After CRHS Khalil Barnett missed a reverse lay-up at the other end, Crabtree nailed a 3-pointer in transition and the lead was 65-60.

The Panthers 2-3 zone was effective in limiting the Red Wolves’ Jacob Thomas down the stretch. Trailing by as many as nine in the second half, Thomas scored 14 in the 2nd half to keep CRHS in the game. But Thomas had limited touches in the final four minutes, partly because of Orange’s zone. Cedar Ridge Coach Clay Jones had his own theory.

“I think we lost him a little bit,” said Jones. “We were worried about hitting the home run shot and went away from him. I called time outs to get us focused on one basket at a time. We wanted to get to the line.”

Thomas’ only basket down the stretch was a desperation three-pointer, his only triple of the night that cut the Orange lead to 69-66 with :22 remaining.

Cedar Ridge point guard Payton Pappas, the HillsboroughSports.com Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week, finished with 19 points. All seven of his second half points came from the foul line.

The Panthers stormed out to a 21-9 lead behind early field goals from Vosburg and Crabtree. Demares Drummond and Reggie Bradsher shared time at point guard as Coach Greg Motley continues to search for the right combination to replace Eryk Brandon-Dean, out for the season with a torn ACL suffered during football season.

It was the first win for Orange over Cedar Ridge since February 17, 2014. Last February, Cedar Ridge not only rallied from 18 down to upset Orange 69-63. It also ruined Orange’s chances of winning the Big 8 Championship.

“It feels good to get this one,” said Crabtree, who received a scholarship offer from Lehigh on Wednesday. “It was devastating to lose to them last year. We got another one on Tuesday to worry about.”

Cedar Ridge (6-3, 0-1 in the Big 8) hosts Northern Vance on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. Orange will host Riverside on Tuesday in a nonconference game. Hillsboroughsports.com will carry Cedar Ridge vs. Northerrn Vance in boys action starting at 7:15.

Connor Crabtree scored 32 points as the Panthers defeated Cedar Ridge 71-67 on a humid night inside Jim King Gymnasium. Coach Motley and Connor talked about the win afterwards.

Last season, Cedar Ridge swept the season series from the Panthers. Tonight, they meet at OHS. Cedar Ridge coach Clay Jones discusses the matchup with the Panthers. Our coverage on Hillsboroughsports.com begins at 6:50. Listen here on the site as we will have a link.

Payton Pappas, the senior point guard for the Red Wolves, is averaging 22 points per game. The Red Wolves are off to a 5-2 start as they face Orange tonight at Jim King Gymnasium.

In the 1990s, Florida State ruled ACC football with an iron hand, winning nine consecutive conference championships under Bobby Bowden. The joke used to be ACC Football was Florida State and the seven dwarfs—plus Duke, which was hoping to become a dwarf.
Of course, times have changed.
But not in whatever league Orange wrestling is competing in. Regardless of whether the Panthers hang their headgear in the 4-A PAC-6, the 2-A Mid-State or the 3-A Big 8, it’s their home until someone proves otherwise. Their reputation proceeds them, just like the Seminoles of 20 years ago.
Orange started its pursuit of its 13 consecutive conference championship on Wednesday night with a 67-0 whitewashing of Cedar Ridge.
Jamar Davis recorded a major decisiion win over Seth McKee to improve to 11-2 at 170.
At 182, Juan Torres capitalized on a strong 3rd place finish at the Jim King Invitational with a 10-5 decision over Demarcus Smith. After starting the season with eleven straight wins, Torres is 12-1.
Shannon Thompson scored his seventh pin of the season in :32 over Ethan Harvey. Thompson is now 7-2 on the year.
Payton Wilson, three weeks removed from football season, scored a major decision over Issac Rivera 12-1.
At 120 pounds, sophomore Bailey Hawkins, mullett and all, scored a pin in 40 seconds. Hawkins is now 12-1 on the season with seven pins.
Grant Thompson also scored a pin at 132 in :47 to improve to 5-3.
Avery Jenkins (145), Joe Scott (152) also recorded decision wins. Scott is 11-1 with his only loss coming in the 152-pound championship at the Jim King Invitatonal on Saturday to the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler, Eastern Alamance’s Mitch Dean.
Heavyweight Daylan Alston (12-1), Freshman 113-pounder Gavin Wiggins (9-3), and 126-pounder Jamison Askew (10-3) received forfeit victories.
The Panthers travel to Southwest Guilford on Saturday.
Cedar Ridge travels to the Villan Tournament on Saturday at Biship McGuinness Catholic High School in Kernersville.