Month: January 2019

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This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior wrestler Avery Jenkins. On Saturday, Jenkins advanced to the championship match of the Riverside Invitational after pinning David Hocutt of Corinth Holders in 1:10. Wiggins helped Orange win the Riverside Invitational with 175 points. It is Orange’s 2nd team win in an individual tournament this season. Jenkins is 33-7 this season. He has won individual championships at the Quentin Crosby Invitational in Greensboro and the Eastern Alamance Invitational in Mebane this season. Jenkins will return to action against Hillside on Tuesday at Chapel Hill High School. On Wednesday, Jenkins will be one of the honorees during senior night when the Panthers host Northern Durham in an attempt to complete another undefeated conference season.

By his own admission, Gavin Wiggins senior season has been a test of his patience and pain tolerance. On Saturday, he captured the 126-pound championship of the Riverside Invitational at Riverside High in Durham. Wiggins defeated Koa Witherspoon of Milbrook 12-4 in the championship final for his first individual championship this season. Wiggins has suffered through injury and illness since the season started in November. Wiggins has been wrestling at Orange since his freshman year. As he enters the final month of his Orange career, Wiggins hopes to lead Orange to another conference championship, which will be determined on senior night when the Panthers host Northern Durham.

The Orange women’s basketball team will start the 2nd half of the Big 8 Conference schedule in the thick of the state playoff hunt. On Friday night, Orange stormed out to a 17-7 lead, then held on for dear life in the 2nd half to defeat Southern Durham 48-42 at Panther Gymnasium. Icez Barnett led Orange with 17 points, while Lauren Cates had 12. Senior Grace Dively had a season-high eleven points. Southern Durham had a 10-0 run in the 2nd half to cut the Orange lead to one point, and had three possessions to take the lead. But Orange’s defense came up big to hand the Spartans its first loss in Big 8 play. Orange is now 11-4, 4-2 in the Big 8 Conference. They return to action on Monday morning for a special Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday game against Chatham Central at Northwood High School. Tipoff will be at 11 AM.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is wrestler Daina Pritchard. On Wednesday night, Pritchard earned a hard-fought victory over Hillside’s Miles Durant 10-8. Pritchard went into the final period trailing 3-2, but got a near fall in the final minute, then had to ward off Durant’s own attempt at a pin in the waning seconds. On January 4, Pritchard defeated Ron Hull of East Forsyth in the Glenn Duals in Kernersville as Cedar Ridge defeated the Eagles 43-42. Pritchard also claimed a forfeit win against Southeast Guilford in the Glenn Duals. Daina will compete in his senior night match on Friday against Southern Durham inside Red Wolves Gymnasium.