Month: December 2021

It’s not even Christmas break yet and the season could already be considered a success for the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team. In just seven games, they have surpassed their win total from the previous two years combined. On Monday night, the Red Wolves defeated Raleigh Charter 30-20 at Red Wolves Arena. Sophomore twins Cameron and Cierra Copeland started for the Red Wolves. Last season, the Cedar Ridge women’s team only had five players for several games, but the Copelands were out there ready to play alongside Phoenix Smith, Anjelica Carbajal and Bryn Booker. After winning just one game in the previous two seasons, Cedar Ridge has won two already this season. Cameron Copeland had four rebounds for the Red Wolves in the victory over the Phoenix. The Red Wolves could easily have four wins at this point after close games against Voyager Academy and East Chapel Hill. On Tuesday night, Cedar Ridge will travel for a rematch against East Chapel Hill, which can be heard on Hillsboroughsports.com with Jon Franklin on the play-by-play.

Just a few months into her sophomore year at Orange, Katie Belle Sikes has already accomplished more than any swimmer in school history.

This weekend, Sikes added to her impressive resume by competing at the Winter Junior Championships East at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, adjacent to the Greensboro Coliseum.

The four-day event started on Wednesday with a 200 medley relay and an 800 freestyle relay. It brought together swim teams and competitors from states from as far away as Nebraska, Michigan, Kentucky and New Jersey.

In the 50 yard freestyle, which is Sikes’ top event, the qualifying standard for the Winter Junior Championships is 23.29 seconds. Sikes has beaten that mark several times in various competitions, most recently for Orange High in its season-opening event at the Orange County Sportsplex competing against Cedar Ridge and Eastern Alamance on November 24. Sikes finished first in that meet at 22.84.

On Saturday, Sikes represented the Hillsborough Aquatic Club, her travel team that keeps her training at the Sportsplex year-round. In the 50-yard freestyle, Sikes finished 23rd overall in her first appearance in the event. Sikes had a time of 23.24 seconds in the final. Anna Moesch of New Jersey finished 1st overall at 22.52 seconds. In her preliminary race, Sikes finished 24th with a time of 23.26 seconds.

The Winter Junior Championships are a highly anticipated annual event that bring the elite of youth swimming together. The East Regional was held at the Greensboro Aquatics Center, while the West Regional took place in Austin, Texas.

In her freshman year, Sikes won the 3A Central Regional Championship in the 50-yard freestyle at 23.31 seconds. In the 3A State Championships, Sikes finished second behind Charlotte Catholic senior Olivia Rhodes, who touched the wall at 22.99 seconds. Sikes came in at 23.26 seconds.

Sikes will return to Greensboro this winter. In the season-opening meet last month, Sikes qualified for four regional events. In addition to the 50-yard freestyle, she qualified for the 100-yard freestyle, the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard medley relay with Orange teammates Melissa Campbell, Sandra McCouch and Ellie Wiseman.

Another Orange competitor who has been on the verge of a state championship had an impressive start to his senior season. Stans Zitko finished first at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Dive Invitational at Koury Natatorium on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus on Wednesday afternoon.

After six dives, Zitko finished with 238.95 points. Jack Adler of East Chapel Hill finished second at 195.55 points. Competitors from Chapel Hill and Northern Durham High School were also in the event.

Competing on a 1-meter board, Zitko put distance between himself and his opponents immediately with a forward one-and-a-half somersault. With a 1.7 degree of difficulty, Zitko earned a 38.25 score on the opening dive, eight points higher than Adler. Zitko also earned an 81.15 score on a forward one-and-a-half somersault.

Zitko is no stranger to competing at Koury Natatorium in Chapel Hill. In 2019, Zitko finished 3rd in the 3A State Championships at the North Carolina High School Diving Championships at UNC. In February 2019, he became the first diver in Orange High history to win a Central Regional Championship when he compiled 372.70 points. In his freshman year, he won the Big 8 Conference Championship.

While his swimming colleagues train at the Sportsplex, Zitko works out at Duke University. He has qualified for the 3A State Championships in all three of his years at Orange. His goal this season is to win a state championship and earn a diving scholarship to a major university.

The Orange men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will continue its season in 2022 at the Orange County SportsPlex.

Going into Christmas, the race for the Central Carolina Conference wrestling championship has come down to Orange, Northwood and Eastern Alamance.

Orange remained undefeated in CCC action by beating Cedar Ridge 54-15 during a tri-meet at Red Wolves Arena last Wednesday. The Panthers, coming off winning the Jim King/Orange Invitational the previous weekend, also defeated Providence Grove 72-3 last Wednesday to improve to 7-2 overall, 4-0 in the CCC.

Despite losing to Orange last Wednesday, Cedar Ridge defeated Jordan-Matthews 72-4 and edged Providence Grove 37-31 during the tri-meet. The Red Wolves are 9-7 overall after splitting two dual matches during another tri-meet at Wakefield High in Raleigh on Thursday night.

Orange, Northwood and Eastern Alamance are tied for first place in the Central Carolina Conference with undefeated league records. Northwood is 3-0 with victories over Person, Cedar Ridge and Walter Williams. Eastern Alamance has defeated Williams and Western Alamance.

Orange will travel to Northwood on January 4 in a dual match that could determine the CCC championship.

Against the Red Wolves, Orange’s three individual champions in the JKO each captured wins. Acoya Isley pinned James Este Wittinger in 1:14 at 195 pounds. At 220 pounds, Orange’s Elijah Acosta earned a decision over Cedar Ridge’s Joe O’Melia 10-4. Acosta, in his first season as a starter, currently has a 12-1 record with seven pins. At heavyweight, the Panthers’ Hugo Vazquez defeated Louis Tedder 5-1.

Isley and Acosta are among eight new starters for Orange this season. Another newcomer, Kale Womble, defeated Jaylen Williams at 113 pounds 6-2. Braden Crawford, at 120 pounds, decisioned Pierce Prescod 5-0. At 132 pounds, Jared Hutchins, one of Orange’s few returnees from last year, pinned Tommy Heckler in 1:13.

Avery Clark (145), Samuel Crawford (152), Andre Hill (160) and senior Brendon Worsham (182) all claimed pinfall wins for Orange. At 170 pounds, Cedar Ridge’s Kaden Tatro edged Orange senior Nate Hecht 3-2.

Cedar Ridge’s junior co-Captain, Fernando Martinez, pinned Orange’s Dillon Heffernan in 3:05. Later in the night, Martinez would get a forfeit victory over Providence Grove for his 70th career win midway through his junior year. Red Wolves freshman Lee Oguntoyinbo pinned Orange’s Miles Adams in 5:56.

The following night, Orange earned three more dual match wins in the Lexington Quad at Lexington High Schoo. The Panthers defeated Alexander Central 66-13, Lexington 76-6 and R.J. Reynolds 78-3. Worsham scored two more pins to improve his season record to 11-3 with eight pins.

Last season may have been one of the first times that Orange didn’t have a competitor at 106 pounds. This season, Adrain Sierra has filled that void, and he earned two pins for Orange in Lexington. Heffernan had three pins at 120 pounds, while Braden Crawford scored three pins at 126. Womble and Vazquez each added two wins to their season total. Vazquez is 9-1 with six pins.

On Friday, Orange will return to the Tiger Holiday Classic, a two-day event that brings together teams from across the southeast. Traditionally, it’s one of the major tournament in the southeast that didn’t take place last December due to the pandemic.

Also on Thursday, Cedar Ridge participated in the Wakefield tri-meet. The Red Wolves defeated Sanderson 60-9, but lost to Wakefield 51-27.

Martinez improved his season record to 17-2 with a pin of Wakefield’s Lincoln Froh in 2:53. Against the Spartans, Martinez pinned George Sessions.

Cedar Ridge’s Joe O’Melia earned two wins at 195 pounds. Against Wakefield, O’Melia pinned Frankie Nahilia in 3:18. In the victory over Sanderson, O’Melia pinned Thomas Kenner.

At 170 pounds, Tatro pinned Ethan Kring of Sanderson. Against Wakefield, Tatro earned a 6-0 decision over John Page.

Cedar Ridge will go to Knightdale next weekend for the two-day WRAL Invitational at Knightdale High School. The event will also include a women’s tournament, which will feature Cedar Ridge’s Zoey Moreno, which earned two wins during the Red Wolves Invitational last month.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior men’s basketball guard Jerec Thompson. In his first game of the season on December 2, Thompson scored a career-high 41 points as the Panthers defeated the North Carolina School of Science and Math 73-54 in Durham. Last week, Thompson scored 27 points as Orange knocked off Carrboro 61-58 in Hillsborough, handing the Jaguars its first loss of the season. On Friday night, Thompson added 30 points against Riverside. In his freshman season, Orange men’s coach Derryl Britt called Thompson up to the varsity team during the Eastern Guilford Holiday Hoops tournament. He’s been on varsity ever since with his prolific 3-point shooting. Last winter, during the pandemic-shortened season, Thompson scored 32 points in Orange’s 65-62 win at Vance County. He scored in double-figures in eleven of Orange’s 12 games in 2021, including 23 points against Cedar Ridge on February 5. Thompson returns to action on Tuesday night when Orange hosts Western Alamance.

Damon Scott: The Shelby Golden Lions defeated the Wallace-Rose Hill Bulldogs 55-34 for the 2A State Championship at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh on Saturday. Damon Scott, a 1993 Orange High graduate and Cedar Grove native, is the running backs coach for the Golden Lions. In his sophomore season, Scott was the tailback for the most successful Orange football team of the 1990s. In 1991, Orange went 9-3 and defeated Hillside 14-8 in overtime on the final night of the regular season at North Carolina Central University to clinch a playoff spot, which was limited to 32 teams in 4A football (the highest of four classifications). Scott scored the game-winning touchdown for the Panthers, which included future Orange softball coach Eddie Davidson at fullback and current Granville Central men’s basketball coach Mike McDaniel at linebacker. The following week, Orange journeyed to Greenville and defeated J.H. Rose 23-6 in the opening round of the 4A State Playoffs. Scott was the leading rusher in the game. That was Orange’s only state playoff win of the 1990s and still the last time the Panthers won a playoff game when only four state champions were crowned in North Carolina football. After graduating from Orange, Scott became a I-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision) All-American running back with Appalachian State. He was a member of Appalachian’s 1995 Southern Conference championship team, which finished the regular season 11-0. The Mountaineers started the year with a win at Wake Forest and eventually defeated a Marshall squad led by Randy Moss on a snowy night at Edwards Stadium in Huntington, WV. In that 1995 season, two-thirds of Appalachian’s starting backfield consisted of Orange High graduates: Scott was at tailback for Coach Jerry Moore. The quarterback was Scott Satterfield, now the head coach at the University of Louisville. In his Mountaineers career, Scott rushed for 3,800 yards. He was inducted into the Appalachian State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.

Emerson Talley: The most successful season in the history of Lenoir-Rhyne women’s soccer came to an end in the Final Four of the NCAA Division II tournament. #1 Grand Valley State defeated the Bears 3-0 at Weidner Field in Colordo Springs, CO. The Bears end the season 12-6-5. It was the first time ever that Lenoir-Rhyne made the Final Four. Talley, who is the all-time leading scorer in Cedar Ridge women’s soccer history, finished her freshman season playing in eight games for the Bears, starting two.

Connor Crabtree: The Richmond Spiders men’s basketball team returned to action by beating Toledo 72-69 at the Robins Center on Saturday. Crabtree came off the bench for the Spiders and played 18 minutes. He scored eight points off 3-of-6 shooting from the field. He went 1-of-2 from 3-point range. He also grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists. On Sunday, the Spiders defeated Northern Iowa 60-52 at the McLeod Center in Cedar Rapids, IA. Crabtree played three minutes for the Spiders against the Panthers. Richmond is 6-4 and is on a three-game winning streak. Crabtree will return to North Carolina next weekend. The Spiders will travel to Charlotte to face N.C. State at the Spectrum Center for the Basketball Hall of Fame Shootout on Friday.

Joey McMullin: Sandhills Community College easily defeated the Pfeiffer junior varsity team 115-79 in Misenheimer on Monday night. McMullin came off the bench to score 12 points in 20 minutes for the Flyers. McMullin shot 6-of-9 from the field. He also grabbed three rebounds and dished out three assists. Sandhills has now won three in a row. The Flyers are 8-4 overall. Thus far in his first season with Sandhills, McMullin is the second-leading scorer on the team, averaging 13.2 points per game. He’s also second on the team in field goal percentage at 52.7%. The Flyers will return to action to face Shooting for Greatness Academy on Wednesday in Pinehurst.

Orange junior guard Jada Reed had a career-high 12 points in the Lady Panthers 62-16 win over Riverside at Panther Gymnasium on Friday night. Reed scored the game’s first field goal with a 3-pointer in the opening minute, which put the Lady Panthers ahead for good. Most memorably, Reed hit a 45-footer from midcourt at the third quarter buzzer to put Orange ahead 44-16. Aaliyah Harris led Orange with 13 points. Reed played several games on the varsity squad during her freshman year, and joined the varsity full-time during the pandemic shortened season last winter. Reed’s favorite players to watch are Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry and guard Skyler Diggins of the Phoenix Mercury. Orange will take a two-game winning streak into its next conference game, which is coming up Tuesday night against Western Alamance. The Lady Panthers have two more home games next week, which will be its final games before Christmas. Orange hosts East Chapel Hill on Thursday, then returns to Central Carolina Conference action against Walter Williams on Friday in Hillsborough.

Women’s Basketball:

Orange 62, Riverside 16: Jada Reed’s midcourt short at the end of the third quarter flowed so smoothly through her hands and into the net, you would think she regularly practices it.

That’s because she does.

“In practices that’s all we do is shoot threes,” Reed said. “During water breaks, we shoot from midcourt and have contests.”

Reed’s 45-footer at the buzzer was the highlight of Orange’s 62-16 win over Riverside on Friday night at Panther Gymnasium. Senior guard Aaliyah Harris led the Lady Panthers (4-2) with 13 points. Reed added 12 points, including three 3-pointers.

With two of its most experienced players out of the lineup, it has been a time for several Lady Panthers to learn on the job. Junior varsity callups Aisha Caron and Katie Perkins made their varsity debut. Freshman Evelyn George had a career-high with 12 points.

Orange roared out to a 17-2 lead and held Riverside without a field goal in the opening nine minutes. Six different Lady Panthers scored in the opening quarter, including two field goals from Jarmil Wingate, who finished with eight points.

Shameia Holder led Riverside (1-3) with six points.

Orange will host Western Alamance on Tuesday, then welcome East Chapel Hill to Hillsborough on Wednesday.

PERSON 49, CEDAR RIDGE 22

In the first Central Carolina Conference game between the two teams, Person ended the first half on a 9-0 run to take an 18-6 lead into halftime. Phoenix Smith led the Red Wolves in scoring. Cedar Ridge (1-5, 0-2 in the CCC) will host Raleigh Charter School on Monday in Hillsborough. The Rockets (3-1, 1-0) won its conference opener after dropping a game against Halifax County (VA) last week in Roxboro.

Men’s Basketball:

Riverside 77, Orange 68

The Pirates’s Jared Merchant opened the game with eight straight points and led wire-to-wire in beating Orange 77-68 on Friday night.

Riverside led 13-8 at the end of the first quarter, with Merchant scoring eleven of those points. He finished with 26.

Orange was led by senior guard Jerec Thompson, who had 30 points. Riverside put forward Xavier McQueen on Thompson most of the game. Thompson had 17 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer late in the third quarter that reduced Orange’s deficit to 53-44.

The Panthers opened the final stanza with the ball and a chance to reduce its deficit after trailing by as many as 18 in the third quarter. Orange had a transition opportunity, but Pirates forward Jaden Butler came up with a steal and led center Javion Johnson to an uncontested lay-in at the other end of the floor.

The good news for Orange (2-4) was senior center Hunter Burch had a career-high 14 points, including a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter. All of Burch’s points came in the second half.

Four Pirates finished in double figures. In addition to Merchant, Johnson had 12 points, while Jaden Butler came away with ten and Corey Hairston added ten.

Riverside (3-3) snapped a two-game losing streak.

Orange will host Western Alamance on Tuesday in Hillsborough. They will travel to East Chapel Hill on Thursday, then host Walter Williams for its final game before Christmas.

PERSON 46, CEDAR RIDGE 34

Julian Crawley scored eleven points to help Person (4-2, 1-0 in the CCC) defeated Cedar Ridge in Hillsborough. Junior forward Rawlins Taylor carried the offensive load for the Red Wolves early. He scored Cedar Ridge’s first eight points, including the opening free throws which gave the Red Wolves’ its only lead of the game.

Taylor, Colton Taylor and Garrett Ray each had ten to lead Cedar Ridge. Neco Clark, who finished with four points, was the only other Red Wolf to score.

Cedar Ridge (2-4, 0-2) will play Raleigh Charter School on Monday at home. The Red Wolves will travel to East Chapel Hill on Tuesday, then travel to Northwood on Friday for its final game of the 2021 calendar year. Neither of Cedar Ridge’s basketball teams are slated to play in any holiday tournaments.