Month: December 2021

DURHAM–As Jerec Thompson stepped out of the visitor’s locker room after his first game of the season, he was greeted by two students from the North Carolina School of Science and Math.

At a time when even the most basic facts are prone to violent disagreement, these students didn’t want trouble after Orange had defeated their home team.

They waited ten minutes after the game to get Thompson’s autograph. They had Sharpies, but no paper.

So Thompson obliged them by signing his first autograph on one fan’s forehead. The other received a signature across his forearm

That was one of several firsts for Orange’s senior guard on Thursday night. It was his first game of the season after a near catastrophic fall in a scrimmage against Vance County at Franklinton High School on November 20 as he went up for a dunk. After several MRIs at Duke Hospital, it caused him to miss Orange’s opening games against Southern Alamance and East Chapel Hill.

Clamoring to return, Thompson didn’t exactly settle into the new season. Instead, he recorded a career-high 41 points on a night both exhilarating and strange as Orange defeated Science and Math 73-54 at Unicorn Gymnasium.

Thompson broke his previous career high of 32 points set on February 6 against Vance County in Henderson.

“I’ve been ready since I got hurt really,” Thompson said. “I’ve been antsy and ready to get back watching in practice. It’s been a little bit difficult.”

Thompson’s 41 points was the most by any Orange player since Connor Crabtree scored 44 points against Southern Durham in the 2017 Big 8 Conference Tournament championship game. Crabtree now plays for the Richmond Spiders. He also scored 40 points against Chapel Hill on January 5, 2017.

Joshua Jackson added eleven points for Orange (1-2), while Hunter Birch added ten.

Science and Math (4-3) was led by Tanner McLeod, who scored 21 points. Eric Guan added eleven.

The game was a homecoming of sorts for Orange coach Darryl Britt, who simultaneously coached the Science and Math men’s and women’s basketball teams in 2013-2014. Thompson’s hot shooting didn’t overshadow the choppy nature of the game where 40 fouls and two technical fouls were whistled. At one point in the first half, the Unicorns were awarded possession twice in a row after held balls, which led to Britt picking up a technical.

Britt was whistled for another technical in the third quarter after a borderline traveling call, leading to his ejection. His experience with Unicorns gymnasium led to him trying to watch the game from afar on the catwalk balcony over the gym. That didn’t last long. Within seconds, after Guan was fouled and went to the foul line, an official spotted Britt spying from the other end of the gym and ordered him into his locker room. The fact that Britt was wearing an Orange sweater inside a dark setting didn’t exactly make him the master of deception.

“I should have worn a disguise like Bobby Valentine did,” Britt joked afterwards, referring to the former New York Mets manager who once was ejected from a game, only to return to the dugout wearing a fake mustache.

With assistant William Dobbs filling in during an emergency situation, Thompson wouldn’t let Orange lose. He scored 29 points in the second half.

Orange bolted out to a 15-points lead behind six early points from backup center Hunter Burch, who played the national anthem with an electric guitar before Tuesday’s game against East Chapel Hill. The Unicorns went on an 8-0 run, though they only scored one field goal in that span. Jackson finished the half strong for Orange. He sank two free throws, then stole an inbounds pass and scored on a lay-in to put the Panthers ahead 34-23 at halftime.

ORANGE 73, NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND MATCH 54

ORANGE–Jerec Thompson 41, Joshua Jackson 11, J.J. Thompson 3, Thomas Loch 1, Darius Corbett 2, Michael Clark 5, Hunter Burch 10

NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND MATCH–Zaid Abdullah 3, Eric Guan 11, Tanner McLeod 21, Zach Brooks 3, Seth Allen 2, Owen Streppa 10, Anderson Adu-Poku 2, Matt Goodman 2.

Jerec Thompson’s grandfather, Ray Durham, asked him to score 30 points in his season-debut on Thursday night against the North Carolina School of Science and Math. Thompson did him one better. Actually, he did him eleven better. Thompson scored a career-high 41 points as the Panthers defeated the Unicorns 73-54 inside Unicorn Gymnasium. It was Thompson’s first game of the season after he suffered an injury during a scrimmage at Franklinton High School in a game against Vance County. Thompson was held to 12 points in the first half, but lit up the Unicorns for 29 points in the second half. Thompson eclipsed his previous career-high of 32 points set on February 6 against Vance County in Henderson. The Panthers earned its first win of the season. They will open its Central Carolina Conference slate against Northwood in Pittsboro on Saturday.

On a night where the Orange women’s basketball team was down to seven players, senior guard Samantha George stepped up with the best game of her career. George had a career-high 17 points as the Orange women defeated the North Carolina School of Science and Math 70-31. George started the second quarter by making six straight free throws, including two off a technical foul when an Unicorn touched the ball while George was trying to inbound. George added a 3-pointer in the third quarter. George’s younger sister, Evelyn, also had a career-high 12 points as won for the second straight time on the road. George was needed as the Lady Panthers had four players injured, included All-Conference center Erin Jordan-Cornell. George led Orange in scoring on Tuesday in a win over East Chapel Hill. Orange travels to face Northwood in Pittsboro on Saturday for its Central Carolina Conference opener.

There was a defensive flavor among the Orange football honorees for All-Central Carolina Conference this year.

Senior nose tackle Kameron Harshaw, linebacker Jackson Wood, defensive end Connor Ray and sophomore offensive tackle Andre Hill were named first-team All-Central Carolina Conference. The official all-conference team was released by CCC Commissioner Michael Pennington on Monday.

Orange was also honored with the Sportsmanship Award based on a vote by the league’s coaches.

Harshaw led Orange with 27 tackles for loss this season. That included four sacks. In his second year on the varsity level, Harshaw started the season with ten tackles, five for a loss, against South Granville on August 20 in Creedmoor. In Orange’s 47-0 win over Granville Central on September 10, Harshaw had six tackles and two sacks. He amassed a season-high eleven tackles against Northwood on October 15.

Wood started every game at linebacker for the Panthers. He also occasionally played fullback. Wood had 59 tackles. That included 13 tackles for loss, which was tied with junior Jabari Albright for second-most on the team. He also rushed for 55 yards on 16 carries. Wood had ten tackles against South Granville. In Orange’s 26-14 victory over Person on October 7, Wood had a season-high four tackles for loss and ten tackles overall. He also recovered a fumble against Williams when he swiped a pitchout in the Bulldogs’ backfield in the fourth quarter. Last spring, during Orange’s 3-3 season shortened because of the pandemic, Wood had 36 tackles. He also scored two touchdowns, including one in the Panthers’ thrilling season-finale against Chapel Hill.

Ray, a senior, led the team with five sacks, two of them against Western Alamance on September 17 in Elon. Ray had 55 tackles, ten of them for a loss. He totaled nine tackles against Northwood, which was his season-high. The following week against Williams, Ray had eight tackles. He had two tackles for a loss in the victory over Granville Central. This was Ray’s third season as a varsity player. Last spring, Ray had 13 tackles in five games. He also saw time as a wingback in Orange’s double wing offense.

Hill, a sophomore, was the only member of the Orange offense to be named All-Conference. He was also the only Panther underclassman honored. As Orange’s offensive line constantly changed almost on a game-by-game basis, Hill became a fixture at left tackle as the season progressed. Behind Hill, Orange’s offense had its three best games of the season against Chapel Hill, Person and Granville Central. Against the Tigers on August 27, Orange totaled 242 rushing yards.

Orange had its season-high of 314 rushing yards against Granville Central and finished with 412 yards total offense. In the win over Person, the Panthers got dual 100-yard rushing games from Ronald Cooper and Nate Sorrells and finished with 267 rushing yards overall.

Eastern Alamance quarterback Hunter Douglas was named the Central Carolina Conference Offensive Player of the Year. Douglas, a senior quarterback, threw for 2,252 yards and 14 touchdowns as the Eagles won the Central Carolina Conference and reached the quarterfinals in the 3A State Quarterfinals.

Eastern Alamance’s John Kirby was named the Central Carolina Conference Coach of the Year. After a season-opening loss to Eastern Randolph, the Eagles won ten straight games to finish the regular season. The Eagles defeated Havelock in the 2nd round of the state playoffs. Jacksonville knocked off Eastern Alamance in the regional semifinals in overtime last Friday.

Walter Williams junior linebacker Will Rhodes was named the Central Carolina Conference Defensive Player of the Year. Rhodes led the Bulldogs with 167 tackles and four sacks. Williams, under first-year head coach Patrick Stokes, finished 7-5, its first winning season since 2013.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior cross country runner Zoe Wade. In October, Wade made the All-Central Carolina Conference team in women’s cross country after finishing 4th at the Central Carolina Conference championships at Northwood High School in PIttsboro. Wade also qualified for the 3A State Championships following a top-20 finish at the Mideast Regionals. Wade has been a varsity cross country runner since her freshman year at Cedar Ridge. In 2018, the Red Wolves women’s squad qualified as a team for the 3A State Championships. Wade is also very active outside of running at Cedar Ridge. She is part of the International Baccalaureate Program. Along with other athletes at Cedar Ridge, she travels to other elementary schools around Hillsborough to train younger athletes in various activities. Wade is currently preparing for the upcoming indoor track & field season. (We apologize for the poor video quality in this interview and we thank Zoe for her patience).

The Orange women’s basketball team earned its first win of the season on Tuesday night. The Lady Panthers traveled to East Chapel Hill and defeated the Wildcats 39-29 at Wildcats Gymnasium. The top three scorers for the Lady Panthers were all seniors, led by Samantha George, who finished with ten points. Guard Aaliyah Harris had seven points, while Jarmil Wingate added eight. George also finished with seven rebounds as the Lady Panthers defeated East Chapel Hill for the third straight in its last four visits to Wildcats Gymnasium. Harris has had a busy summer. A four-year varsity player, Harris has visited schools like Brevard College, Lees-McRae and Roanoke College to potentially play at the next level. Orange will continue a busy week on Thursday night with a trip to Durham to face the North Carolina School an Math. On Saturday, they will travel to Pittsboro to take on Northwood in its Central Carolina Conference opener.