Month: January 2022

For the first time since December 17, the Orange women’s basketball team played on its home floor on Thursday night. The Lady Panthers roared out to a 12-0 lead and defeated Person 74-61 in the first conference game between the two teams in 21 years. In just her 7th game of the season, center Erin Jordan-Cornell came away with a season-high 19 points. Jordan-Cornell has dealt with injuries throughout her junior year that kept her out of seven games during December. Now, Orange has its entire paint presence back with two weeks remaining in the regular season with Jordan-Cornell and Katelyn Van Mater back in the lineup. On the final play of the game, Jordan-Cornell threw to Katie Perkins, who scored the first basket of her varsity career on a layup. Perkins is one of six Orange seniors who will be honored next week, along with Aaliyah Harris, Jarmil Wingate, Samantha George, Haley Reynolds and Aisha Caron. Orange will wrap up the week on Friday, facing Cedar Ridge at 4:30 at Red Wolves Gymnasium. It will be Orange’s third game in four days.

In a string of domination that stretches back to the early 1990s, the Orange wrestling team has won championships in the PAC-6 Conference, the Five County Conference, the Mid-State Conference, the Carolina 6 Conference and the Big 8 Conference.

Now, the Panthers have added the Central Carolina Conference championship to its collection.

Orange, which had already clinched a playoff spot in the 3A State Dual Team wrestling championships, completed an undefeated run through the Central Carolina Conference with a 64-18 victory over Eastern Alamance at Panther Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Orange finished 6-0 in the CCC and is 15-3 overall this season.

It is Orange’s 18th conference championship in the last 19 years.

The Panthers will be the #1 seed for the 3A State Dual Team Wrestling championships, which will start on Monday at a location to be determined. The official playoff bracket will be released on Friday. Northwood will take the second automatic playoff spot from the Central Carolina Conference.

The match was also senior night for Brendon Worsham, Nathan Hecht, Avery Clark, Jaylyn Roberson, Miles Adams and Chase Howard. Worsham, who won the 182-pound championship at the Quentin Crosby championship earlier this month, was a starting linebacker and punt returner for the Orange football team. Hecht, a three-year starter in wrestling, was also a defensive end and fullback in football.

Since the season started in November, the strength of Orange’s team has been the heavier weight classes, which is exactly where Tuesday’s match started. Hecht opened the night by pinning Eastern Alamance’s Wyatt Facuette in 38 seconds at 170 pounds. Hecht improved to 15-7 with nine pins this season. As a sophomore, Hecht won 30 matches and very well could have had 100 for his career if his junior season had not been limited by the pandemic.

Worsham, at 182 pounds, pinned Jackson Fulcher in 22 seconds to increase Orange’s lead to 12-0. Worsham is 24-5 with 16 pins this year. In June, he qualified for the 3A State Championships after a runner-up finish in the Mideast Regionals.

At 195 pounds, junior Acoya Isley pinned Hakim Thompson is 24 seconds. Isley, who is in his first year as a starter, upped his record to 19-4 with 14 pins. He has already captured the Jim King/Orange Invitational and Quentin Crosby Championships this season.

Elijah Acosta scored another Orange pin at 220 pounds, finishing off Jett Giovani in 36 seconds. Acosta, whose father Mike was a member of a PAC-6 Conference championship team under legendary head coach Bobby Shriner, leads Orange with 25 wins and 17 pins this season. His overall record is 25-2.

With Orange leading 24-0, the Panthers increased its lead after Adrian Sierra claimed a forfeit victory, his tenth of the season. At 113 pounds, Kale Womble pinned Kaitlyn Watson in 44 seconds. Womble, who won two Orange Person Athletic Conference championships at Orange Middle School (back when it was known as Stanford Middle School), is 15-8 with ten pins this season. Womble’s pin ensured the dual match victory for the Panthers.

At 120 pounds, Braden Crawford earned a major decision over Willfen Lopez 12-4 to put Orange ahead 40-0.

Junior Dillon Heffernan, at 126 pounds, notched another pin with a victory over Mason Tanner in 4:37. Heffernan improved to 23-6 with 13 pins.

Jared Hutchins pinned Carson Gardner at 132 pounds in 1:31. Hutchins is now 22-6 with 17 pins this season.

In what will likely be his final match at Orange, senior Avery Clark pinned the Eagles’ Jahzion Patterson in 22 seconds. Clark earned his 18th win this season and his 12th pin.

Eastern Alamance’s Ivan Benitez earned a pin at 138 pounds. Damien Beaver (152) and Julian Rodriguez (160) also had pins for the Eagles.

In the extra matches, Orange’s Daisy Lopez Sanchez competed. On December 30, during the West Stanly Duals in Oakboro, Sanchez earned a forfeit victory at 113 pounds as Orange defeated West Stanly 64-18. Sanchez became the first female wrestler at Orange to win a varsity match.

BURLINGTON–The Orange women’s basketball team found itself in a strange place on Tuesday night.

In game action.

Orange last played on December 28 during the Eastern Guilford Holiday Showcase in Gibsonville, where they defeated Northeast Guilford 52-27 for Coach B.J. Condron’s 100th career win. The Lady Panthers were supposed to play again on January 4 against Cedar Ridge, but there’s no such thing as a iron clad schedule with COVID-19 in the air.

Because of COVID and winter weather, the Orange women waited a full 29 days until its next game. On Tuesday night, Orange finally returned to the floor looking like a different team that had lost to Walter Williams 74-50 on December 17 in Hillsborough.

Orange just didn’t find the baskets when they needed them in the end.

In a tight game where neither team led by more than six points, Williams (10-3, 3-1 in the Central Carolina Conference) held off Orange 44-41 at Bulldog Gymnasium.

After senior guard Aaliyah Harris tied the game with two free throws with 4:00 remaining, Williams’ Kameryn Russell scored on a lay-in as she rumbled down the lane to put the Bulldogs ahead. After a miss by Orange, Williams’ Taniya Hunter-Smith had a lay-in rim out. The Lady Panthers had three chances to tie on the subsequent possession, but Orange was called for traveling.

Williams, leading 39-37 with 1:30 remaining, nearly had a five-second violation when guard Jainasia Bailey picked up her dribble with Harris defending her, but Bulldogs’ coach Jason Cheek called timeout. Bulldogs center Taniya Hunter-Smith drained two free throws.

Orange was called for stepping out of bounds on the next possession. After Williams’ Bri Scott missed a free throw, Harris knocked down a one-hand runner with 37 seconds remaining to cut the Orange deficit to 41-39. Orange fouled Russell, who missed the front end of a one-and-one. After Orange’s Erin Jordan-Cornell got the rebound, the Panthers went for a 3-pointer, which was no good. Bailey sank two free throws with :19 remaining to put the game out of reach.

George led Orange with 13 points. Erin Jordan-Cornell finished with a season-high 12 points.

Hunter-Smith paced the Bulldogs with 15 points.

The game starts a grueling stretch for the Panthers where they will play four games in a stretch of five days. The Lady Panthers host Person at 6 on Thursday night in Hillsborough. Orange will travel to face crosstown rival Cedar Ridge on Friday night. On Saturday, Orange travels to face Western Alamance at noon in Elon.

Men’s basketball: Williams 69, Orange 53

A month of dominating Orange in Hillsborough, the Williams Bulldogs rushed out to a 6-0 lead and never trailed in a 69-50 win over the Panthers.

The Bulldogs placed three players in double figures. Kenan King led Williams with 18 points, while Grayson McCadden had 17.

After Williams pushed its lead to 26 points early in the third quarter, Orange coach Derryl Britt benched his seniors for the final 13 minutes of regulation and played a lineup that included three freshmen. Xandrell Pinnix, in just his third varsity game, led Orange with 13 points.

Jerec Thompson, who missed the opening game of the season against Williams, was held to four points, his lowest output of the season. It was the first time this year that Thompson didn’t hit a 3-pointer in a game. Williams’ forward Alijah Richmond, who scored eight touchdowns in two games against Orange this year, defending Thompson for most of the game.

Orange trailed 21-10 at the end of the first quarter and the Bulldogs were never seriously threatened again.

The Panthers (4-12, 0-5 in the Central Carolina Conference) will return to action against Cedar Ridge on Friday night. The Red Wolves have beaten the Panthers four straight times.

Williams has won three in a row.

WOMEN’S GAME:

WILLIAMS 44, ORANGE 41

ORANGE: Aaliyah Harris 6, Samantha George 13, Erin Jordan-Cornell 12, Jada Reed 3, Jarmil Wingate 4, Evelyn George 3.

WILLIAMS: Jamera Shaw 4, Taniya Hunter-Smith 15, Kamryn Russell 9, Bri Scott 6, Jainasia Bailey 10

MEN’S GAME:

WILLIAMS 69, ORANGE 50

ORANGE: Jerec Thompson 4, Amare Morgan 6, Joshua Jackson 6, Ryan Moss 2, Kaleb Barhhardt 4, Darius Corbett 2, Thomas Loch 3, Xandrell Pinnix 13, Michael Clark 4, Freddy Sneed 6.

WILLIAMS: Kenan King 18, Avery Miles 2, Cam’ron Jones 15, Alijah Richmond 2, Grayson McCadden 17, Milton Turner 6, Willie Turner 6, Corey Reaves 2, Isaiah Ramsey 1.

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior 195-pound wrestler Acoya Isley. On December 4, competing in his first major varsity tournament, Isley won the 195-pound championship at the Jim King/Orange Invitational at Orange High School. In the championship math, Isley defeated pinned Bartlett-Yancey’s Dylan Wall, the top seed, in 4:36. Isley pinned Walter Williams Chandler Baysdon in the quarterfinals. At the end of December, Isley finished runner-up in the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School at 195-pounds. In a 32-team event, Isley scored three pins leading up to the championship match. He pinned Dantrell Williams of Union Pines in the opening round in 5:15. In the quarterfinals, Isley finished off Joseph Poole of Granville Central in 1:16. In the semifinals, Isley pinned Maynor Ramos of South View in 1:50. In the championship match, Isley narrowly lost 2-1 to West Carteret’s Joshua Krepe, the top-seed. Isley won the Quentin Crosby Invitational at Dudley High School earlier this month. On Tuesday night, Isley will join his teammates in going for its 18th conference championship in 19 years as Orange faces Eastern Alamance at Orange High. It will be Senior Night for Orange’s Brendon Worsham, Nate Hecht, Avery Clark and Jaylyn Roberson. Isley’s goal for this year is to qualify for the 3A State Championships at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The last time the Orange men’s basketball team played in the South Granville Holiday Invitational, there were high expectations.

Yet it couldn’t have gone much worse.

In 2019, the Panthers rolled into Creedmoor with a 7-1 record, fresh off a 74-56 win over defending 3A State Champion Walter Williams. Yet orange came away with consecutive losses to Sanderson, Franklinton and Green Hope, and never returned to form for the rest of the season.

This holiday season, Orange has battled an injury to its top scorer during its only scrimmage, injuries and the usual assortment of Covid issues common among many programs across the state. It hampered Orange to a 2-7 start to the season, yet this year’s trip to South Granville was much more joyous and successful.

On December 30, the Panthers defeated Granville Central 67-59 to win the third place game of the Navy Bracket in the South Granville Holiday Invitational. The Panthers started the tournament with a 73-70 victory over Rolesville. In the semifinals, Cary held off Orange 69-64.

The Navy Bracket championship game was slated to be contested between Hillside and Cary, but it was never played because of COVID issues within the Hillside program.

Orange guard Jerec Thompson was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the Navy Bracket. In three games, Thompson scored 33 points against Rolesville, 32 points against Cary and 17 points against Granville Central.

In addition, Orange point guard J.J. Thompson was selected to the All-Navy Bracket team. Against Granville Central, J.J. scored a career-high 27 points off 8-of-13 shooting from 3-point range.

The Granville Central tournament was the debut of junior Amare Morgan, who hit the ground running with a double-double in his third varsity game. Against Granville Central, Morgan amassed 14 points and 16 rebounds. Granville Central, coached by 1992 Orange graduate Mike McDaniel (who was an All-PAC-6 linebacker with the football team but never played basketball), is 12-4 overall.

In his first varsity game, Morgan scored 15 points against Rolesville. Against the Rams, Orange held on for dear life as the Rams made a late run, but Jerec Thompson knocked down key free throws down the stretch.

In the loss to Cary on December 30, the Panthers were held to a tournament-low 39% shooting from the field against the rangier Imps. In addition to his 32 points, Thompson led Orange with seven rebounds, but no other Panther had more than three. Darius Corbett added 13 points, but was the only other Panther in double-figures. Giovanni Prete paced Cary with 20 points.

Thompson finished 14-of-17 from the free-throw line.

In the 3rd place game, Granville Central led 27-11 midway through the second quarter. Morgan scored Orange’s final two field goals of the first half to reduce the Panthers’ deficit to 31-22.

J.J. Thompson had three points at halftime, but Clark Kent went into the phone booth at halftime and emerged as Superman. He drained seven 3-pointers and scored 24 points in the second half as the Panthers outscored Granville Central 21-9 in the third quarter. Thompson drained three shots from downtown in the opening four minutes of the third quarter to cut the Granville Central led to 36-32. Thompson also set up Morgan with a feed in the low post for another field goal. Then Morgan drained a 3-pointer to put Orange ahead 37-36. Ky’saun Russell and Jordan Alston scored consecutive baskets to put Granville back ahead 40-37, but J.J. swished another 30pointer to tie the game, then added another with 14 seconds remaining in the quarter to put Orange ahead for good.

Orange shot 7-of-11 from 3-point range in the third quarter against Granville, then shot 7-of-12 from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter. J.J. Thompson added three more 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Again, illness, injures and interruptions to the schedule have impacted Orange since the holiday tournament. The Panthers have played just one conference game since Christmas, a 88-79 loss to Person. Since then, the winter weather has limited Orange to only two non-conference games in two weeks: an 80-63 loss at Wake Forest and an 87-66 defeat against Garner.

The Panthers were supposed to face Cedar Ridge on Friday and South Garner on Saturday, but neither took place because of the snow on Friday night. On Tuesday, Orange will travel to Walter Williams, travel to Cedar Ridge on Friday, then go to Western Alamance on Saturday at 2.

With an overall record of 4-12, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say this is a make-or-break week in regards to making the state playoffs.

Jamar Davis: One of the most versatile performers in Orange High history has made his return to the N.C. State Track & Field team. Jamar Davis returned at the Virginia Tech Invite in Blacksburg, VA on January 14. Davis competed in the triple jump, where he had a leap of 15.21 meters, the 18th-best mark in the NCAA this year. In the long jump, Davis finished 3rd at 7.67 meters, the fifth-best mark in the country and the eighth best in N.C. State history. Davis is a 2018 Orange High graduate. In his final meet at Orange, he was named the Most Outstanding Performer at the 3A State Championships at North Carolina A&T University. In his senior year, Davis won the 3A State Championship in the long jump and the triple jump. In addition, Davis was the leading scorer on the men’s soccer team in 2017, arguably the best team in school history. Davis helped Orange win over White Oak in Jacksonville in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs. Also, Davis wrestled for three years and compiled a record of 73-28 with 40 pinfall victories. In his sophomore year, Davis was in the final individual match against Northwood with the Chargers leading 36-34. Davis defeated Northwood’s Luke Orbich 19-4 for a technical fall, and Orange won the dual match 39-36. The Panthers went on to win the Big 8 Conference Championship. Davis missed last season, but qualified for the ACC Championship in 2019 in indoor and outdoor track and field in the triple jump.

Marvin Jones: The North Carolina Central men’s indoor track and field team started its season last month. Jones, a former Cedar Ridge All-Big 8 Conference performer, finished second in the men’s high jump at the Winston-Salem College Kickoff at the JDL Fast Track on December 5. Jones’ best jump was 2.11 meters. It was the first event for Central’s indoor team in 644 days. On Sunday, the Eagles returned to action in the JDL Flat is Fast Invitational, also in Winston-Salem. Jones won the event with a leap of 2.08 meters, the best among 22 other competitors, including schools like South Carolina-Upstate, Davidson, UNC Pembroke and Mars Hill.

Connor Crabtree: The Richmond Spiders men’s basketball team defeated La Salle 64-56 at Tom Goal Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday. Crabtree came off the bench to play two minutes. It was Richmond coach Chris Mooney’s 300th win. On January 18, the Spiders defeated Fordham 83-70 at Rose Hill Gym in Bronx, NY. Crabtree scored three points, scoring his only basket off a 3-pointer. He played eight minutes. The Spiders are 12-7 overall, 3-3 in the Atlantic 10. They travel to Rhode Island on Tuesday

Joey McMullin: The Sandhills Community College men’s basketball team is back in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III poll, ranked #15. Not only that, but the Flyers have won five in a row after beating Lenoir Community College 94-78 in Pinehurst on Saturday. McMullin played 16 minutes and scored four points in the victory over the Lacers. He shot 2-of-6 from the field. McMullin also grabbed four rebounds and recorded an assist. Sandhills is 15-6 overall, 4-0 in Region X. The Flyers will face Central Carolina Community College in Sanford on Wednesday.

Braden Homsey: On Friday, the Division III Ferrum College wrestling team lost to Averett 35-3 at the Grant Center in Danville, VA. Homsey was the only Panther to win his match on the day. Competing at 197-pounds, Homsey defeated Averett’s William Baldwin 16-1, earning a technical fall. Ferrum is 5-5 in dual matches this season. Next weekend, they will compete in the Pete Wilson Invitational in Wheaton, IL.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is freshman swimming Matthew Czar. Matthew is one of many local swimmers who have grown up with the Hillsborough Aquatic Club. He has been swimming since he was in elementary school at the Orange County Sportsplex. In his first meet with Cedar Ridge in November, Czar finished first in the 200 yard freestyle, Czar qualified for the 3A Central Regionals by finishing first at 2:01.40, edging out Orange’s Nick Bacara. Czar beat the automatic qualifying time by nine-hundredths-of-a-second. Later in the meet, Czar teamed with fellow freshman Alexander Hill, junior Jason Pattinson and sophomore Nikhil Agans to qualify for regionals in the 400 yard freestyle. The team finished 2nd in the meet at 3:47.61. Cedar Ridge will compete in the Central Carolina Conference championship meet on January 28 at the Orange County Sportsplex. Czar and several of his teammates will compete in the 3A Central Regionals at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Saturday, February 5.