Month: November 2022

Orange volleyball senior Ashlyn Davis formally signed with the University of Lynchburg during a ceremony at Orange High Gymnasium on Monday afternoon. This season, Davis played on the right side for an Orange team that won 19 games, its most wins since 2008. In her junior and senior seasons, Orange won a game in the state playoffs. Davis compiled 42 kills, eleven blocks, 37 digs and four assists as the Panthers earned an automatic trip to the 3A State Playoffs, where they swept Fike in the opening round. During Monday’s ceremony, Davis was joined by Orange volleyball coach Kelly Young and assistant coach Rachel Nash. She was one of seven seniors on the 2022 Orange volleyball team and the second to announce her intentions to play at the college level. Young said that Davis was one of the people who helped shaped the culture of their program. She has played five years of club volleyball as well as two varsity seasons at Orange. 

The Orange wrestling team stated the season successfully at former conference rival Southern Durham on Wednesday night. In the Spartans Quad, Orange actually started the dual match season against a Central Carolina Conference opponent, Eastern Alamance. The Panthers prevailed 70-9. Colton Jones, Adrian Sierra, Jace Womble, Andre Hill, Jayden Ramirez, Elijah Acosta, and Hugo Vazquez all scored pins as Orange got off to a successful start in defending its CCC Conference championship. Orange defeated Southern Durham 75-0. The Spartans, who played Northern Nash in the 3A State Football playoffs on Friday night, had a high amount of forfeits. Acoya Isley and Vazquez had pins against the Spartans. Quadir Medley (126), Talan Pearley (138) and Andre Hills (170) also scored pins. The Panthers ended the night with a 60-18 victory over Enloe. Womble, Hill, Isley, and Acosta all notched pinfall wins for Orange.Luke Stitz at 120 pounds earned his first career win over the Panthers with a pin in 4:35 over Francisco Loncan. Sierra pinned Owen Donohoe in 2:45 at 113 pounds. Medley defeated Souvik Milligan in 1:39. Orange will continue its season in the Orange quad at Panthers Gymnasium on Tuesday night. That will include another conference match against Western Alamance. 

It was a night of new faces for the Orange men’s basketball team in its season-opening 55-50 win over East Chapel Hill. Orange coach Darryl Britt started four players making their varsity debut, including three freshmen. Sophomore guard Xandrell Pinnix, in only his 14th varsity game, was the most experienced starter for the Panthers. Yet Orange came away with a victory against an East Chapel Hill team that won a conference championship only two years ago. In his varsity debut, Coleman Cloer had 17 points to lead all scorers. Pinnix finished with 14 points, all in the second half. With Orange leading 25-22 at halftime, Pinnix opened the second half with consecutive 3-pointers to push the Panthers lead to nine points. Another freshman, Kai Wade, had ten points. Junior center Ryan Honeycutt, also playing his first varsity game, had eight points as the Panthers captured its season opener for the first time since 2019. Orange will travel to Chapel Hill on Tuesday night for its final game before Thanksgiving break. 

It is a new day for Orange men’s basketball.

More to the point, Coach Derry Britt has as much depth and size to start the 2022-2023 season than any other time in his five-year tenure. That’s mainly because of an infusion of youth that arrived over the summer and delivered a flashy and authoritative result against an experienced foe in the season opener on Friday night.

Facing an East Chapel Hill team that had five seniors log plenty of minutes, Britt started four players making their varsity debut, three of them freshman, and still beat the Wildcats 55-50 at Panther Gymnasium.

Freshman Coleman Cloer, the younger brother of former Orange High quarterback Garrett Cloer, led the Panthers with 17 points in his first varsity game. Sophomore Xandrell Pinnix added 14 points, all in the second half.

East, whose only lead in the game was 2-0 after a stickback basket by Makai Rhodes, was paced by junior Isaiah Skyron, a sharp shooting guard who finished with 16 points.

Last season, the Wildcats swept the regular season series from the Panthers, including a 16-point win in Hillsborough.

Orange has six players on its roster with at least one year of varsity experience, but freshmen Cloer, Mason Robinson and Kai Wade all started against the Wildcats. Center Ryan Honeycutt, a 6-foot-6 inch junior who didn’t play basketball at all last year, also made his varsity debut on Friday night.

The impetus for Britt going on started in June when Cloer and Wade, fresh out of 8th grade, started in the Orange High Summer Tournament. The Panthers won an 8-team, three-day tournament, which left Britt anticipating the season-opener like a child waiting for Christmas morning.

After five months of waiting, Britt and his team finally got to open the presents on Friday night and it went as well as expected.

“I thought we were a little nervous coming out,” Britt said. “I expected that because this was a lot of players’ first high school game. We had a decent crowd here so I knew they would be a little nervous. There’s a reason why they’re here and a reason why they’re starting for us. So I wanted them to get used to the environment and to play their game.”

With Orange leading 28-25 at the half, Pinnix opened the second half with consecutive 3-pointers. He finished with 12 points in the third quarter off four 3-pointers, which extended the Panthers’ lead to a dozen. Pinnix’s range from downtown made the difference after a cold shooting first half.

“He was 0-for-4 in the first half,” Britt said of Pinnix. ” I pulled him aside at halftime and told him they were all good looks for him and he needed to continue to shoot that. In our offense, he’s going to get those looks and he’s gotta continue to shoot that. I fully trust him and in the second half they started to fall.”

Orange bounced out to a 17-4 lead behind Cloer, whose first official basket in an Orange uniform came on a drive where he switched hands in mid-air on a lay-in, while getting fouled by Styron. Cloer scored nine points in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Wildcats held the Panthers to one field goal. The Wildcats closed the first half with nine consecutive points, keyed by Martez and Marquez Cotton, who each scored five points in the second quarter. Dillon McMurtry fed backup center Isaiah Smith for a lay-in with seven seconds remaining to narrow Orange’s deficit to 28-25 at halftime.

Wade, in his varsity debut, had six points in the final quarter. All of Orange’s scoring came from its five starters.

ORANGE 55, EAST CHAPEL HILL 50

EAST CHAPEL HILL-Dillon McMurtry 3, Isaiah Styron 16, Makai Rhodes 2, Thailand Evans 3, Jacob Bryan 1, Martez Cotton 12, Marquez Cotton 9, Isaiah Smith 4.

ORANGE-Mason Robinson 6, Xandrell Pinnix 14, Kai Wade 10, Coleman Cloer 17, Ryan Honeycutt 8.

3-Point Baskets: East Chapel Hill 8 (Styron 4, Martez Cotton 2, Marquez Cotton, McMurtry)

ORANGE 5 (Pinnix 4, Cloer)

FOULED OUT: East Chapel Hill (Marquez Cotton)

Orange: none

The new era of Orange High women’s basketball got off to a successful start on Friday night. In the season-opener at Panther Gymnasium, Orange defeated East Chapel Hill 48-31. Orange senior guard Jada Reed led Orange with 12 points, seven of which came in the second half. At the conclusion of last season, Orange lost guards Aaliyah Harris and Samantha George, forwards Jarmil Wingate, Haley Reynolds and center Aisha Caron. The season opener was the varsity debut for five Orange players, including freshman Maura McMurtry and sophomore Shannon Murphy. After spending the past two years playing off guard, Reed is now the full-time point guard for the Lady Panthers. She joins senior center Erin Jordan-Cornell and forward Katelyn Van Mater as the veterans on a squad that hopes to return to the 3A State Playoffs this season. Orange, which captured its season opener for the fifth time in seven years, will travel to Chapel Hill on Tuesday night for its final game before Thanksgiving break. 

Orange High senior pitcher Ryan Hench has formally signed with North Carolina. Hench is about to enter his fourth season as a Panther under head coach Jason Knapp, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s really only been one full year. As a freshman, Hench made one pitching appearance and that was in relief at Eastern Alamance. His sophomore year it when Hench began to blossom as a Panther. Against Chapel Hill on May 11, 2021, Hench threw a two-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts as the Panthers won 5-0, sewing up a spot in the 3A State Playoffs. Hench was named the 2021 co-Big 8 Pitcher of the Year. Last season, Hench led Orange in wins as the Panthers won the Central Carolina Conference regular season championship. Hench helps Orange reach the 3rd round of the 3A State Playoffs for the first time since 2017 with postseason wins over Cedar Ridge and Terry Sanford. In 2022, Hench led Orange with a .423 batting average, 26 RBIs, nine doubles and five home runs. Hench had 80 strikeouts and 24 walks last season. During a ceremony last week inside Orange High gymnasium, Hench was joined by his father Jack Hench, his mother Pam Hench and his brother Cooper Hench, a former Orange High pitcher and 3rd baseman who now plays on the N.C. State Club baseball team.