Month: February 2025

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The season ended last week for the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team, but they took steps forward this year. In November, they ended a 16-game road winning streak when they defeated Seaforth 59-50 in Pittsboro. It was the first road win for the Red Wolves’ men’s basketball team since February 3, 2023. Senior Braeden Wilbourn scored 16 points, 13 in the second half. In just his third varsity game, Tripp Beasley scored 15 points. Later that week, the Red Wolves won another road game over Durham School of the Arts at Sykes Gymnasium. Cedar Ridge surpassed its win total from all of last season on December 11 when they defeated Eno River Academy at Red Wolves Gymnasium in Hillsborough. Wilbourn scored 20 points against the Bobcats while Beasley added 15 points. Cedar Ridge coach Mike Jones found some important front line players like junior center Jack Kelsey and forward Kevin Ntim. On January 28, Cedar Ridge defeated Southern Alamance 52-43 in Graham, it’s first Central Conference road win in nearly two years. Kelsey and sophomore guard Jordan Jacobson scored 16 points for the Red Wolves against the Patriots. Cedar Ridge defeated Northern Durham 61-57 in Hillsborough on December 13. As Wilbourn will graduate in June, the Red Wolves will look to build around Beasley, Jacobson, Ntim and Kelsey for next season and beyond.

Cedar Ridge men’s basketball’s Braeden Wilbourn & Tripp Beasley discuss win over SEAFORTH

The season ended last week for the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team, but they took steps forward this year. In November, they ended a 16-game road winning streak when they defeated Seaforth 59-50 in Pittsboro. It was the first road win for the Red Wolves’ men’s basketball team since February 3, 2023.

The Orange lacrosse team may have lost the highest scorer in school history, but their expectations aren’t any lower for this season. After winning the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship, the Panthers have opened this season 2-0 with dominant victories over Southeast Alamance and Northern Guilford. On Tuesday, Owen Wimstt had a hat trick while Dylan Herndon scored two goals as the Orange dominated the Stallions in Haw River in the season-opener. Luke Nevius and Luke Stitz each recorded three points while Jackson Eakes added two goals. Overall, 13 different Panthers scored goals. Eakes handled duties as the faceoff circle, winning eight draws. Ryder Fesperman also had eight faceoff wins. In Orange’s home opener on Wednesday night, the Panthers defeated Northern Guilford 11-3. Jay Parker scored four goals while Brett Clark added three goals. Orange lost plenty on the defensive end with the graduations of Sascha Van Praag and Alden Cathey. Andrew Jouannet came up big on the defensive end against the Nighthawks. Holden Ray forced a takeaway and Aidan Monteith also had takeaways. Goalkeeper Jackson Runkle had seven saves. Orange has won four consecutive conference championships under head coach Chandler Zirkle. Next week, the Panthers will open conference play against Walter Williams at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough.

Orange lacrosse’s Holden Ray, Aidan Monteith & Drew Jouannet discuss 2-0 start to season

The Orange lacrosse team may have lost the highest scorer in school history, but their expectations aren’t any lower for this season. After winning the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship, the Panthers have opened this season 2-0 with dominant victories over Southeast Alamance and Northern Guilford.

The Orange men’s basketball team looked the end of its season right in the eye on Tuesday night and didn’t blink. Trailing 63-61 with 35 seconds remaining, Michael Clark hit a 3-point play with :31.7 remaining to lift the Panthers past C.B. Aycock 69-66 in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs. It was senior guard Xandrell Pennix who started the rally when he deflected an inbounds pass thrown by Aycock’s Jarvis Williams, who caught the ball while standing out of bounds. Clark got an offensive rebound and scored while getting fouled, leading to the game-winning free throw. Sophomore Kamaal Smith had several big plays in the final 30 seconds, including two free throws to put Orange ahead 67-63. The Golden Falcons had a chance to tie with :2.5 remaining, but Smith stole the inbounds pass and ran out the clock. Pennix led Orange with 23 points, his third straight game with over 20 points. Senior Freddy Sneed, in possibly the final home game of his career, had five steals and four assists. Orange has won state playoff games in back-to-back years for the first time since 2016-2017. Up next will be a familiar face: the Person Rockets. It will be the fourth matchup between the Panthers and the Rockets this year. Tipoff in the 2nd round of the state playoffs will be at 7PM on Friday night in Roxboro.

Orange men’s basketball’s Xandrell Pennix, Freddy Sneed & Kamaal Smith discuss win over C.B. Aycock

The Orange men’s basketball team looked the end of its season right in the eye on Tuesday night and didn’t blink. Trailing 63-61 with 35 seconds remaining, Michael Clark hit a 3-point play with :31.7 remaining to lift the Panthers past C.B. Aycock 69-66 in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs.

Some teams would shrink from the adversity of losing its experienced point guard with its season on the brink in the state playoffs.

On Tuesday night, Orange fed off of it. And they advanced.

Michael Clark, a senior co-Captain, scored off an offensive rebound while drawing a blocking foul with :32.7 remaining against C.B. Aycock. Clark’s subsequent free throw would put the Panthers ahead for good as Orange rallied to defeat the Golden Falcons 69-66 in Hillsborough on Tuesday night.

Orange (19-8) advances to face Person in the second round on Friday night. It will be the fourth matchup between the Rockets and the Panthers this season.

The final minute of the game had parallels to crushing Orange losses over the past two weeks that cost them the Central Conference regular season and tournament championships. Point guard Kai Wade fouled out with 1:24 remaining in regulation, just as he did when the Panthers lost to Eastern Alamance in the final regular season game, which the Eagles pulled out to win a share of the regular season title.

The Falcons took a 63-61 lead after Zimere Mcclarin scored off an offensive rebound with 1;24 remaining. Moments later, Wade was called for using his off arm to ward off Jaiden Williams, an offensive foul. Instead of Orange’s offence crumbling, their defense created opportunities.

Orange senior Xandrell Pennix slapped the subsequent midcoast inbounds pass back at Aycock guard Jarvis Williams, who caught the ball off the deflection while still standing out of bounds, leading to a Falcon turnover.

Pennix attempted a 3-pointer from the corner but missed. Clark captured the rebound, took a single dribble and forced up a shot from the middle of the paint against Aycock center Janeson Steele. The shot was good and, after a bit of a delay, Steele was called for a blocking foul.

After Clark’s free throw put Orange ahead 64-63, Panther guard Kamaal Smith nearly stole the inbounds pass. After a scramble on the floor, it was picked up by the Falcons’ Dominick Jones, who sprinted down the floor, floated between Clark and center Jalen Crayton but missed a chipee at the rim. Steele tapped the offensive rebound but came up short. Smith got the board, was fouled and sank two free throws with :22.1 remaining, putting the Panthers ahead 66-63.

Aycock’s Jarvis Williams beat the Orange full-court pressure down the floor on a breakaway, but missed a layup, leading to another Smith rebound and free throw. Aycock had a chance to tie with :2.7 remaining, but Smith stole the inbounds pass from three-quarters court and dribbled out the clock.

Aycock, who finished 2nd behind East Wake in the Quad County Conference, used its length and size to throw Orange’s offense into a tizzy early. The Panthers didn’t score in the opening 6:13. Pennix, who led the Panthers with 23 points, ended the drought with a drive to the basket with 1:47 remaining. Yet the Falcons couldn’t take advantage of it, shooting only 2-of-10 in the opening stanza. Remarkably, the Panthers scored 15 points in the final two minutes of the first quarter, keyed by 3-pointers from Wade and Pennix to take a 15-6 lead.

Aycock shot 7-of-9 in the second quarter, including three 3-pointers, outscoring Orange 22-8 to take a 28-23 halftime lead.

After Steele made two free throws to put the Falcons ahead 29-24 in the third quarter, Clark went on a personal 5-0 run to tie the game, capped with a 3-pointer assisted by Hector Garrido. Jaiden Williams, who led Aycock with 25 points, tied the game with two free throws. Orange scored on its next seven possessions, starting when Garrido took a pass from Pennix and earned an old school 3-point play while getting fouled by Jarvis Williams. Pennix and Wade made 3-pointers to extend the Panther lead to 42-37.

Crayton scored on a stickback with 2:53 remaining in regulation to put the Panthers ahead 61-55, but the Falcons went on a 10-0 run to take the lead down he stretch. Jaiden Williams was responsible for six consecutive points, including a lay-in assisted by Jarvis Williams to tie it up at 61-61 with 1:46 remaining.

It’s the first time that Orange has won state playoff games in back-to-back years since 2016-2017. Last year, the Panthers defeated Currituck County in the opening round.

Regardless of the sport, there’s nothing certain when the state playoffs roll around.

It’s unclear if Tuesday night’s win by the Orange women’s basketball team was the final home game for its six seniors. But if it was, they went out playing some of their best basketball.

Facing a Swansboro team whose only two losses since Christmas came against Coastal Conference champion Croatan, Orange put together a wire-to-wire win in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs.

The 16th-seeded Orange Lady Panthers defeated #17 Swansboro 50-33 in Hillsborough to advance to the second round of the 3A State Playoffs. The Lady Panthers will face #1 seeded Terry Sanford in Fayetteville on Friday night. Terry Sanford rolled past West Johnson 60-13 in the opening round to improve to 24-3.

After being eliminated in the opening round of the state playoffs each of the past four years, Orange won a state playoff game for the first time since 2017, when they defeated Havelock in Hillsborough.

Orange improved to 18-9. It’s the most wins in a season for Orange since 2018-2019, a squad led by Icez Barnett and Lauren Cates that went 19-7. They were the last Lady Panther team to host a game in the state playoffs, falling to Eastern Alamance in the opening round.

Orange point guard Maura McMurtry led the Lady Panthers with 16 points. McMurtry shot 5-of-8 from 3-point range despite picking up her third foul with 4:36 remaining in the second quarter.

After amassing 24 double-doubles in her career , Evelyn George fell just short of #25. But she did flirt with a triple-double, coming away with a stat line of 13 points, seven rebounds, eight steals and five assists in what was likely her final home game. George surpassed 1,000 points against Cedar Ridge last month. She now has 739 career rebounds.

Swansboro (14-7) was led by Addison King, who finished with eleven points and nine rebounds.

The Pirates committed 30 turnovers, the most forced by Orange this season. The Lady Panthers had 19 steals, including five by senior center Marshea Byrd.

It was the first state playoff win for first-year Orange head coach Josh Underwood. On his staff is assistant Kaylen Campbell, who was a senior guard who scored 21 points in the Lady Panthers previous playoff win against Havelock eight years ago.

Orange opened the game on a 8-2 run with Byrd scoring a stickback shot from point-blank range, followed by a 3-pointer from George assist by classmate Shannon Murphy. McMurtry sank back-to-back 3-pointers, both assisted by George, to push the Lady Panther lead to 11-4. After a theft by George of a pass thrown by King, McMurtry dropped in a perfect pass to George between a double team. George scored on a lay-in from the right block while getting fouled by King for a 3-point play, pushing the Lady Panther lead to 14-4.

Swansboro’s Gianna Fandino shot the Pirates back into the game with consecutive 3-pointers, the final one assisted by Kendall Hackworth to cut the Orange advantage to 17-13 at the end of the first quarter.

Hackworth drained a 3-pointer to open the second quarter to cut the Orange lead to 18-16, which was the closest the Pirates would get to tying the game. Orange steadily pulled away, not only another Swansboro field goal for 3:33. Byrd scored on a 3-point play, taking an entry pass from George and scored from under the basket as she was hacked by Brooke Brady.

In the second half, King hit a running one-hander to reduce Orange’s lead to 29-24, but Alexis Stephens captured a pass from Addie Atkins for a lay-in while getting fouled. Stephens 3-point play put Orange head 35-24 with 4:37 remaining in the third quarter. George’s 3-pointer with 2:04 remaining in the frame kept the lead in double digits for the remainder of the game.

Orange senior Bryce Jones hit two free throws late in the fourth quarter in likely her final home game.

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There will be one final basketball doubleheader at Orange High this winter.

A difficult non-conference schedule led to the Orange men’s basketball team hosting a state playoff game for the second straight year.

The Orange women’s basketball team will host a state playoff game for the first time since 2019.

On Sunday, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association released the seeding for the state men’s and women’s basketball tournaments. Orange, which finished in third place in the Central Conference, received a #13 seed. The Panthers will host #20 C.B. Aycock in Hillsborough on Tuesday night in the opening round of the 3A State Tournament.

The Orange women, which reached the Central Conference Tournament championship game, received a #16 seed. The Lady Panthers will face Swansboro, the #17 seed from the Costal Conference in the opening round.

The Orange men’s team jumped ahead of Eastern Alamance in the final regular season RPI rankings released by the NCHSAA on Sunday morning. The Panthers played six games against teams that won their respective regular season conference championships. They defeated Voyager Academy, who finished 12-0 in the 1A Triangle North Athletic Conference, in the season-opener. They also won at Chapel Hill, which finished 3rd in the DAC Conference, and was one of only two teams to defeat Central Conference champion Person.

Though Eastern Alamance swept the regular season series from Orange to tie Person for a share of the conference regular season title, the Eagles also lost to Chapel Hill (65-37), Mt. Zion Christian Academy, whom the Panthers defeated 60-56 on November 22. The Eagles also dropped a game to Western Alamance, a squad the Panthers handily swept.

Most intriguing of all for Orange is the potential second-round matchup. The winner of Orange-C.B. Aycock will face either Person or Currituck County. The Panthers have played Person three times, with the total margin of victory being five points. On January 9, Person led 28-9 in Roxboro, but Orange roared back with its best outside shooting game of the season in a stunning 67-65 win in Roxboro.

On February 4, Person defeated Orange 53-52 in Hillsborough. Last Tuesday, Person’s Tyler Wilson scored on a stickback bucket at the buzzer to lift the Rockets over the Panthers 55-53.

Person (25-2), seeded #4, had both of its regular season losses come in a span of five days during January. They have avenged losses to Orange and Eastern Alamance this month and defeated both teams to win the Central Conference Tournament last week.

C.B. Aycock and Orange have one common opponent this season. East Wake, the champions of the Quad County Conference, defeated Orange 57-54 on December 27 in the South Granville Holiday Invitational when Jamal Tayborn hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in Creedmoor.

C.B. Aycock split the season series with East Wake. The Golden Falcons defeated East Wake 79-67 on December 20, just before the Warriors game against Orange. East Wake won the rematch 61-57 in Wendell.

C.B. Aycock is undefeated in February and takes an eight-game winning streak into the state playoffs. They haven’t lost since January 29.

Most likely, Tuesday will be the final home game for Orange seniors Xandrell Pennix, Freddy Sneed, Michael Clark, Ethan Ellis, Conrad Graham, Jamari McDaniel, Barrett Liner and Ian Wilson.

The Orange women’s basketball team surpassed Eastern Alamance in the final two weeks of the season to earn a home date in the state playoffs. Senior Shannon Murphy hit two free throws with one second remaining to push the Lady Panthers past Eastern Alamance 64-63 on February 18 in Hillsborough. Last week, the Panthers routed the Eagles 54-36 at Western Alamance to reach the title game of a conference tournament for the first time since 2017.

The winner of Orange-Swansboro will face either top-seeded Terry Sanford or #32 West Johnston.

Swansboro finished the regular season with five straight wins, including two victories over West Carteret in a span of eleven days to wind up in second place in the Coastal Conference. The Pirates (14-6) finished behind Croatan.

Orange (17-9) had a season-best six-game winning streak come to an end against Western Alamance in the Central Conference Tournament championship game in Hillsborough on Saturday. In all likelihood, it will be the final home game for Orange seniors Evelyn George, Marshea Byrd, Shannon Murphy, Chloe Caldwell, Bryce Jones and Rhiley Crabtree.

The last time the Orange women’s team hosted a state playoff game, it was 2019. Eastern Alamance upset Orange 57-52 in Hillsborough. The Lady Panthers last state playoff win came in 2017 when they defeated Havelock in the 2nd round behind 20 points from Kaylen Campbell, now a Lady Panthers assistant coach.