Cedar Ridge High School

Over the past few years, the state playoffs have been dominated by local volleyball teams.

It certainly appears that Cedar Ridge and Orange will take the two automatic state playoffs spots in the Central Carolina Conference this year. Exactly who will finish first will likely be determined on October 12 when Orange travels to Cedar Ridge to complete the regular season series.

But there’s a chance that Hillsborough will have a team in the 3A State Soccer Playoffs for the first time in five years.

The Orange men’s soccer team is currently ranked #25 in the 3A East Region. The Panthers had a five-game winning streak spanning September 14-26. Though Orange stubbed its toe in a 4-0 loss at Eastern Alamance last week, the Panthers still likely control its own fate. However, it won’t be easy this week. On Monday, the Panthers travel to defending 3A State Champion Western Alamance. Then on Wednesday, the Panthers will host Walter Williams, currently the #1 ranked team in the 3A East Region.

Orange’s last trip to the 3A State Playoffs came in 2017. Jamar Davis, who will surely go down as one of the most versatile athletes in Orange High history, led the Panthers in scoring that season. In a wild scoreline, Orange defeated White Oak 6-2 in double overtime to advance to the second round. It was Orange’s first win in the state playoffs in eight years. Davis had a hat trick as the Panthers scored four goals in 25 minutes.

The Orange women’s soccer team has put itself in a position to win a conference championship, which would most likely be a first in school history. Last week, the Lady Panthers surprised Walter Williams 5-4 at Panther Tennis Courts. It was the Bulldogs first loss of the season. Shannon and Erin Sollars won the deciding doubles match, beating Abigail Brown and Jaden Wilson 9-7.

The Lady Panthers defeated cross town rival Cedar Ridge 6-3 on Wednesday. Orange will host Person on Monday. Orange looks likely to reach the 3A State Dual Team playoffs for the second straight year.

Without any further delay, here’s the Magnificent 7 for the week of September 11-17.

1. Cameron Lloyd, Sr. Cedar Ridge–Lloyd played three matches over three days for the Red Wolves volleyball team. She had a season-high 20 kills in a 3-0 win over Southern Alamance on September 14. Lloyd had six kills, two aces, a block, and eight digs against an improved Western Alamance squad in Elon on September 13.
2. Makayla Davis, Jr. Orange–Davis won five matches as the Orange women’s tennis team captured wins over Northwood, Riverside and Roxboro Community School. Davis won her singles match against Northwood 6-2, 6-0 and teamed with Sydney Rogers to win at #2 doubles 8-6. Two days later, Davis won a singles match over Riverside 8-1, then teamed with Rogers again to win at #2 doubles 8-5.
3. Cameron Mayhew, Jr. Cedar Ridge–Once again, Mayhew worked by the hour in defeating Walter Williams 4-6, 6-3, 12-10 on September 14. The following day, the Red Wolves’ women’s tennis team defeated Western Alamance 8-1 in Elon. Mayhew finished with a 6-0, 6-0 singles win. Later, she teamed with sophomore Adeline Cummings to win at #1 doubles 8-2.
4. Enzo Bruhns, Jr. Orange–Scored game-winning goal for the Orange men’s soccer team in a 3-1 win over Cedar Ridge to win the opening leg of the Hillsborough Derby on September 14. It was Orange’s first win over Cedar Ridge since October 2018.
5. Naomi Dyreng, Soph. Cedar Ridge–Dyreng had her first career first place finish for the Cedar Ridge women’s cross country team in a tri-meet against Northwood, Western Alamance and Walter Williams. Dyreng crossed the finish line at 22:50.61 as the Red Wolves women’s team finished 1st with 25 points.
6. Katie Silcott, Fres. Orange–Led Orange in assists and aces as the Lady Panthers rolled to a victory over Northwood on September 13. Silcott has alternated between setter and outside hitter for the Lady Panthers in recent weeks. Orange is currently one game behind Cedar Ridge for 1st place in the Central Carolina Conference.
7. Shannon Murphy, Orange–Murphy shot the lowest round for the Orange women’s golf team this season during a meet at the Valley in Burlington on September 6. Murphy shot a 51 to lead the Orange women’s golf team.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior cross country runner Roman Morrell. Already this season, Morrell has two first-place finishes. On August 27, Morrell won the Ronald Horton Cross Country Classic at Northwood High School, beating out 19 other competitors. On September 13, Morrell finished first in a twi-meet against Walter Williams and Northwood. It propelled the Red Wolves team to a victory. Morrell are to North Carolina from New Hampshire. Last year, he ran in the 3A State Championships in Kernersville, where he came in 26th. Morrell had a top-10 finish in the 2021 3A Mideast Regionals, where he finished ninth. In addition to cross country, Morrell also competed in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 meters in outdoor track & field, where he qualified for the Mideast Regionals. Earlier this year, Morrell finished 2nd in the Early Bird Challenge at WakeMed Soccer Park in a field that included 178 other runners. Last Saturday, Morrell finished 2nd in the 38th annual Greensboro Cross Country Invitational at Hagan Stone Park in Pleasant Garden. 

Football: The Gravelly Hill Middle School football team won its first game of the season last Wednesday, defeating Culbreth 34-8 in Efland.

Kayden Bradsher rushed for over 150 yards and four touchdowns as the Grizzlies improved to 1-0. Kamaal Smith had a receiving touchdown and a rushing touchdown. Gravelly Hill is scheduled to host Southern Roxboro on Wednesday afternoon in Efland. They will travel to Orange Middle School on October 5.

Boy’s Soccer: Orange Middle 6, Northern Middle 0: Lachlan McPherson scored five goals as the Chargers earned a victory in Roxboro. Nikola Henry added another goal. Eunko Newell earned the clean sheet in net. Orange Middle will return to action at Stanback on Thursday in the Orange-Person Athletic Conference.

To all coaches, parents and students at middle schools, we want to increase our coverage of middle school athletics here on Hillsboroughsports.com. In 2019, our coverage was starting to pick up with consistent response from coaches–then the pandemic hit.

My contact information is hamlin37@hotmail.com.

What we’re looking for is pretty simple.

1. The final score of a game, meet or cross country event.
2. The names of the players who scored touchdowns, rushing yards, receiving yards, goals, points, assists, kills, blocks, etc.
3. Any other performers who stood out in a particular game or meet.

We’re looking for results after games for Orange Middle, Stanback and Gravelly Hill. If coaches, parents or students could reach out to us after games, we can get our coverage back to where it was before COVID-19. That helps everyone because it accomplishes the goal of this website, which is complete coverage of Hillsborough sports across the entire northern Orange County area.

Again, our email is hamlin37@hotmail.com. If we could hear from coaches after every game with the information above, that would meet our goal.

Good to see the local middle schools off to a good start for this academic year. Let’s make Middle School Review a regular thing again.

Not one. Not two. But there’s three sports where Cedar Ridge and Orange will tangle this week.

Hopefully Tropical Storm Ian won’t get in the way of Friday’s football game between Cedar Ridge and Orange at Auman Stadium. It will be a battle of two young teams that are struggling to find their way in a new conference controlled by the Alamance County schools, where football is a way of life from the time children are midway through elementary school–at the latest.

On Thursday, Cedar Ridge and Orange will face off in volleyball at Red Wolves Gymnasium. The Red Wolves remain #2 in the 3A East Region behind J.H. Rose, the only team to beat the Red Wolves this season. Since then, the Red Wolves have won 42 consecutive sets during a 14-match winning streak. During that amazing run, Orange came the closest to ending that streak when they faced Cedar Ridge n September 6, and some around Lady Panthers circles believe they did in the opening set. But because of a scoreboard error, Orange allegedly lost a point, which made a big difference when the Lady Panthers lost four set points, and eventually the set entirely, 30-28. If Cedar Ridge wins, they will all but sew up its third straight CCC championship.

On Wednesday, Orange and Cedar Ridge will have a rematch in women’s tennis. It’s a big week for Orange, who will face Walter Williams this afternoon in Hillsborough with first place on the line in the CCC. The Lady Panthers are on track to earn the second automatic bid from the CCC to the 3A State Dual Team Tournament.

So, going back two weeks, here are the top performers from the week of September 4-10.

1. Hank Nunnery, Soph. Orange: Nunnery threw for a career-high five touchdowns in the first half of Orange’s 45-0 win over Granville Central on September 9. Nunnery may have been the first Orange quarterback ever to throw for five touchdowns in a half. Nunnery also had a career-high 196 yards as the Panthers won its first game under head coach DeVante Pettiford.
2. Julie Altieri, Sr. Cedar Ridge: The all-time assists leader in Cedar Ridge volleyball history, Altieri was at another level against crosstown rival Orange on September 6. Altieri finished with 39 assists as the Red Wolves defeated the Lady Panthers 3-0. Altieri, who has 1,797 career assists, also had four kills and six digs as the Red Wolves remained undefeated in the Central Carolina Conference.
3. Isabel Jones, Sr. Orange: Jones won a total of three matches as the Orange women’s tennis team defeated Cedar Ridge and Person. On September 8, Jones won her singles match against Person 6-0, 6-0. Later in the day, she teamed with Makayla Davis to win at #2 doubles. Against Cedar Ridge, Jones won at #4 singles. Jones and Sydney Rogers are two members of the Orange women’s soccer team who also play tennis.
4. Nate Sorrells, Jr. Orange: Sorrells had a career-high 157 yards in the Panthers’ win over Granville Central. Sorrells added three touchdowns, including a rushing score to open the game. Sorrells is Orange’s leading rusher. He also led the team in receptions for the opening four weeks of the season. Sorrells is in his second year as a starting wingback.
5. Cameron Mayhew, Jr. Cedar Ridge: Mayhew worked by the hour during this particular week. She had a four-hour marathon singles match against Orange’s Shannon Sollars. Two days later, Mayhew defeated Eastern Alamance at #2 singles 6-0, 6-0 as Cedar Ridge defeated the Eagles 5-1. The Red Wolves still have a chance to reach the state dual team playoffs.
6. Aubrey Jordan, Fr. Orange: Against Cedar Ridge, Jordan finished with six kills as the Lady Panthers nearly became the first CCC team this year to win a set against the Red Wolves. Jordan also had a strong game two days later as Orange defeated Walter Williams in Burlington 3-1.
7. Chris Mendez, Sr. Cedar Ridge: Had a hat trick for the Cedar Ridge men’s soccer team in its 10-1 win over Person on September 7 in Roxboro. It was the Red Wolves’ first conference win of the season. Mendez has two hat tricks for Cedar Ridge this season.

The Cedar Ridge volleyball team increased several streaks in its 3-0 win over Person on Thursday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Cedar Ridge has now won 14 in a row overall. They have captured 42 consecutive sets. And they have now won 31 straight conference matches. Senior Melissa Benkowitz finished with eight kills, a new season-high, against the Rockets. Junior Rachel Alverson had seven assists as the Red Wolves improved its record to 14-1. They started the second half of its Central Carolina Conference schedule with a win and are now 7-0 in league play. The Red Wolves ends the week with two wins. On Monday, they defeated Jordan in Durham. Next week, Cedar Ridge will journey to Northwood to face the Chargers. Then they will host crosstown rival Orange, who remains one game behind the Red Wolves for first place in the CCC. Cedar Ridge is going for its third straight conference championship.