Orange High School

Orange swimming’s Piper White, Zoe Jones, Ainsley Rasinske & Addison Moore discuss relay championships

It was another dominant meet for the Orange women’s relay team at the Central Conference Swimming championships last Saturday at the Orange County SportsPlex. Orange won the 200 yard medley and the 400 yard freestyle relay races. Senior Zoe Jones, juniors Piper White and Ainsley Rasinske and freshman Addison Moore won the 200 yard medley relay at 2:02.68. They also teamed to win the 400 yard freestyle relay at 4:09.98. Last year, Jones and White were members of the 3A State Champion 200 yard medley relay team, along with Katie Belle Sikes and Riley White. Rasinske and White were members of the 200 yard freestyle relay state championship team last year. Piper White would go on to win two individual conference championships. White won the 50 yard freestyle title for the second year in a row with a time of 26.51 seconds. White also won the 100 yard freestyle at 59.63 seconds, holding off Sophia Shideler of Walter Williams. Piper White and Rasinske were members of the first relay team in school history to win a state championship in 2023. It was also Senior Day for Orange swimming. It was the final home meet for Jones, Kayleigh Karkoski, and Madeline Dutton. Jones finished 2nd in the 500 yard freestyle. The Lady Panthers will prepare for the Central Regional Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center on Saturday.

Orange swimming’s Piper White, Zoe Jones, Ainsley Rasinske & Addison Moore talk relay championships

It was another dominant meet for the Orange women’s relay team at the Central Conference Swimming championships last Saturday at the Orange County SportsPlex. Orange won the 200 yard medley and the 400 yard freestyle relay races. Senior Zoe Jones, juniors Piper White and Ainsley Rasinske and freshman Addison Moore won the 200 yard medley relay at 2:02.68.

Orange men’s basketball’s Kai Wade & Jalen Crayton discuss win at Western Alamance

The Orange men’s basketball team is back home after ten consecutive games on the road. The Panthers defeated Western Alamance 79-57 on Friday night in Elon to finish the long stretch 7-3. Kai Wade scored 23 points as the Panthers maintained its share of first place in the Central Conference. Wade exploded for 18 points in the first quarter, included a 3-pointer at the first quarter buzzer to push the Panthers to a double-digit lead. Orange sophomore center Jalen Crayton continued to be a dominant force inside, finishing with six points. Orange defeated Western Alamance for the seventh consecutive time. Wade was one of three Panthers in double figures. Senior Xandrell Pennix added 12 points as he continues his march to 1,000. Senior Freddy Sneed added 14 points. Orange returned home on Tuesday night and defeated Walter Williams 72-54. Orange remains tied in the loss column with Eastern Alamance for first place in the Central Conference with four games remaining. Orange is looking for its second consecutive regular season championship. The Panthers have used a mixture of steady outside shooting and dominant defense to pave the way for 15-5 record, its best-ever start under head coach Derryl Britt. Orange will have its final four regular season games all at home. They will host crosstown rival Cedar Ridge on Friday night at Panther Gymnasium.

Orange men’s basketball’s Kai Wade & Jalen Crayton discuss win at Western Alamance

The Orange men’s basketball team is back home after ten consecutive games on the road. The Panthers defeated Western Alamance 79-57 on Friday night in Elon to finish the long stretch 7-3. Kai Wade scored 23 points as the Panthers maintained its share of first place in the Central Conference.

Coming home–Wade scores 23 points, Orange ends 10-game road swing with win at Western Alamance; George scores 22 for Orange women in loss to Warriors

ELON–From McLeansville to Creedmoor to Burlington to Hillsborough to Roxboro to Graham to Reidsville to Elon.

All told, it’s been ten consecutive games away from home for the Orange men’s basketball team since they last played inside Panther Gymnasium on December 20. Five of them were conference games and the team knew before Christmas the long stretch would make or break their hopes of winning a second consecutive Central Conference regular season championship.

The Panthers are now set for the stretch run tied with Eastern Alamance for first place.

On Friday night, Kai Wade scored 23 points to lead a wire-to-wire 79-57 win at Western Alamance on the Coach Evans Court. From the time Wade fired a 18-footer that kicked high off the back iron and fell through the net, it was possibly Wade’s finest performance of the season.

Senior Xandrell Pennix added 12 points, placing him at 932 career points as Orange improved to 14-5. Freddy Sneed added 14 points for the Panthers, who are 7-1 in the Central Conference. Orange has defeated the Warriors seven consecutive times.

In its last home game, Orange rolled past Western Alamance 73-48. The rematch on Friday held the potential for more intrigue because Warriors guard James Newton didn’t play against the Panthers in Hillsborough. Newton, who has committed to play football at Gardner-Webb, was in South Carolina for the Shrine Bowl.

Newton had a huge scoring game in the Warriors upset of Eastern Alamance on January 3. On Friday night against Orange, he was limited to ten points, going scoreless in the second half.

After Newton banked in a 3-pointer to cut Orange’s lead to 8-6, Wade and Pennix responded with consecutive 3-pointers. Newton found Matt Huffman for a lay-in, but Hector Garrido found Jalen Crayton for a monster stuff directly in the face of Camden Oliveira.

Sneed increased Orange’s lead to 18-13 after a strip and steal, but Oliveria responded with a 3-pointer. Wade took the drama out of it when he drained a 27-foot 3-pointer as the quarter wound to a close to give the Panthers a 27-16 lead.

Newton scored an early 3-pointer in the second quarter, but the Warriors had an inability to cash in second-chance points that could have kept the game close. The Panthers shot out to a 9-2 run to put the game away. Wade finished the first half with 18 points.

In the fourth quarter, senior Ethan Ellis drained two 3-pointers. Kamaal Smith would finish with seven points.

Orange will face Walter Williams tonight (Tuesday) to start a string of five consecutive home games to conclude the regular season.

Women’s Basketball: Western Alamance 60, Orange 48: 

Orange played Western Alamance to its closest conference game of the season, but the Warriors claimed its 18th consecutive win against a Central Conference opponent. Looking for its second consecutive league title, senior Allie Sykes led the Warriors with 18 points.

Orange’s Evelyn George scored 22 points. It was her fifth 20-point game of the season and the 13th of her career.

The Warriors didn’t trail but Orange played a much more competitive contest than their previous matchup on December 20. In the fourth quarter, Orange center Marshea Byrd had a personal 10-0 run for Orange.

Once again, the Warriors excelled with 3-point shooting. Emma Johnson finished with 13 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. Sykes knocked down four 3-pointers as Western Alamance improved to 14-2 overall, 6-0 in the Central Conference. The Warriors snapped the Lady Panthers six-game winning streak.

Western Alamance’s bench outscored Orange 10-5.

Orange falls to 10-7, 4-3 in the Central Conference. The Lady Panthers will return home to face Walter Williams on Tuesday (tonight) in Hillsborough. It will be the start of a two-game homestand for Orange women’s basketball. On Friday night, they will host crosstown rival Cedar Ridge.

 

Three Times a Champion–Orange’s Roman wins Conference Swimmer of the Year 3rd time, leads Panthers to league crown; Cedar Ridge’s Seawell wins backstroke title

The Roman era may be winding down for Orange swimming, but it’s still leading to familiar results.

For the third year in a row, Orange’s Luke Roman was named the Central Conference Male Swimmer of the Year after he paced the Panthers to the Central Conference championship at the Orange County Sportsplex on Saturday afternoon.

In an event he has dominated, Roman won the 500 yard freestyle for the fourth consecutive year, setting the pace for Orange to take the Orange the conference title for the fourth straight season.

It was also the end of an era for Orange swimming. It was the final home meet for Roman, Alex Andre, Nick Baczara, Ayden Twiddy and Noah Jones, five swimmers who have propelled the Panthers swimming program to new heights. Together, Orange has won four conference championships and a runner-up finish in the Central Regionals last year at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

Once again, Roman, Baczara, Andre and Jones would team together to take two relay conference championships. In the past two years, the quartet has won four conference championships.

Roman, Baczara, Andre and Jones would win the 200 yard medley relay and the 400 yard freestyle relay.

Roman became the second Orange men’s swimmer in school history to win a state championship last year. At the Triangle Aquatic Complex in Cary, Roman won the 500 yard freestyle. He joined Ben Scott, who won the 2018 100 yard freestyle state championship.

Alex Andre would finish 2nd in the 500 yard freestyle behind his own teammate.

Roman has received interest from several colleges about swimming at the next level, along with balancing his aspirations to attend medical school.

Orange finished with 402 points to take the team championship. Cedar Ridge finished 2nd at 326 points.

In addition to winning the 500 freestyle, Roman also repeated as champion of the 200 yard freestyle, where he held off Twiddy, who finished in 2nd place.

Andre also captured two individual championships. He repeated as the champion of the 200 yard individual medley as he touched the wall at 2:04.08. Cedar Ridge senior Philip Cauwels finished 2nd at 2:15.75. He also came away with the 100 yard butterfly championship with a time of 55.33 seconds. Andre has won three individual conference championships in his Orange career.

In 2024, Andre won the 200 yard individual medley regional championship, edging Carrboro’s Matt Strada by .22 of a second for the title.

It was a solid meet for Cedar Ridge’s younger swimmers. Sophomore Christopher Seawell earned his second individual conference championship in the 100 yard backstroke. Seawell finished at 59.78 seconds, holding off Jones, who came in at 1:07.03. Orange junior Colin Wuthrich finished third at 1:13.00. Last year, Seawell won the 50 yard freestyle.

Cedar Ridge freshman J.E. Sandor continued an outstanding rookie campaign by winning the 100 yard breaststroke. In the closest men’s race of the day, Sandor beat Walter Williams sophomore Liam Miller to the wall by less than one second. Sandor finished at 1:07.91, while Miller finished at 1:08.26. Baczara, the defending champion, finished third at 1:13.28.

Orange’s 200 yard freestyle relay team also captured a conference championship. Baczara, Twiddy, sophomore Jason Spey and Wuthrich finished at 1:44.31. Cedar Ridge’s team of Jacob Olmstead, Landon Rogers, Zion Green and Davis Golden came in second at 1:57.77.

Walter Williams junior Eamon Hipps swept the 50 yard and 100 yard freestyle races. Hipps held off Seawell in the 50 yard freestyle, finishing at 22.64 seconds. Seawell came in at 23.51 seconds. Hipps won the 100 yard freestyle at 50.53 seconds, beating Orange’s Ayden Twiddy, who touched the wall at 51.81 seconds. Wuthrich finished third (1:03.03).

Orange and Cedar Ridge will set their sights to the Greensboro Aquatic Center for the 3A Central Regionals on Saturday night.Last year, Orange had its best-ever showing as a team finishing second behind Carrboro, who claimed its third straight regional title.

 

Orange Panther of the Week: Shannon Murphy

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior golfer Shannon Murphy. This season, Murphy qualified for the 3A State Championships at Longleaf Golf and Family Club in Southern Pines. Murphy was the top placer for the Orange women’s golf team this season and finished among the top 75 3A players in the state. She qualified at the Central Golf Championship at The Valley Golf Course in Burlington in October. For the past four years, Murphy has been a member of the Orange varsity women’s basketball team. Murphy has had to battle knee injuries throughout her career after suffering a torn ACL as a freshman. This year, she has helped Orange to a strong start under new head coach Josh Underwood. On December 27, Murphy scored a career-high 18 points, including 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range in a double overtime loss to Southeast Alamance in the Southeast Alamance Holiday Hoopla Tournament in Haw River. Murphy had the top nine-hole average on the Orange women’s golf team this season. It was her third year playing golf for Orange. Next month, Murphy will be honored for Orange’s senior night in a game against Eastern Alamance. She aims to help the women’s basketball team reach the state playoffs for the fourth straight season.

Orange Panther of the Week: Shannon Murphy

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is senior golfer Shannon Murphy. This season, Murphy qualified for the 3A State Championships at Longleaf Golf and Family Club in Southern Pines. Murphy was the top placer for the Orange women’s golf team this season and finished among the top 75 3A players in the state.

Orange men’s basketball’s Kai Wade, Freddy Sneed & Ethan Ellis discuss win over Mt. Zion Christian Academy

The Orange men’s basketball team will start its final third of the season against Western Alamance on Friday night in Elon. The Panthers currently are tied with Eastern Alamance for first place in the Central Conference. The game against Western Alamance will end a string of ten consecutive games away from home for Orange, which hasn’t played inside its own gymnasium since December 20. Orange is 13-5 overall. Among their most dramatic wins came on November 22 when they defeated Mt. Zion Christian Academy 60-56 in Hillsborough. Senior Ethan Ellis drained a dramatic 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining to put the Panthers ahead. Point guard Kai Wade led the Panthers with 18 points against the Warriors. Xandrell Pennix added 16 as Orange pulled out a dramatic win at home. Senior Michael Clark scored ten points. It was one of several vital nonconference wins for the Panthers, who would go on to beat Chapel Hill on December 10. It was the Panthers first win over the Tigers since 2019. After this Friday, Orange will have six consecutive home games to wrap up the regular season. The Panthers will try to win the Central Conference regular season championship for the second year in a row. Pennix will try to surpass 1,000 points in his career. Pennix has over 900 points after Orange’s win at Southern Alamance last week.

Orange men’s basketball’s Kai Wade, Ethan Ellis & Freddy Sneed discuss win over Mr. Zion Christian

The Orange men’s basketball team will start its final third of the season against Western Alamance on Friday night in Elon. The Panthers currently are tied with Eastern Alamance for first place in the Central Conference. The game against Western Alamance will end a string of ten consecutive games away from home for Orange, which hasn’t played inside its own gymnasium since December 20.

Green Eggs and Hamlin: Orange and Person Belong Together

Photo by Ben McCormick of the Courier Times

At the risk of dating myself more than I already do, I’m a massive fan of The Who.

I sit on my couch many nights while I’m writing and listen to “Who’s Next,” “Tommy,” “Face Dances.” I even like “Who are You,” generally considered their worst album and released just as their drummer Keith Moon died in 1977.

Most Who fans that do even the most basic research about the band understand two things:

1. They haven’t really been a band since 2002 when their bassist, John Entwhistle, died in the most rock n’ roll way possible. In Las Vegas, naturally.

2. The two surviving members, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, hate each other.

Perhaps that bitterness is from Townshend, who wrote most of the band’s songs. Maybe he’s upset that his solo career didn’t rise to the popularity of the Who and couldn’t surpass his work from the 1960s and 1970s.

The bottom line is regardless of how much animosity exists between the two, which is plenty, Townshend and Daltrey do their best work together.

Which brings us back to January 9 in Roxboro.

The Orange men’s basketball team was down 28-9 against Person with 5:30 remaining in the first half. The Rockets had a 13-0 record and looked unstoppable. Orange wasn’t just on the ropes. They were on the verge of being knocked out of the Central Conference championship race before MLK Jr. Day.

In prior years, Orange may have turtled up inside its shell, got blown out by 25 points and traveled back up Highway 57. Instead, Xandrell Pennix came up with his best game ever in Roxboro, scoring 19 points. Orange made 11-of-14 shots in the third quarter, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range. Orange trailed by nine at halftime. By the end of the third quarter, they were up nine.

The fact they didn’t have their point guard, Kai Wade, because of foul trouble didn’t stop them. Ethan Ellis, Freddy Sneed, Jalen Crayton, and Michael Clark all made big plays down the stretch.

The fact that a conference championship race hung in the balance wasn’t lost on both times. That’s why trash talk went back-and-forth and the night continued.

In other words, it was a rivalry.

And they brought out the best in each other.

And it’s been one for a long time. Some of my earliest memories as a high school student go back to being a camerman for the Orange junior varsity basketball team in the early 1990s. Winning at Person was HARD. I’ve seen Orange men’s basketball play in Roxboro at least 15 times. The win two weeks ago was only  the second time I ever saw Orange beat Person.

Plus, when I was 15, Person’s gym felt mammoth. I was used to bandbox gymnasiums. The fact that Person had a second deck where you coach watch the games down below made it seem like it was Madison Square Garden in my sheltered mind.

For over two decades, that rivalry ended when Orange moved down from being a 4A team in 2001 when Cedar Ridge opened. But Person and Orange were reunited as conference rivals when the Central Conference was formed in 2022.

That’s now in jeopardy.

Last month, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association released its first draft of conference realignment for the new eight classification system. Orange would be in a league with Cedar Ridge, Seaforth, Durham School of the Arts, South Granville and Webb. It would be a group of exclusively 5A teams, one of the few non-split conferences in the new alignment.

Person would remain a 5A team, as well. They would be with Eastern Alamance, Western Alamance, Southeast Alamance, Williams, Southern Alamance, and Rockingham County.

It’s a bad draw for Orange and Person. They’re natural conference rivals not just in terms of geography, but also competition. Last year, Orange football’s most inspired effort came against Person. They’re also natural rivals in softball. Many of the Lady Panthers live in northern Orange County, only about 10-15 minutes from Roxboro.

If the first draft of the new alignment is passed, Orange and Cedar Ridge won’t have any traditional rivals aside from each other. Webb was in the old Big Eight Conference with Orange and Cedar Ridge in the 2010s, but the games with the Warriors were hardly the stuff of legend.

Geographically, Person could fit in a league based in Granville County. The Rockets were rivals with Webb for years in the 80s and 90s.

Part of the reason why Person remains such a rich area for high school athletics is because they still have traditional media outlets. They have WKRX Radio, which broadcasts the Person football and basketball games. They have a newspaper, run by my friend Kelly Snow, that puts the Rocket first and foremost in their coverage. And their fan following, unlike other schools in bigger cities, hasn’t suffered.

That’s what makes games like January 9 so special. And high school sports special.

Orange and Person don’t like each other.

And they do their best work together.

 

 

Alumni Update: Scully named American East Setter of the Year for Binghamton volleyball; Wilson competes in first NFL Playoff game

Lottie Scully: For the first time, Scully was named the American East Setter of the Year. She led the conference with 8.73 assists per set and 917 total assists. The Binghamton volleyball team ended the year in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, where they lost to Bowling Green in the opening round 3-1. Scully ended the year with her sixth consecutive double-double with 38 assists and eleven digs, her tenth of the season. Binghamton won the American East Regular Season championship after sweeping the New Jersey Institute of Technology 3-0 on November 17. It secured the Bearcats second regular season title in three years. Albany upset Binghamton in the American East Tournament 3-1 on scores of 22-25, 25-12, 25-21 and 25-23. Scully had 39 assists and eleven digs against the Great Danes. Binghamton ended the year 19-10 overall, 8-2 in the American East. Scully was named to the College Sports Communications All-District team. She has a 3.51 GPA in Environmental Sciences.

Cameron Lloyd: The Bucknell volleyball team ended the year with a loss to Army in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals. The Bison, which finished second in the Patriot League, ended the year 21-5. Bucknell finished with the highest winning percentage in team history at .808, beating the previous record of .788 set by the 1995 team. This season, Lloyd appeared in all 26 matches and registered 174 kills, 21 aces and 241 digs. Against Army, Lloyd tied for the team lead with eleven kills, along with eleven digs and an ace.

Cameron Lanier: The Elon volleyball team’s season ended with a loss to Delaware on November 16. The Phoenix finished 11-18, 5-13 in the Coastal Athletic Association. Lanier finished second on the team with 245 kills and 2.97 points per set. She had 598 total attacks, which led the team. After the season ended, Elon head coach Mary Tendler retired. Matt Troy, who won a national championship at Division III Johns Hopkins, was named the new head coach of the Phoenix.

Graylinn Serge: In her freshman season, Serge played in 13 matches for UNC Greensboro. She had four service aces across 31 sets. Used mainly for defensive purposes, Serge had 47 digs for a Spartans team that finished 8-22 overall, 2-14 in the Southern Conference.

Julie Altieri: The Division III Salisbury volleyball team reached the championship match of the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, falling to the second-seeded Christopher Newport Captains 3-2 (25-22, 13-25, 25-20, 30-32, 15-13) on November 16 at the Freeman Center in Newport News, VA. Altieri had a career-high with 56 assists and 20 digs, her 18th double-double of the year. Salisbury earned a trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament, where they lost to Middlebury 3-1 (25-14, 15-25, 25-17, 25-14) at the Kennedy Sports and Recreation Center in Huntingdon, PA. Altieri had 36 assists with 17 digs. Altieri finished the year with 1,048 assists, the ninth-most in school history. Salisbury won the Coast to Coast Regular Season Conference championship and finished 24-3 overall.

Ella Wimsatt: The Lenoir-Rhyne volleyball team finished the season in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. Augusta defeated the Bears 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-14) at Cuddy Arena in Wingate. In her freshman year, Wimsatt played 56 sets and had 27 kills, 12 aces and 140 digs. The Bears finished 25-7 overall, 15-4 in the South Atlantic Conference.

Payton Wilson: On January 11, Wilson played in his first NFL Playoff game for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Baltimore Ravens defeated Pittsburgh 28-14 at M&T Bank Stadium in the AFC Wildcard round. Wilson found himself in the line of fire as the Ravens set a playoff franchise record with 299 rushing yards. Wilson made six tackles, including one for a loss. Pro Football Focus named Wilson as the #13 overall linebacker, regardless of experience, among players who took at least 20% of their team’s snaps. PFF graded Wilson at 75.3, second among rookie linebackers only behind Green Bay’s Edgerrin Cooper. He finished the season fourth on the team with 78 tackles.

Katie Bells Sikes: The #11 Georgia women’s swimming team defeated UNC Wilmington in its first dual meet of the new calendar year on Saturday. Sikes won the 50-yard freestyle with a B-cut of 22.39 seconds. Sikes, who won her first college relay race in October, also saw the third leg of the 200 yard medley relay race, which the Bulldogs won at 1:38.67. Sikes finished her lap in 23.22 seconds. Georgia will face Tennessee in Knoxville on Saturday.