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Stanford and Stanback wrestling: While the Orange wrestling team’s string of dominance in the Big 8 Conference ended last week, the Stanford Chargers’ run continues. In front of a large crowd inside Charger Gymnasium, Stanford defeated Stanback 51-45 on Friday afternoon. The victory completed the Chargers’ 20th consecutive Orange-Person Athletic Conference championship and its 18th straight undefeated regular season. Earlier in January, the Chargers defeated the Bulldogs by one point at Stanback.

Five Stanford wrestlers completed undefeated seasons. Wyatt Hedrick scored a pin at 85 pounds. At 92 pounds, Kale Womble earned an 11-4 decision to give Stanford an 15-0 lead. Jared Hutchins pinned his opponent in 31 seconds at 108 pounds. Josh Cowan completed a perfect regular season with a pinfall victory in 2:00 at 115 pounds. At 134 pounds, Jace Womble earned a pin in 3:10.

Unlike the matchup on January 10, Stanford got off to a strong start, winning the first three matches. Luke Stitz earned a pin to open the match at 76 pounds. Wyatt Hedrick picked up a forfeit win at 86 pounds, which was followed by Kale Womble’s victory to put Stanford ahead 15-0.

Stanback’s Pierce Prescod, who won his match against Stanford in their initial meeting, scored a pin in 90 seconds on Friday. Then the Chargers reeled off consecutive pins from Hutchins and Cowan. The tightest match of the day came at 122 pounds, where Stanford’s Luke Nevius defeated Stanback’s Abinijah Lewis 9-7 in overtime.

Stanford’s Colton Jones claimed a 7-3 decision for a victory at 128 pounds.

For Stanback, Kaden Tatro earned a pin at 140 pounds in 2:20. Marcos Esparza squeezed out a 7-5 decision at 162 pounds. At 172 pounds, Joe O’Melia scored a pin in 20 seconds. Marcos McNeil picked up a forfeit win at 184 pounds. Stanback’s Carlos Vera de Lara pinned his opponent at 197 pounds in 2:00 minutes to reduce Stanford’s lead to 51-33.

At 222, Stanback’s Kellan McMullen won via forfeit. He completed his own perfect regular season at 11-0.

At 154 pounds, Stanford’s Sasha Van Praag earned a pin in 50 seconds, which turned out to be the final win of the day for the Chargers. The Chargers’ Luciano Grimaldo also earned a pin in 30 seconds. Colton Jones earned a 7-3 decision for the Chargers at 128 pounds.

The Orange-Person Athletic Conference Tournament will take place on Saturday.

On January 29, Stanback defeated Gravelly Hill 84-24. Among the winners for the Bulldogs: Flavio Jaramillo Esparza via pinfall (78 pounds), Gavin Stone (85 pounds), Tommy Heckler (92, via a forfeit), Prescod, Zoey Morendo (108 pounds), Oguntoyinbo, Ryan Rakouskas, Juan Estrada Parra (128, via pinfall), Edwin Hernandez Huerta (who finished the season at 9-2 at 134 pounds), Tatro (ended the year 12-0), Esparza (162, who claimed a forfeit win and is now 10-0), O’Meila (10-1 on the year), McNeil, and McMullen.

Gravelly Hill boys basketball: The Gravelly Hill Grizzles claimed the OPAC Northern Division championship by beating Northern Roxboro 46-28 in Person County last Thursday. Landon Dalehite led the Grizzlies with 23 points, a career-high. Kai Wade added 12. Sincere Hanner had five. Nathan Sorrells added four and Crawford Farmer had two. The Grizzlies will complete the regular season against McDougle on Tuesday in Efland, they play in the OPAC Championship game at a time to be determined.

Stanford girls basketball: The Lady Chargers defeated Southern Roxboro 30-19 in Hillsborough on January 28. Evelyn George led the Chargers with eleven points. Shannon Murphy added five. Katie Wolter and Dyreshia Farrish each had four. Olivia Jones scored three, and Samiya Baldwin scored two.

Stanford defeated Northern Roxboro 36-27 on January 30.

Orange senior Grace Andrews scored 14 points in the Lady Panthers’ 54-40 win over Cedar Ridge at Red Wolves Gymnasium on Friday night. She scored 12 points in the second half as Orange improved to 10-8, 4-6 in the Big 8 Conference. In previous years, Andrews didn’t have to score in order for Orange to put together wins. But this season, Orange has lost Mary Moss Wirt, Jarmil Wingate, and freshman center Erin Jordan-Cornell, in addition to the four senior starters who graduated last June. Andrews had 15 points against East Chapel Hill in Hillsborough, and followed with eleven points in Vance County on Tuesday night. Andrews and the rest of the Lady Panthers will host Big 8 leader Northwood on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. 

At the turn of the year, the Orange men’s basketball team essentially started over.

Center Machai Holt was dismissed from the team on January 3 after a sensational start to the season. He was Orange’s leading rebounder and was the spark plug behind a 7-1 start, the best stretch of Panther basketball since winning the Big 8 regular season championship in 2016-17.

Holt’s teammates learned of his departure mere hours before a long road trip to Vance County. Many of his classmates had played with Holt since they were in 5th grade and were stunned. That shock carried over to the court, where the Vipers romped to a 31-3 lead and cruised to a 74-57 win.

Without Holt, they were a different team. After a disappointing homestand where the Panthers lost three consecutive games last week, the new version of Orange can say definitively they’re making progress after upsetting Chapel Hill earlier this week.

Though Southern Durham defeated Orange 88-70 on Friday night at Spartan Gymnasium, the Panthers fought all the way against a more talented and experienced group led by former Orange Coach Greg Motley. Spartan senior Ricky Council, who is being recruited by Cincinnati, UNC Greensboro and Elon, scored 28 points to lead the Spartans (10-3, 4-1 in the Big 8 Conference). Ahmad Hamilton added 26, including 14 points in the third quarter.

Unlike losses to Vance County and Northwood, Orange didn’t back down despite a barrage of highlight reel ally-oops and 3-pointers from Southern. Joey McMullin scored 24 points while junior Jason Franklin added 21. It was Franklin’s highest total since he scored 27 against Southern Alamance on December 6 in Graham.

The Spartans hit ten 3-pointers in the first half, yet Orange only trailed 26-20 at the end of the first quarter. McMullin scored nine points in the second quarter to keep things close, but Southern’s T.J. Richardson had 11 of his 15 points in the 2nd to help the Spartans build a 15-point halftime lead.

Orange junior Kyle Stanley had a career-high 12 points, and likely would have had more if it hadn’t collected three fouls by the 6:08 mark of the second quarter. Without Holt and Stanley, the Panthers didn’t have any rim protectors and the Spartans had open season along the offensive glass.

None of which was lost on Orange coach Derryl Britt, who wasn’t discouraged by his team’s performance.

“I was really happy with the effort,” Britt said. “The guys fought. We didn’t stop playing. We knew what we were coming into. Southern’s really athletic, they have one of the best players in the state. And he’s surrounded by some pretty good basketball players. It was good to see our guys fight and execute against a quality basketball team.”

It is Southern’s seventh straight win over Orange. The Panthers last defeated the Spartans on Connor Crabtree’s running-one hander with :05 remaining to win 80-79 on January 27, 2017.

Orange is now halfway through its conference schedule, one that started with a 50-point win over East Chapel Hill. But that was the old Orange team, and glances backward will only lead to steps backward at this point. McMullin, a senior, hasn’t been to the state playoffs since his freshman year when Orange advanced to the state quarterfinals. No one else on the team has sniffed the state playoffs.

They will work the next three weeks trying to get there. Orange enters a week off and won’t take the floor again until they face the same East Chapel Hill team next Friday, one that won’t forget what happened to them before Christmas.

Britt just wants to keep building.

“We know we’re trying to get back to playing a brand of basketball that’s going to work for us,” Britt said. “Some teams are more physical than us, and Southern is one of them. There are some things we could have done better tonight. We will bounce back and we’re so looking forward to next week.”

SOUTHERN DURHAM 88, ORANGE 70

ORANGE: J.J. Thompson 4, Jason Franklin 21, Kyle Stanley 12, Joey McMullin 24, Hunter Birch 2, Tucker Miller 2, Kendrell Brooks 5.

SOUTHERN DURHAM: T.J. Richardson 15, Ricky Council 28, Ahmad Hamilton 26, Xavier Sorenson 10, Jaybron Harvey 2, Alex Phelps 5, Todd Wall 2.

A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart. I am alone, and feel the charm of existence in this spot, which was created for the bliss of souls like mine. I am so happy, my dear friend, so absorbed in the exquisite sense of mere tranquil existence, that I neglect my talents. I should be incapable of drawing a single stroke at the present moment; and yet I feel that I never was a greater artist than now.

When, while the lovely valley teems with vapour around me, and the meridian sun strikes the upper surface of the impenetrable foliage of my trees, and but a few stray gleams steal into the inner sanctuary, I throw

myself down among the tall grass by the trickling stream; and, as I lie close to the earth, a thousand unknown plants are noticed by me: when I hear the buzz of the little world among the stalks, and grow familiar with the countless indescribable forms of the insects and flies, then I feel the presence of the Almighty, who formed us in his own image, and the breath of that universal love which bears and sustains us, as it floats around us in an eternity of bliss; and then, my friend, when darkness overspreads my eyes, and heaven and earth seem to dwell in my soul and absorb its power, like the form of a beloved mistress, then I often think with longing, Oh, would I could describe these conceptions, could impress upon paper all that is living so full and warm within me, that it might be the mirror of my soul, as my soul is the mirror of the infinite God!

Aenean feugiat purus vitae sollicitudin laoreet. Duis fringilla ligula vel velit lacinia, in mattis felis consectetur. Sed at pretium orci. Ut tempus libero odio, sit amet consequat neque pretium ut. Integer hendrerit mauris nec odio auctor suscipit. Proin porttitor turpis vitae ligula dictum, a sollicitudin purus congue. Nulla viverra nisi ex, ut ornare tellus cursus quis. Nulla posuere tincidunt leo at condimentum. Sed egestas tortor a nisi fringilla, id cursus odio rhoncus.

Losses by the Stanford Chargers middle school team can be measured in Cicada Cycles. According to sciencetlinks.com, Cicadas spend years underground and come out like clockwork every 13-to-17 years.

It’s been about 13 years since Stanford wrestling last lost a dual match in the Orange-Person Athletic Conference. After Friday’s 47-46 dual match victory over Stanback at Bulldog Gymnasium, two things are for sure. 1. The day Stanford finally loses, a lot of people want to be the ones to say they were there for it.

2. The once-wide gap between the Chargers and the Bulldogs is narrowing.

Stanford improved to 6-0 with Friday’s win, while also handing the Bulldogs its first loss of the season.

A jam-packed grandstand greeted both teams with nary an empty seat to be found, which led to a heated gym that only increased the intensity. The Bulldogs fans showed up excited, and the buzz around the gym built into a frenzy went 6th grader Mason Pierce immediately scored a takedown on Stanford’s Luke Stitz in the first period in the opening 78-pound match. Pierce gained near fall points in the second and third period for a 13-2 major decision to put Stanback ahead 4-0.

“We weren’t expecting that,” said Stanback coach Grant Gibson. “Mason came to wrestle. We’re really proud of him.”

The lead didn’t last long. At 85 pounds, Stanford’s Wyatt Hendrick scored a pin in 31 seconds and the Chargers took a 6-4 lead.

The Chargers’ Vincent Stevens earned a technical fall at 4:09 with a 15-0 win at 92 pounds.

“He’s a fiery wrestler,” said Stanford wrestling coach Aaron Carr. “He’s one of those guys who can get some momentum going. I’m really proud of him and the work he’s doing.”

Stanback’s Pierce Prescod sent the gym into hysteria with a pin at 100-pounds. Prescod led 8-3 going into the third period. Facing Stanford’s Aidan Cain, Prescod escaped from the bottom position and charged after him like a bull trying to maim a matador—twice. Prescod earned the pin at 4:02 to reduce Stanford’s lead to 11-10.

The Chargers responded with three straight wins. Jared Hutchins, who won the 2019 OPAC Championship at 83 pounds, quickly secured a single-lead takedown to put away his opponent in 1:59 at 108 pounds.

Stanford’s Josh Cowan defeated the Bulldogs’ Lee Oguntoyinbo 6-1. Cowan got a quick go-behind within seconds in the opening period and never trailed.

At 122, Stanford’s Luke Nevius pinned his opponent at 4:10 to build the Charger led to 26-10.

“That was clutch for us,” Carr said. “The guy he was wrestling was fighting hard. We didn’t have any momentum going at that point. If we don’t get a pin there, I don’t know if we can get our guys rolling like we should.”

Stanback’s Kaden Tatro pinned Stanford’s Andre Hill in 1:54, but after the Chargers’ Laurencio Grimaldo got a forfeit victory, Stanford had a 35-19 advantage.

Stanford’s Sasha Van Praag scored a pin at 1:16.

With the match getting out of reach, Stanback’s Marcos Esparza won the most back-and-forth match of the afternoon against Stanford’s Josh Merrill. In the second period, Merrill led 4-1 after a reversal, but Esparza got a reversal just before going out of the circle. Esparza scored an escape point to open the final period, then scored a double-leg takedown to take an 8-5 lead. He wound up winning 8-6.

“It’s never easy here,” Carr said. “

Stanford’s Vincent Joubert-Stanzel got a pin at 172 to officially put the math out of reach at 41-22.

Stanback’s Joe O’Meila earned the final Bulldog pin of the day, and the Chargers forfeited the final two matches.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Gibson said despite the loss. “I’m proud of how we fought all day.”

If any Orange basketball fan greeted December 26 just as eagerly as they would Christmas morning, you really couldn’t blame them.

It was the first day of the South Granville Holiday Tournament and Orange was 7-1. The previous week, the Panthers blew out East Chapel Hill by 50 points in the Big 8 Conference opener. The next night, Orange had a convincing win over Williams, the defending 3A Eastern Regional champions.

Playing in the eight-team Navy Bracket, it wasn’t hard to see Orange burning the midnight oil on Saturday night going for the tournament championship Who needed to watch another lopsided Oklahoma loss in the College Football Playoff when Orange could win its first holiday tournament title since 2016?

Instead, Orange woke up Saturday morning with the roosters, paired against Green Hope in the seventh-place game.

Ironically, of Orange’s three games last week, that was the hardest matchup. The Falcons’ front line of 6-7 forward Broderick Ellis, 6-8 center Tre Morgan and 6-4 swingman Reese Evans posed the same range and height issues that plague the smaller Orange team, and the Falcons pulled away to win 68-58 after trailing the majority of the game.

So what happened? Part of it was Orange’s shooting was as cold as Christmas morning. Well, not this year’s Christmas morning, but you get the idea.

Against Green Hope’s superior height, the Panthers shot 5-of-35 from 3-point range.

It all started with the 1st round game against Sanderson. On Thursday, the day after Christmas, Orange looked like they were back at home still waiting for Santa Claus to come down the chimney. Sanderson busted out to a 6-0 lead and was never seriously challenged in a 72-48 victory. It was Orange’s first wire-to-wire loss of the year.

The Panthers shot only 33% from the field, including 4-of-30 from 3-point range. Senior Joey McMullin, who came into the tournament averaging 20.5 points per game, was held to two points, his lowest total since his freshman year. Orange had four 3-pointers and 24 points at halftime, both season-lows.

Throughout the three days, Panther Coach Derryl Britt saw some disturbing similarities from last year’s 10-15 season, and he was right back at work on Monday morning trying to make sure what happened in Creedmoor is left behind there.

But he also doesn’t want his team to forget it.

“We need to remember this,” Britt said. “I’ve seen some things the last couple of days that kinda reminded me of last season. We’ve got some things we need to fix and we will. We’ll adjust those things and right the ship. We’re gonna get right for conference play.”

The most befuddling loss of all came against Franklinton, a team not nearly as physically imposing as other squads the Panthers have faced. The Rams, who entered the game on a six-game losing streak, defeated Orange 64-58. With the Panthers leading 54-46 going into the fourth quarter, the Rams outscored Orange 20-6 in the final frame to earn only its third win of the season and its first in 21 days.

McMullin led Orange with 16 points against the Rams. Once again, the Panthers struggled from the field, shooting 31%. They were 10-of-39 from 3-point range, its best percentage of the tournament.

Afterward, Britt sounded more concerned about the internal dynamics than Xs-and-Os.

“There are some internal things we need to address,” Britt said. “We will do that just to get back to where we were. We’ve sort of lost our way these last three games and these losses need to mean something to these guys. They don’t mean as much as it should.”

On Friday, Orange (7-4) will resume its season with a long road trip to Vance County. The Vipers had its own disappointing tournament in South Granville, finishing 7th in the Columbia Bracket. The Vipers dropped its opener to Knightdale 65-60, then lost to Cary 60-43 on Friday. They rebounded to defeat Ravencroft on the final day with a lay-up in the final seconds.

The Stanford Chargers wrestling team has won 19 consecutive Orange-Person Athletic Conference Championships.

Despite losing individual champions Dillon Heffernan, Sam Crawford and Jared Hutchins to graduation, the streak doesn’t show any signs of ending.

The Chargers venture into the week before winter break with a 3-0 record. On December 6, Stanford started its season with a 75-15 win over Culbreth. Last Wednesday, the Chargers turned back a challenge from Southern 82-24. Stanford thumped Northern Middle School 85-18 in Hillsborough.

Through the first three matches, nine Stanford wrestlers are undefeated. Wyatt Hendrick, competing at 83 pounds, replaces Jared Hutchins, who won the OPAC Championship last year. Also undefeated is Aiden Cain (98 pounds), Jared Hutchins (106), Josh Cowan (113), Andre Hill (138), Sascha VanPraag (152), Josh Merrill (160) and Vincent Joubert-Stenzel (170).

Hutchins already has an OPAC Championship under his belt at 83 pounds. Cowan was a runner-up in the OPAC at 106 pounds last year. Hill finished in 4th place in the OPAC at 126 pounds in 2019.

The Chargers’ final match before the holidays will be on Wednesday against Gravelly Hill in Efland.

Stanback Wrestling:

As mentioned in a previous update, the Stanback wrestling team defeated Smith Middle School 72-33 in Hillsborough on December 4. At 98 pounds, Pierce Prescod won via pinfall in the second period. Prescod won the OPAC Championship as a 7th grader.

8th grader Zoey Moreno recorded a pin in 14 seconds.

At 145 pounds, 8th grader Kaden Tatro, who also won an OPAC championship in 2019, started off the season with a pin in the second period. Tatro has moved up a weight class from last year.

At heavyweight, Kellan McMullen earned a pin in his first match. McMullen also won the OPAC championship last season as Stanback finished 2nd in the conference tournament last February.

Last week, Stanback defeated Culbreth 84-24

Stanback will host Northern Roxboro on Wednesday afternoon at 5 in its final match before Christmas break.

Boys Basketball:

Gravelly Hill opened its season by beating Northern Roxboro Middle School 47-37 in Efland last Tuesday. The Grizzles followed up by traveling to Chapel Hill and beating Phillips 39-18. Gravelly travels to Stanford on Tuesday.

These are all the scores we have thus far from middle school basketball. We’re looking to change that. Just as important as the scores of the games are the names of the players, because those are the local stars of the community.

If anyone can email hamlin37@hotmail.com with results from all boys and girls basketball games featuring Stanford, Gravelly Hill or Stanback, that’s what we’re aiming for with Middle School Review.

Of course, we’ll take any results from wrestling and ultimate frisbee, as well. We’ve reached out to all of the winter sports coaches, but if any parent can help us with this process of getting all games reported each week, it would be very helpful.

Again, email all results to hamlin37@hotmail.com.

At first glance, there may not be much difference between Orange’s men’s basketball team from last year and this year’s.

Are they bigger? To the contrary. With Zyon Pettiford not playing this year, the Panthers are without its starting center from 2018-19. Are they faster? In a word, no. Mekai Collins was Orange’s starting point guard last season, but he returned to Cedar Ridge over the summer.

is Orange tougher? In every sense, the answer is yes.

As Orange forges into its Big 8 Conference slate off a 75-70 win over Carrboro on Thursday night at Jaguars Gymnasium, the Panthers are 5-1, halfway toward its total win total from all of last season.

Joey McMullin, despite fouling out in the final minutes, led the Panthers with 24 points. Machai Holt and Jason Franklin each had 17 points.

Carrboro was led by T.K. Paisant with 31 points. Jared Porter, the Jaguars’ leading scorer, had 18 points.

With the game tied at 54 with 6:00 remaining, Orange held the Jaguars scoreless on four consecutive possessions. The Panthers drained six straight free throws from Franklin, Holt and Jerec Thompson to build a 60-54 lead with 4:12 remaining.

Holt gave Orange a 69-62 lead off a three-point play as he scored off a lay-in while fouled by Carrboro’s Jack Morgan. McMullin fouled out on the subsequent play, but Paisant missed both free throws.

Orange led 71-62 after Jerec Thompson got his only field goal of the second half off a feed from Holt with 1:23 remaining.

Carrboro nearly erased the entire deficit within seconds. It started when Paisant drained a three-pointer on the next possession.Taylor stole the ball back from Franklin with 1:12 remaining, and Paisant rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Porter and scored on a lay-in while fouled by Franklin. Paisant missed the free throw, but Carrboro’s Ethan Stutts got the offensive rebound and found Porter, who nailed a 3-pointer with :46.2 remaining to cut Orange’s lead to 71-70.

J.J. Thompson hit two free throws with :37.2 remaining. Carrboro, with a chance to take the lead, had its chances dashed when Franklin poked the ball away from Paisant at midcoast, then dove on the floor. Paisant was called for a foul, and Franklin hit both free throws.

Orange women 53, Carrboro 49

The Orange women’s basketball team had to deal with adversity as they remained undefeated in a 53-49 win over Carrboro.

Sophomore staring guard Mary Moss Wirt injured her left leg early in the second quarter and didn’t return. Without her fellow guard in the backcourt, sophomore Aaliyah Harris set a career-high with 21 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter.

Harris was the only Lady Panther in double figures as Orange improved to 4-0.

Carrboro, who came into the game on a four-game losing streak, led early in the fourth quarter after a three-pointer from point guard Madison Wieboldt. Briana Campbell led the Jaguars (1-5) with 4 points.

Orange scored the first four points, but without Wirt, the Lady Panthers offense struggled to get into a flow. Carrboro reserve Brooke Fields served as the point of the Jaguars 1-2-2 full court press, which caused plenty of Orange turnovers. Fields finished with 12 points off the bench.

The Orange women will travel to East Chapel Hill for its Big 8 Conference opener on Tuesday. The Panther men’s team will be at home to face East in Hillsborough on Tuesday.

Orange 75, Carrboro 70

ORANGE: J.J. Thompson 6, Jerec Thompson 6, Jason Franklin 17, Joey McMullin 24, Machai Holt 17, Tucker Miller 2, Kendrell Brooks 3.

CARRBORO: Jared Porter 18, T.K. Paisant 31, Ethan Stutts 4, Tim Rogers-Neal 4, Elijah Feaster 2, L.J. Riggsbee 2, Jack Morgan 7, Jackson Taylor 2.

ORANGE (W) 53, Carrboro 49.

ORANGE: Aaliyah Harris 21, Mary Moss Wirt 5, Grace Andrews 5, Jarmil Winkte 4, Erin Jordan-Cornell 2, Jala Rainey 6, Samatha George 4, Brenna Mehl 6.

CARRBORO: Ananya Saravanan 2, Briana Campbell 14, Karis Andrade 4, Riley Croasmun 7, Nichole Noel 2, Madison Wieboldt 6, Brooke Fields 12, Jameeah Purefoy-Thaxton 2.

There were be new faces about when the Cedar Ridge men’s and women’s basketball teams start their respective seasons this afternoon.

However, one former Red Wolf will mark his return to his old gymnasium after a year away.

Mekai Collins will start his senior season inside a Cedar Ridge uniform, the same way he began his career as a freshman playing varsity.

Collins spent his freshman and sophomore seasons at Cedar Ridge before he transferred to Orange last year. During a 10-15 season in 2018-19, Collins led the Panthers with 15.6 points and 4.2 assists per game.

Collins’ return to Cedar Ridge coincides with Jaison Brooks’ appointment as the new Red Wolves’ head coach. Brooks replaced Clay Jones, who left Cedar Ridge after six seasons last summer.

The Red Wolves went 1-23 last year, beating only Rockingham County in December.

Brooks, who previously served as an assistant coach at Southern Vance, will waste no time in putting the Red Wolves in motion. They will open with three games in four days this week, starting with tonight’s game against the North Carolina School of Science and Math inside Red Wolves Gymnasium. You can hear tonight’s game on Hillsboroughsports.com starting at 5:30 with the women’s game.

On Wednesday, Cedar Ridge travels to Carrboro, followed by a trip to Chatham Charter the following day.

“It’s a top heavy schedule, but I think we’ll be OK,” Brooks said. “We’ve been building towards this and life is full of lessons. So we’ll learn some good things and good lessons. We’re looking forward to it.”

Brooks steps into a Big 8 Conference that underwent major changes at the top. Hillside, the defending Big 8 Conference regular season and postseason champions, left the league to return to 4A. Southern Durham, the Big 8 runner up in 2018-19, lost head coach David Noel last month to the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA Gatorade League.

Replacing Noel was no other than Greg Motley, the most successful head coach in Orange High history.

There’s also the unknown in Vance County, led by longtime Northern Vance head coach Wilson Baskett. Last season as a 2A team, the Vipers tied Granville Central for the Northern Carolina 1A/2A regular season championship. They reached the quarterfinals of the 2A State Playoffs, where they lost to Farmville Central 85-75.

Brooks said he was encouraged with a scrimmage against Graham on Thursday.

“There was some good ball movement by our guards,” Brooks said. “There were some dunk attempts, which were awesome. They’re buying into the system and they’re buying into what we’re selling.”

After the conclusion of football season on November 8, K.J. Barnes, Zach Holmes and Jaikel Gibbs started practicing with the basketball team. Senior Braxton Mergenthal, a two-year varsity player, elected not to play basketball this year.

“K.J. has a spark on defense that we love,” Brooks said. “Him and Jaikel are strong defensively.”

Brooks won’t have a shortage of guards. In addition to Collins, junior Luke Pagnanelli and sophomore Cameron Harper return from last season.

“We have a bunch of guys who work hard,” Brooks said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that stands out is how everybody gives in practice. We have solid point guards that can help carry us. We have some good shooting guards, like Chris Tinnen, that will be a great role filler.”