In his first appearance in the Jim King/Orange Invitational, Acoya Isley captured the 195-pound championship. On Saturday, Isley pinned Dylan Wall of Bartlett Yancey in 4:36 to win his first tournament championship at Orange. Isley starting wrestling in the 8th grade at Gravelly Hill Middle School. On Saturday, Isley started the tournament with a pinfall win over Chandler Baysdon of Wallace Rose Hill in 1:35. In the semifinals, Isley defeated Aspen Talbot of Cardinal Gibbons 11-5. Isley had a strong grip in the championship match that prevented Wall from getting an escape point and ultimately led to the pin. Isley’s victory helped Orange win the team championship as they finished with 195 points. Cardinal Gibbons finished 2nd with 154.5 points. This was Isley’s first appearance in the Jim King/Orange Invitational. Orange will continue its season with a quad meet at Cedar Ridge on Wednesday.

Just a few years ago when Hugo Vazquez was an 8th grader at Stanford Middle School, he wasn’t in the starting lineup for the Chargers. Now, Vazquez is the heavyweight champion of the Jim King Invitational. On Saturday, Vazquez defeated Person’s Trevquan Gray 8-2 to win the title at Orange High School. It was Vazquez’s first appearance in the Jim King/Orange Invitational. In the semifinals, Vazquez defeated the top-seed in the heavyweight tournament, Devon Thompson, in 3:39. In the opening round, Vazquez pinned Aidan Holton of Chatham Central in 54 seconds. Vazquez started this season by pinning Western Alamance’s David Day in 44 seconds. He also defeated Northwest Guilford’s Trey Tuggle in a sudden victory round 4-2. Vazquez will look to maintain his undefeated record on Wednesday when Orange faces Cedar Ridge and Jordan-Matthews in a quad meet. Orange will look to improve to 4-0 in the Central Carolina Conference having already beaten Western Alamance, Person and Walter Williams.

*Photo credit to Heather Bradsher*

In a game where every possession mattered and often ran in excess of 45 seconds, it was Cedar Ridge who came up with the big points in the most crucial moments.

Junior Kamil Harrison, in his third varsity game, drained six pressure free throws in the final :15.8 seconds as the Red Wolves held on to defeat East Chapel Hill 39-32 at Red Wolves Gymnasium on Friday night. After Harrison drained two charity tosses with :15 left, Red Wolves junior Neco Clark intercepted a pass by East’s Dillon McCafferty, which led to Harrison putting the game out of reach with two more free throws.

This win marks Cedar Ridge’s best start since the 2015-2016 season, which was the last time they reached the state playoffs.

Harrison and Grady Ray each had eleven points to lead the Red Wolves (2-1), while Colton Taylor added eight.

The Red Wolves ended a six-game losing streak to East Chapel Hill, beating the Wildcats for the first time since January 9, 2018.

“We try to practice pressure situations,” said Cedar Ridge coach Jaison Brooks. “You can’t replicate that in a gym. We shoot enough free throws (in practice) that we hope that in pays off. In this situation, it paid off.”

Both teams employed various zone defenses that stymied the other side for long stretches. After East’s James Riley scored on a one-handed runner with 3:53 remaining in the first quarter, the Wildcats had just one more field goal for the rest of the half. The Red Wolves finished the first quarter on a 10-3 run and took the lead for good off a reverse lay-up from Ray.

Cedar Ridge outscored the Wildcats 12-3 in the second quarter to take a 22-9 lead at halftime. Harrison and Colton Taylor both drained 3-pointers. All East (1-2) could muster in the second quarter was one free throw from Rashawn Stewart and a 15-footer from Martez Cotton, which beat the first half buzzer.

In the third quarter, it was the Red Wolves’ turn to suffer offensive frustration. Ray was the only Red Wolf to score in the stanza, but they were both 3-pointers. Stewart, who came off the bench to lead East with ten points, drained a 3-pointer to reduce Cedar Ridge’s lead 28-24.

Stewart opened the fourth quarter with a lay-in off a feed from Isaiah Styron. Martez Cotton forced a steal on the Red Wolves next possession, but the Wildcats missed a lay-in with a chance to tie. Neco Clark then slammed home a dunk in a rare transition basket to put the Red Wolves ahead 30-26.

Women’s Basketball: East Chapel Hill 38, Cedar Ridge 32

It has now been 722 days since the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team won a game. That long dry spell is on the verge of ending, it’s only a question of when.

It appeared the answer to that question would be on Friday night, but for the second time this week the Red Wolves couldn’t hold on to a lead late.

Trailing 32-26 with 4:31 remaining, East Chapel Hill (2-1) finished the game on a 12-0 run to defeat Cedar Ridge 38-32. The Red Wolves led for most of the second half, but East’s Riley Ellis scored seven consecutive points to give the Wildcats the lead with 2:11 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Junior Julie Altieri led the Red Wolves with 12 points, but the Red Wolves only had three points in the fourth quarter. The only field goal came from freshman Kathryn Romska, who knocked down a wing jumper to put the Red Wolves ahead by six points.

Grace Young, in her first basketball game since she was six years old, scored ten points, including a 3-pointer in the third quarter that put the Red Wolves ahead. Cedar Ridge came back from an early 12-point deficit to take the lead in the second half.

Ellis and Abigail Stone led the Wildcats with 12 points each.

Cedar Ridge will travel to Northern Durham on Monday, then travel to Western Alamance for its Central Carolina Conference opener on Tuesday.

MEN’S GAME: CEDAR RIDGE 39, EAST CHAPEL HILL 32

EAST CHAPEL HILL–Dillon McCafferty 5, James Riley 8, Isaiah Styron 3, Martez Cotton 2, Thailand Evans 4, Rashawn Stewart 10.

CEDAR RIDGE–Colton Taylor 8, Garrett Ray 11, Cameron Harper 1, Neco Clark 6, Kamil Harrison 11, Hayden Kirk 2.

WOMEN’S GAME: EAST CHAPEL HILL 38, CEDAR RIDGE 32

EAST CHAPEL HILL–Riley Ellis 12, Fiona Park 4, Gabby Sielken 2, Abigail Stone 12, Lauren Steiner 8.

CEDAR RIDGE–Julie Altieri 12, Cameron Copeland 3, Phoenix Smith 5, Grace Young 10, Kathryn Romska 2.

For the first time since January 9, 2018, the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team has defeated East Chapel Hill. The Red Wolves held on to defeat the Wildcats 39-32 at Red Wolves Arena. Needless to say, it was a defensive struggle with both teams employing various zone defenses. Cedar Ridge held the Wildcats to just one field goal in the final 11:30 of the first half and led 21-9 at halftime. Garrett Ray and Kamil Harrison both finished with 11 points for Cedar Ridge. Ray sank three 3-pointers, including two in the third quarter that accounted for all of the Red Wolves points. With Cedar Ridge clinging on to a 33-32 lead, Harrison hit six consecutive free throws in the final 30 seconds. It was only the third varsity game for Harrison, who came away with a career-high in points. Cedar Ridge finished the opening week of the regular season 2-1.They will have a three-game week starting on Monday with a road trip to another former conference rival, Northern Durham. Cedar Ridge will travel to Western Alamance for its Central Carolina Conference opener on Tuesday, then return home to face Person next Friday.

DURHAM–As Jerec Thompson stepped out of the visitor’s locker room after his first game of the season, he was greeted by two students from the North Carolina School of Science and Math.

At a time when even the most basic facts are prone to violent disagreement, these students didn’t want trouble after Orange had defeated their home team.

They waited ten minutes after the game to get Thompson’s autograph. They had Sharpies, but no paper.

So Thompson obliged them by signing his first autograph on one fan’s forehead. The other received a signature across his forearm

That was one of several firsts for Orange’s senior guard on Thursday night. It was his first game of the season after a near catastrophic fall in a scrimmage against Vance County at Franklinton High School on November 20 as he went up for a dunk. After several MRIs at Duke Hospital, it caused him to miss Orange’s opening games against Southern Alamance and East Chapel Hill.

Clamoring to return, Thompson didn’t exactly settle into the new season. Instead, he recorded a career-high 41 points on a night both exhilarating and strange as Orange defeated Science and Math 73-54 at Unicorn Gymnasium.

Thompson broke his previous career high of 32 points set on February 6 against Vance County in Henderson.

“I’ve been ready since I got hurt really,” Thompson said. “I’ve been antsy and ready to get back watching in practice. It’s been a little bit difficult.”

Thompson’s 41 points was the most by any Orange player since Connor Crabtree scored 44 points against Southern Durham in the 2017 Big 8 Conference Tournament championship game. Crabtree now plays for the Richmond Spiders. He also scored 40 points against Chapel Hill on January 5, 2017.

Joshua Jackson added eleven points for Orange (1-2), while Hunter Birch added ten.

Science and Math (4-3) was led by Tanner McLeod, who scored 21 points. Eric Guan added eleven.

The game was a homecoming of sorts for Orange coach Darryl Britt, who simultaneously coached the Science and Math men’s and women’s basketball teams in 2013-2014. Thompson’s hot shooting didn’t overshadow the choppy nature of the game where 40 fouls and two technical fouls were whistled. At one point in the first half, the Unicorns were awarded possession twice in a row after held balls, which led to Britt picking up a technical.

Britt was whistled for another technical in the third quarter after a borderline traveling call, leading to his ejection. His experience with Unicorns gymnasium led to him trying to watch the game from afar on the catwalk balcony over the gym. That didn’t last long. Within seconds, after Guan was fouled and went to the foul line, an official spotted Britt spying from the other end of the gym and ordered him into his locker room. The fact that Britt was wearing an Orange sweater inside a dark setting didn’t exactly make him the master of deception.

“I should have worn a disguise like Bobby Valentine did,” Britt joked afterwards, referring to the former New York Mets manager who once was ejected from a game, only to return to the dugout wearing a fake mustache.

With assistant William Dobbs filling in during an emergency situation, Thompson wouldn’t let Orange lose. He scored 29 points in the second half.

Orange bolted out to a 15-points lead behind six early points from backup center Hunter Burch, who played the national anthem with an electric guitar before Tuesday’s game against East Chapel Hill. The Unicorns went on an 8-0 run, though they only scored one field goal in that span. Jackson finished the half strong for Orange. He sank two free throws, then stole an inbounds pass and scored on a lay-in to put the Panthers ahead 34-23 at halftime.

ORANGE 73, NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND MATCH 54

ORANGE–Jerec Thompson 41, Joshua Jackson 11, J.J. Thompson 3, Thomas Loch 1, Darius Corbett 2, Michael Clark 5, Hunter Burch 10

NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND MATCH–Zaid Abdullah 3, Eric Guan 11, Tanner McLeod 21, Zach Brooks 3, Seth Allen 2, Owen Streppa 10, Anderson Adu-Poku 2, Matt Goodman 2.

Jerec Thompson’s grandfather, Ray Durham, asked him to score 30 points in his season-debut on Thursday night against the North Carolina School of Science and Math. Thompson did him one better. Actually, he did him eleven better. Thompson scored a career-high 41 points as the Panthers defeated the Unicorns 73-54 inside Unicorn Gymnasium. It was Thompson’s first game of the season after he suffered an injury during a scrimmage at Franklinton High School in a game against Vance County. Thompson was held to 12 points in the first half, but lit up the Unicorns for 29 points in the second half. Thompson eclipsed his previous career-high of 32 points set on February 6 against Vance County in Henderson. The Panthers earned its first win of the season. They will open its Central Carolina Conference slate against Northwood in Pittsboro on Saturday.

On a night where the Orange women’s basketball team was down to seven players, senior guard Samantha George stepped up with the best game of her career. George had a career-high 17 points as the Orange women defeated the North Carolina School of Science and Math 70-31. George started the second quarter by making six straight free throws, including two off a technical foul when an Unicorn touched the ball while George was trying to inbound. George added a 3-pointer in the third quarter. George’s younger sister, Evelyn, also had a career-high 12 points as won for the second straight time on the road. George was needed as the Lady Panthers had four players injured, included All-Conference center Erin Jordan-Cornell. George led Orange in scoring on Tuesday in a win over East Chapel Hill. Orange travels to face Northwood in Pittsboro on Saturday for its Central Carolina Conference opener.