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W0men’s soccer: Cedar Ridge 4, Franklinton 2: The Cedar Ridge women’s soccer team is off to its best start in at least 15 years.

Through there were some nervous moments late, the Red Wolves managed to defeat Franklinton 4-2 at Red Wolves Stadium on Monday night. Junior Katie Paulakonis, playing her first season for the Red Wolves, scored four goals as Cedar Ridge held off a late charge from Franklinton to improve to 4-0.

Cedar Ridge hasn’t started the season 4-0 since 2010, which is how far records date back online. Under new head coach Sam Semerzier, the Red Wolves have started the season outscoring its opposition 17-6.

Paulokonis scored two goals in the first half, then added a third in the second half. Franklinton had a chance to chip into the lead after the Red Wolves were called for a handball in the penalty area. Cedar Ridge goalkeeper Ellamarie Perel made a diving save on the penalty kick, leading to being mobbed by her teammates. Perel is in her first year as a starter after Addie Reid stood between the posts the past three years.

Franklinton narrowed the lead to 3-2, but Paulakonis added insurance in the 77th minute to sew up the win for the Red Wolves. Freshman Kate Finnegan nearly added another goal late.

Cedar Ridge will play its Central Conference opener against Person in Hillsborough on Wednesday.

Orange 5, Eno River Academy 0: In the first-ever women’s soccer matchup between the Lady Panthers and the Bobcats, senior Ella Wimsatt notched her second consecutive hat trick as Orange improved to 2-1.

Wimsatt, who finished with six goals last season, already has six goals this season. She scored six goals in all of 2023. Wimsatt notched her first career hat trick in a win over Person in Roxboro last week.

In front of a large crowd at Orange Soccer Field, Ellianna Sullivan Gaddy and Kyla Mehl added goals for Orange.

Makayla Davis earned the win as Orange goalkeeper. Lexie Stephens played in net for the second half to complete Orange’s second clean sheet of the season.

Sullivan Gaddy, Evelyn Gover, Cora Bailey, Caroline Cathey and Kaylen Crayton all assisted on goals for Orange.

On the back line, senior Lily Crayton and Channing Manning helped Orange earned the victory. The Lady Panthers will host Durham School of the Arts on Thursday night in Hillsborough. Orange has reached the 3A State Playoffs each of the last two years. They are 1-0 in the Central Conference and will continue conference play against Western Alamance in Elon next Monday.

Men’s Tennis: Cedar Ridge 7, Orange 2: The Cedar Ridge men’s tennis team, under new head coach Mike Rogers, earned two wins each from Fionn Kuo and Lev Bearman to defeat crosstown rival Orange to remain undefeated in the Central Conference.

Kuo, in his first season as the Red Wolves top starter, defeated Porter Pelphrey 6-1, 6-0, the first of five singles wins for Cedar Ridge. Later, Kuo would team with Leo Filley to defeat Pelphrey and Cameron Foster in the #1 doubles match 8-2.

Filey defeated Orange’s Quincy Stanley 7-5, 6-2 at #3 singles.

Bearman won at #2 singles over Orange’s Cameron Foster 6-3, 7-0. Bearman won at #2 doubles, teaming with Griffin Thomas to defeat Stanley and Jackson Coleman 8-2.

Joe Garbee defeated Orange’s Ryan Jouannet 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 at #4 singles.

In the only singles match to go three sets, Orange’s Jackson Coleman defeated Landon Rogers 3-6, 6-1, 10-4 (10 point tiebreaker). Thomas, at #6 singles for the Red Wolves, defeated Zachary Cole 6-2, 6-4.

Orange claimed its only doubles win when Jouannet and Race McAuley defeated Landon Rogers and Colin Fulcher 8-6.

Cedar Ridge (3-1) started the season with a 9-0 victory over Southern Alamance in Hillsborough. They rolled past Person 9-0 in its second conference match.

Orange (3-3, 2-2) earned two conference wins last week. They defeated Eastern Alamance in Hillsborough. On Friday, they edged Walter Williams 5-4 with Foster winning two matches to earn the victory. Western Alamance handed orange its only other conference loss on March 4.

SOUTHERN PINES–From the moment you walk into the John Williams Athletic Complex in Southern Pines, you sense something different.

There’s a video screen on the scoreboard, where each Pinecrest High School lacrosse player has their picture on display after they score a goal. There’s artificial turf, too, which was probably the only reason why the Orange lacrosse team was the lone Hillsborough-based squad playing on a rainy night last Wednesday.

Orange’s game against the Pinecrest Patriots was different, too. Mainly because the referees likely needed Tommy John Surgery for the number of flags they threw.

The Panthers and the Patriots combined for 25 penalties in a game that stretched on for over two hours. While Orange wasn’t at its best in its first road game, they were good enough to win its second contest over a 4A opponent on the young season.

Sophomore Brandon Williams took a pass from Connor Kruse and buried a quick wrist shot past Patriots freshman goalkeeper Wesley Short with :45.9 remaining in overtime to lead Orange over Pinecrest 10-9. Williams scored four goals, while Kruse assisted on four goals to help the Panthers improve to 5-0.

Pinecrest led 9-5 with 11;48 remaining in regulation, but Orange scored four unanswered goals in the final nine minutes of regulation. Josh Crabtree tied the game with 1:04 remaining in regulation when Short saved an overhand shot from Cruse with 15 yards away. The ball bounced off Short’s stick. Crabtree batted at the ball like he was Sebastian Aho teeing up a slap shot for the Carolina Hurricanes. The ball rolled seven feet over the line across the turf.

Orange had to overcome numerous obstacles just to get the game into overtime. The Panthers were whistled for three penalties in the final 2:17 of regulation. In the final 51.1 seconds, the lost sophomore face-off ace Matthew MacNeir and long-stick defenseman Alden Cathey to slashing penalties. With the game tied 9-9, the Patriots had a 6-on-4 advantage for the final minute of regulation, but a shot by Gavin Latin went off the right shoulder of Josh Cowan.

Despite Cathey being in the penalty box, the Panthers were able to run out the final minute and get the game to overtime. Patriots freshman Jacob Steele won the overtime face-off when Macneir was called for a false start, but Laton fired an overhead shot over the net. After a restart, the Patriots turned it over following an over-and-back violation.

Orange turned it over on its initial overtime possession when Pinecrest’s Tyler Renzi picked up an errant pass, but the Patriot’s Weston Thomson was called for warding against Orange’s Sascha Van Praag. Orange fired four shots before Williams notched the game-winner.

Thomson registered four goal and four assists for Pinecrest (2-2). Laton finished with five goals and one assist.

Thomson started the fourth quarter with an overhead shot assisted by Laton that put the Patriots ahead 9-5 with 11:48 remaining. Orange freshman Jackson Runkle was inserted as the Panther goalkeeper and held the Patriots scoreless for the remainder of regulation.

Williams scored a man-up goal after Thomson was penalized for an illegal check. Williams added his third goal off a feed from Kruse with 6:56 remaining in regulation to put the Patriots lead to 9-8.

Despite being penalized three times in the first period, the Patriots still led 3-0 after the opening twelve minutes. Thompson scored two goals while Laton added another.

Orange responded with five unanswered tallies in the second quarter. Macneir scored directly off the face-off to start the second. Kruse, Crabtree, Brett Clark and Williams also added goal to put Orange ahead 5-3 at halftime.

Orange went on a scoreless drought of 18:31. The Patriots scored six straight goals. Laton had four goals in the third quarter.

The Panthers completed the week with a 17-3 win at Seaforth on Friday. Orange is 2-0 in the Mid-Carolina Conference as they prepare to travel to Jordan on Tuesday night.

Offense has been slow to come by for Orange baseball so far in the young season.

Thankfully, Tommy could hear their pleas for offense.

Well, it was really Ryan Horton, whose nickname is “Tommy” because that’s his middle name. Horton had never homered in a varsity game as he stepped up to plate in the sixth inning against Topsail on Monday night.

Then hit delivered the biggest swing of his career.

Horton delivered a grand slam, Orange’s third hit of the game, to provide a 4-1 win over Topsail in Hillsborough.

Junior Garrett Sawyer earned his second career win in relief of senior starter Cross Clayton. Sawyer allowed just three hits with four strikeouts in four innings work.

To say that Horton’s grand slam came out of nowhere would be putting it mildly. Orange had just two singles up to that point, and one of those rolled roughly 50 feet up the third base line off the stick of Henry Hoffman. Hoffman led off the fourth inning with a single to centerfield, the first ball to land in the outfield off an Orange batter. But the Panthers failed to lay down a bunt on the next at-bat and Hoffman wound up getting doubled up off a smooth play by Topsail catcher Gavin Schoenwiesner.

Orange (2-1) trailed the whole game. Topsail’s Rhett Britt doubled into right centerfield, the deepest part of the ballpark. With two down, Gibson Todd lined a 1-2 fastball to right field for the Pirates’ only run.

Senior Cross Clayton, with 13 career victories, started for Orange and threw three innings. After giving up the opening run, Clayton allowed just one more hit before yielding to Sawyer in the fourth.

Topsail starter Drew Shelar, making his varsity debut, kept Orange at bay. He threw five shutout innings and allowed just two hits and one walk. Caleb Kelley replaced Shelar in the sixth.

Orange freshman Kayden Bradsher opened the sixth with a leadoff walk. The Panthers nearly botched another bunt situation when Kelley caught a pop-up, then attempted to throw out Bradsher at first base. But the throw got away from first baseman Tyler Wilson and Bradsher moved over to second base. It was ruled that Cameron Guentensberger got hit with a pitch on the elbow, though Guentensberger didn’t seem to know it until the umpire motioned for him to move to first base. Clayton drew a walk to load the bases, leading to Horton’s first career home run.

Sawyer struck out Wes Atkinson and pinch-hitter Andrew Schmidt to open the seventh. Then Luke Keenan grounded out to Sawyer to end the game.

Wake Forest 3, Cedar Ridge 0: Facing the defending 4A Eastern Regional champions who were one win away from the state championship in 2023, Cedar Ridge didn’t back down in its home opener on Monday night.

The Red Wolves trailed 1-0 going into the sixth inning before James Bradbury scored off a double steal in the sixth inning. Bradbury drew a walk to lead off the frame.

Cedar Ridge’s Quinn Finnegan struck out five in four-plus innings, allowing just one run. The Red Wolves loaded the bases in the second inning against Cougars starter Jackson Hardy. Nick Aitkin reached on an infield single, Grant McGuffey lined a single to centerfield. Finnegan reached on a bunt. But the Cougars turned a double play when Kyle Brazeau caught a bunt and threw out Aitkin at the plate. Hardy got a strikeout to end the threat.

Then Brazeau drove in the first run of the game with a double that one-hopped the wall in right field. Ian Williams, who finished 2-for-4, scored after he started the inning with a single to centerfield.

McGuffey went 2-for-3 for Cedar Ridge. The Red Wolves are scheduled to travel to Carrboro on Wednesday. They will start its Central Conference slate against Walter Williams in Burlington on Tuesday night.

Orange 7, Roxboro Community School 6: In her first year as a starter, Addison Guentensberger came up with the biggest hit of her career in Orange’s first win of the season.

With the Lady Panthers trailing 6-5 going into the seventh inning against Roxboro Community School on Monday night, Guentensberger grounded a single up the middle to score Katie Carden to put the Lady Panthers past the Bulldogs. Earlier in the frame, Carden tied the game with a double to centerfield that plated junior Allie Carden.

Katie Carden, a sophomore third baseman, finished 2-for-4 with a double. Hayleigh Hammond finished with a triple. Guentensberger, in her second career start, came away 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI.

Senior pitcher Caden Robinson earned her first win of the season, striking out seven in a complete game.

Orange (1-1) has had both of its games thus far come down to the final frame. Last week, Wakefield and Orange were tied 3-3, but the Wolverines scored four runs to win 7-3.

On Monday night, there were four lead changes. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning following Emma Brandon drove in Zoe Godard with a groundout to Mia Leathers at first base. Karrie Obie grounded out to shortstop Delanie Shaffer to bring in Katie Mann

Guentensberger led off the third inning with a screamer to right field. Sadie Cecil followed with a single that dropped into left field. After Hammond walked to load the bases, Robinson drew a walk to put Orange on the board. Allie Carden also earned a free pass to plate Cecil. Katie Carden put Orange ahead with an RBI groundout to RCS second baseman Molly Davis, which brought in Hammond.

Davis tied it up with a solo homer to leadoff the fifth. Orange jumped back ahead with a two-out rally in the fifth. Allie Carden and Katie Carden reached on back-to-back singles. Shaffer lined to right to bring in Allie Carden and put Orange ahead 4-3.

Davis responded with her second homer, a two-run blast after Presley Leonard walked in the top of the sixth to put the Bulldogs ahead 5-4. In the bottom of the sixth, Cecil drove a two-out double to left field. Hammond sent a fly ball off the wall in left field for a triple, scoring Cecil to tie the game.

Mann led off the seventh with a single, stole second base and went to third after Emma Brandon grounded out. Obie double on a line drive to centerfield to put the Bulldogs ahead.

Orange is scheduled to face the Morehead Panthers on Wednesday night in Hillsborough.

Cedar Ridge 4, Northern Durham 0: Charlotte Lowry did a little bit of everything as the Red Wolves improved to 2-0 on Monday night.

Lowry drove in the game-winning home run, struck out eleven batters and threw her second career shutout as the Red Wolves won in its first trip to the new Northern Durham High School. Lowry threw a six-hitter to improve to 2-0.

Mia Best finished 3-for-4 with a double for Cedar Ridge.

Lowry broke open a scoreless game with a solo blast to centerfield in the top of the fourth inning. Northern’s Annaclaire Spell led off the bottom of the fourth with a double, but Cedar Ridge’s Brittani Goddard forced a double play when Mason Browning lined to second. Goddard made the catch and threw to Laci Sykes to double up Spell.

Madeline Galindo-Woodirng walked to open the fifth inning, then stole second. Best scored Galindo-Woodring with a line drive to centerfield.

Cedar Ridge pulled away in the seventh inning when Galindon-Woodring opened with an infield single. Galindo-Woodring stole second again, leading to Best sending a double to left field to widen Cedar Ridge’s lead to 3-0. Goddard laid down a bunt and reached when the ball was thrown away. Best scored off the error.

Cedar Ridge will host Northern Durham on Monday in Hillsborough.

ROCKY MOUNT–Past success for Orange men’s basketball has come incrementally.

In 2015, when Connor Crabtree and Logan Vosburg were sophomores, the Panthers reached the 2nd round of the state playoffs, where they lost to Havelock. A year later, they won the Big 8 Conference Tournament championship, again losing to Havelock in the 2nd round. By the time they were seniors, Crabtree and Vosburg led Orange to the conference regular season crown and reached the state quarterfinals. The only reason they didn’t advance further was a fluke injury to Crabtree against Triton in the 3rd round.

This year’s Orange team wanted to make a quantum leap. When Coleman Cloer, Kai Wade and Mason Robinson were freshmen last year, they simply wanted to reach the state playoffs, which they accomplished. After winning the Central Conference regular season and tournament championships last month, the first such titles since the days of Crabtree and Vosburg, some Panthers talked of winning the state championship.

On Friday night, they learned how difficult it is to immediately ascend to the top.

In front of a crowded Knights Gymnasium, senior guard Randall King scored 28 points and grabbed ten rebounds as Northern Nash defeated Orange 68-60 in the second round of the 3A State Playoffs on Friday night. The Knights (21-7) claimed its 15th consecutive win and will face 2nd-seeded Westover in Fayetteville on Tuesday night.

Cloer led Orange with 30 points, his sixth 30-point game of the season. The Panthers end the season 16-12.

Orange held the Knights scoreless in the final 2:43 of the first half and tied the game 24-24 going into halftime after a dunk by Cloer off a pass from Freddy Sneed. It concluded a second quarter where both team’s offenses seemed to be mired in quicksand. The Panthers went 8:04 without a field goal, yet the Knights were only able to extend its lead to 24-18.

Northern Nash roared out of the locker room with nine points in the opening 1:25 of the second half, keyed by explosive 6-foot-8 freshman forward C.J. Rosser. Hampered by foul trouble in the first quarter, Rosser opened the third quarter by firing in a 3-pointer from the corner. On the Knights next possession, Rosser grabbed a miss by King and laid it in. Orange committed consecutive turnovers that led to field goals by King and Trey Battle, extending the Knights lead to 33-24, a deficit that Orange would spend the rest of the night trying to erase.

King, who will play wide receiver at Campbell University, extended Northern Nash’s lead to 54-40 after a block by Chris Silver, a 6-foot-10 sophomore center, led to a lay-in by King with 5:45 remaining in regulation. Pennix triggered an Orange run with a 3-pointer off an assist from Kai Wade. Cloer would score off an offensive rebound and was fouled by Silver, who fouled out. Cloer then delivered his highlight play of the night with a dribbling exhibition against Battle, then sinking an 19-footer.

Pennix stole the ball from Rosser, leading to another lay-in from Cloer to cut the 54-50. After Mallory scored off a pass from Rosser, Cloer scored off an offensive rebound. Then Mason Robinson, who registered nine points, seven rebounds and seven blocks, grabbed a miss by Rosser, feed Sneed who delivered a pass for Cloer for a dunk to cut the Knights lead to 58-56 with 2:02 remaining.

King was fouled by Sneed and sank two free throws. Cloer missed a three-pointer, which led to King scoring off a steal and the Panthers didn’t score again until a late field goal from Cloer.

Orange jumped out to a 8-1 lead behind two three-pointers from Pennix. Sneed added two free throws to increase the Panther lead to 8-1. Orange shot 5-of-12 in the first half.

As was the case with Curritcuck County, Northern Nash thrived on the offensive boards. The Knights grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Orange overall 45-35. Trey Battle added eleven points and five rebounds.

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