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Two weeks ago, I was on vacation in Boone to visit my old stomping grounds at Appalachian State. Every time I talk to my old college friends, I have to fight the urge to say “Boone has changed so much” because I hate being repetitive.

But it has. Most of the restaurants and bars that I frequented in the late 1990s are something else now.

It was the 25th anniversary of my college graduation. I texted that to Amanda Smith, a friend who watched me finally walk across that stage at Varsity Gymnasium in December 1998. She simply replied with a gif of a clock with wings, flapping by with nothing limiting its headlong flight.

That’s how 2023 felt. From last winter, when Orange and Cedar Ridge wrestling each won conference championships. To the spring where Orange baseball pulled off an epic comeback in the state playoffs. To the fall when Orange and Cedar Ridge volleyball had memorable wins and Gabriel Schmid ended a legacy. It flew by.

It’s an unofficial list, but here are the top 10 Hillsborough sports moments from 2023.

10. Salomon Hernandez scores game-winning goal for Cedar Ridge men’s soccer against Western Alamance, September 20: The game against Cedar Ridge and Western Alamance at Red Wolves Stadium had been a fierce scoreless contest entering the final minutes. It appeared that the Warriors would break the scoreless draw with 27:36 remaining when Konnor Johnson lined up for a penalty kick. As Cedar Ridge goalkeeper Erik Galunas lined up, Johnson sent the shot wide right. With 4:36 left, Cedar Ridge Captain Iliah Babchenko stepped back for a corner kick. The corner was deflected by to Babchenko, who returned a cross into the penalty box. Hernandez timed his jump perfectly and made enough contact to knock it into the lower left corner of the net, setting off a wild celebration and leading to Cedar Ridge men’s soccer earning its first home game in the state playoffs since 2015.

9. Orange’s Acoya Isley wins 195-pound Mideast Regional championship, February 16: Going into the Mideast Regional championships at Cedar Ridge High last winter, Isley was the #2 seed in the 195-pound tournament with a 28-2 record. He faced the #1 seed Karin Sein of Eastern Guilford, in the championship match. It took only 41 seconds for Isley to score the match’s only takedown. To start the second period, Isley sunk in a half-nelson and scored back points when Sein suffered an injury and couldn’t continue. Isley became the first regional champion from Orange since Levi Anderson in 2019. Isley would eventually reach the 3A State Championship match at 195 pounds.

8. Cedar Ridge wrestling wins Central Conference Tournament championship:, January 21: 2023 will be remembered as the year where Cedar Ridge wrestling stepped out of Orange’s shadow. In December, Cedar Ridge defeated Orange in a dual match for the first time ever. The Red Wolves finished with 185.5 points behind individual championships from Fernando Martinez, Kaden Tatro, and Pierce Prescod. The success carried over into the following academic year. Cedar Ridge is one win away from taking its first regular season championship at the 3A level.

7. Orange lacrosse defeats First Flight to reach 3A/2A/1A East Region Final, May 9: Orange lacrosse hosted its first regional championship match in 2022 against First Flight. The Nighthawks drove over six hours from Kill Devil Hills and frustrated the Panthers with superior defense and a fabulous transition game that led to a 13-7 win. Last spring in the 3rd round of the state playoffs, Orange welcomed First Flight back to Hillsborough and had more offensive weapons. Tigh Metheny scored Orange’s first three goals while the Panthers held the Nighthawks scoreless for 18:56. The Panthers would host the regional championship game for the second straight year.

6. Cedar Ridge volleyball upsets Orange to win Central Conference Tournament, October 18: Possibly the biggest upset of the year locally in any sport. Orange had dominated the Red Wolves in its two previous matchups during the regular season. In the conference tournament title match, Cedar Ridge sophomore Claire Hargett had a career-high 24 kills. Senior Graylinn Serge finished with 12 kills and a season-high 24 digs. Cedar Ridge’s defense found a way to contain Orange’s taller outside hitters. Senior libero Natasha Buchler-Fosado had a career-best 25 digs as the Red Wolves won a conference championship for the fourth straight year.

5. Amiyah Ware scores 54 points, breaks Orange County basketball scoring record, February 3: Chances are Amiyah Ware would have set records late in 2022, but she was still recovering from a torn ACL that required her to miss the opening games. Once she got healthy, she etched her name in the record books permanently.  Ware scored 54 points against Western Alamance in Elon. She beat the county record set by Orange High’s Ronnie McAdoo set in 1978 when he scored 53 points against Southern Durham. Five days later, Ware scored 51 points in a win at Durham School of the Arts, becoming the first player, regardless of gender, in Orange County history to score 50 points in a game twice in the same season.

4. Orange baseball comes back from five runs down in the bottom of the tenth inning to beat Triton, May 12: Things looked bleak for Orange in the 10th inning against Triton in the 2nd round of the 3A State Playoffs. The Hawks got a three-run triple from Kenneth McCoy, then added an RBI single from Wyatt Avery to go ahead 8-3. Orange made its comeback 90 feet at a time in wildly random fashion. In the bottom of the 10th, Orange got five walks, three hits and a hit batter to make the greatest comeback in team history. Among the highlights was Garrett Sawyer, who had not had a plate appearance all year, somehow batting in the cleanup spot and drawing a walk with one out to score Jackson Berini and cut the lead to 8-7. After Neo Best, who was 0-for-5, tied the game with another bases-loaded walk, Wyatt Hedrick grounded a single up the middle to score Cameron Guentensberger to complete the comeback and send Orange to the round of 16.

3. Orange volleyball defeats Carrboro, wins 3A Eastern Regional championship, October 31: The 2023 Orange volleyball team never had the state championship as a goal. Since 2020, they hadn’t even been the best team in its own town, much less the state. Under first-year head coach Hope Heverly, Orange played ten straight matches away from home in late August and September. They won seven of them, setting up a undefeated run to the Central Conference championship. They avenged a loss to Carrboro in the Eastern Regional championship match on Halloween. Trailing two-sets-to-one, Orange won the fourth set 25-19. In the fifth, Katie Silcott scored the 14th point. Aubrey Jordan spiked home match point to carry Orange to a 15-9 win. Ella Wimsatt, the 2023 Central Conference Player of the Year, finished with 19 kills and 19 digs. Libero Sadye Porter, whose return to the team after sitting out her junior season can’t be underestimated, had 34 digs. Aubrey Jordan finished with 15 kills while Ava Wilkerson had 13 kills as Orange reached the state championship match for only the second time ever.

2. Gabriel Schmid repeats at 3A State Cross Country champion, November 4: Gabriel Schmid doesn’t live in his comfort zone. That’s how he went from not qualifying for the 3A State Cross Country Championships as a freshman to becoming just the second Orange High runner to win a state championship in cross country. On November 4, Schmid won his second 3A State Championship at the Ivey Redmond Sports Complex in Kernersville. He finished with a time of 15:14.75, a good 34 seconds ahead of the closest competitor. Last month, Schmid announced his commitment to run at N.C. State. Schmid improved on his time from the 2022 state championship that he won, also in Kernersville.

1. Katie Belle Sikes named Most Outstanding Swimmer of 3A State Championships, February 16:  In 2022, Sikes changed travel teams to a coach that encouraged swimming in high school competitions. Mind you, Sikes became the first Orange swimmer to win a state championship as a sophomore. Last February, Sikes won the 50 yard freestyle and the 100 yard freestyle state championships at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary. She set a new state record in the 50 yard freestyle (regardless of classification) at 22.17 seconds. It was the 10th fastest time ever recorded in a high school meet in American history. She won the 100 meters championship at 49.45, another automatic All-American time. She took the anchor leg in the 200 yard freestyle relay with Riley White, Ainsley Rasinske and Piper White, becoming the first relay team to win a state championship in Orange history. Sikes officially signed with the University of Georgia last month. She’s already qualified for five regional events this winter.

Even with the youngest Orange wrestling team in years, the Panthers captured the overall title at the Eagle Invitational in Mebane.

Andre Hill, Jared Hutchins, Braden Crawford and Logan Scarantino all won individual championships at the event held at the Mebane Arts & Community Center on December 15 and 16. Hill captured the 175-pound championship, his second individual tournament championship this season, and was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the upper-weight classes.

Hutchins, who scored pins in all four of his matches, claimed his first individual championship of the season. He was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler of the lower-weight classes.

Overall, Orange placed eight wrestlers to capture its first team title of the 2023-2024 campaign, finishing with 206 points. Southern Alamance, the Panthers’ Central Conference rival, finished second with 147.5 points. Randleman finished third at 142 points.

In the 175-pound tournament final, Hill defeated Zeke May of Western Alamance 14-10 in a match that had three lead changes. May scored the opening four points after a takedown 37 seconds into the match and scored two near fall points. Shortly afterwards, Hill scored an escape, gained May’s back and earned two back points of his own to take a 5-4 lead. May escaped to even the match 5-5 at the end of the first period.

May started the second period from the bottom and took a 7-5 lead after he mounted an escape. After May was penalized a point for stalling, Hill gained an 8-7 lead following a reversal. In the third period, Hill gained two more points after May was called for stalling. Hill earned a reversal point to go ahead 14-7 and rode out the win from there. Hill improved to 19-1.

In the opening round, Hill pinned Evan Gerringer of Southern Alamance in 1:52. In the quarterfianls, Hill built a 15-2 lead before he pinned Clinton Williamson of East Chapel Hill in 3:45. Hill scored his 15th pin of the season when he defeated Parker Peters of Northern Guilford in 4:11 in the semifinals.

Hutchins pinned Cameron Stokes of Bartlett Yancey in just 24 seconds in the 138-pound final to conclude a dominant run to the title. None of Hutchins’ four matches went beyond one minute long. In the semifinals, Hutchins pinned Chasen Phillips of Eastern Alamance in 45 seconds. Hutchins finished off Shane Shuster of East Chapel Hill in 23 seconds. He opened the tournament by pinning Jonathan Mosqueda of Western Alamance in 44 seconds. Hutchins improved to 18-3 with 15 pins on the season.

Two weeks after he won the Jim King/Orange Invitational, Crawford won the 126-pound championship when he pinned Trenton Coleman of Tunstall in 2:59. It was Crawford’s eleventh pinfall victory of the season. Crawford ended the tournament with a 18-1 record.

In the semifinals, Crawford defeated Jalen Allen of Northern Guilford 6-0. Crawford scored the opening takedown in the opening minute and never looked back. In the quarterfinals, Crawford pinned Riley Neil of Southern Alamance in 44 seconds. Crawford opened the tournament with a pin of Tha Moo of T.W. Andrews in 53 seconds.

Scarantino entered the 113-pound championship as the #2 seed. He defeated the #1 seed, Elijah Watson of Eastern Alamance, 11-1 in the final. After a scoreless first period, Scarantino earned the opening points of the match after he escaped with 35 seconds remaining in the second period. Scarantino’s finally got the opening takedown and earned three points for a near fall.

In the semifinals, Scarantino fought back from an early deficit to defeat Blake Abbott of Northwest Guilford 6-3. Abbott took Scarantino just 12 seconds into the match, but Scarantino escaped and earned a double-leg takedown to take a 3-2 lead at the end of the first period. Scarantino pinned Nattapat Bhorchim of Western Guilford in 31 seconds in the quarterfinals.

Several other Panthers placed for the first time this season. At 144 pounds, Talan Pearly came in third. In the consolation final, Pearly pinned Justin Shumaker of Bartlett Yancey in 3:45.

At 190 pounds, Jayden Medley was runner-up, the best finish of his career. In the semifinals, Medley pinned the #1 seed, Kaw Poe of T.W. Andrews, in 4:32. Chazz May of Western Alamance won the championship.

At 106 pounds, Chris Winstead finished 4th. Winstead pinned Moses Medina of Northwest Guilford in the quarterfinals. In the consolation round, Winstead pinned Zackary Pisani of Southeast Alamance.

Adrian Sierra finished fourth at 113 pounds. Sierra came away from the tournament with his eighth win of the season.

By the time Christmas rolls around, most high school basketball teams know their identity, their rotation and who they are.

Not so for the Orange men’s squad this year.

From the time that Coleman Cloer suffered an injured ankle in the final week of practice, the Panthers have been in a waiting mode.

With Cloer the highest ranked North Carolina prospect in the Class of 2026, Panthers coach Darryl Britt scheduled a series of showcase games to highlight his superstar. After Cloer’s injury kept him out four weeks, the Panthers lost to Riverside and Highland Academy.

Then starting sophomore point guard Kai Wade was injured late in a loss to Jordan. That robbed the Panthers of its two most experienced ball-handlers in losses to East Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill and Forsyth Country Day.

Cloer and Wade returned in time for the Central Conference opener against Southern Alamance on December 14, but in many respects, the Panthers are still waiting–both for Cloer to get his basketball legs back and for the team to get used to his presence again after playing nine games without him. While he scored 29 points in his season-debut against the Patriots in Graham, the Panthers never led in regulation and had a near-miraculous rally from five points down in the final :28 to force overtime. Orange emerged victorious 72-68 to end a seven-game losing streak.

“It’s been a tough road to travel without Coleman and Kai,” Britt said after a loss to Chapel Hill on December 8. “We understand who we are and how we got here. I built a tough, non conference schedule thinking we were going to be healthy to prepare us for conference play and postseason play. That hasn’t changed. The difference is we haven’t played well enough to beat some of these teams.”

Now, Orange starts play in possibly the biggest December tournament in North Carolina, the John Wall Holiday Invitational. The three-day event is contested at two different locations in Raleigh.

Orange will open in the Devonte Graham Bracket at Broughton High School against a familiar face–the Northwood Chargers this afternoon at 3:30. Northwood won consecutive Central Conference championships and 3A Eastern Regional titles in 2021 and 2023. They were a conference rival with Orange from 2013-2023, then realigned as a 2A team during the summer.

The Chargers return Drake Powell, who committed to North Carolina early in Hubert Davis tenure as the Tar Heels coach. In four years with the Chargers, Powell has averaged 16.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game to spearhead a Chargers attack that has lots of size and outside shooting.

Powell’s emergence has helped the Chargers gain a prominent stature across the state and nationally. Last week, they finished second in the Capital City Classic, an eight-team event in Salem, Oregon.

Northwood has beaten Orange eleven straight times, including wins by 25 and 31 points last year.

The winer of Orange/Northwood will face either Richmond County or Jordan on Friday. The final day of games will take place on Saturday.

Once the John Wall ends, Orange will focus on its main goal of winning the Central Conference, a league that takes on a new shape without Northwood’s presence. Last year, when Cloer and Wade were freshman and guards Xandrell Pennix and Freddy Sneed were sophomores, Orange finished third following several tight games with Person, who beat the Panthers three times.

Britt is a former solider who served overseas. He spent the first half of this season waiting for the Calvary to show up, Now, they’ve finally arrived and the pieces have to come together in order for this season to become everything this squad hoped it would be when workouts started after Halloween.

“We’ve treaded through some tough water,” Britt said. “It’s going to make us a better team. Coming into the season without Coleman and Kai, we wouldn’t have built the schedule that we did, truth be told. We wouldn’t have been invited to some of these showcase games without a player of Coleman’s caliber. We understand what it is. Being the adult in the room, we knew the Calvary is coming.”

It was another strong finish for Orange senior wrestler Andre Hill at the Tiger Holiday Classic. At 175 pounds, Hill finished third in the midst of a deep field that included Kaden Tatro of Cedar Ridge and Brock Sullivan of Union Pines. Hill defeated Dominic Hittepole of Wheatmore to finish in third place on Saturday. Hill earned a 10-3 decision for his 22nd win of the season. Hill opened the tournament by pinning Matthew Lineberry of Gray’s Creek in 3:18. In the quarterfinals, Hill defeated Erik Pendlebury of St. Christopher’s (Virginia) in 1:34. Hill lost to Sullivan, the eventual champion, in the semifinals. Already tis year, Hill has won individual championships at the Jim King/Orange Invitational in Hillsborough and the Eagle Invitational in Mebane. Among his 22 victories, he has 18 pins. Hill has been an offensive lineman for the Orange football team the past three seasons, which helped helm cultivate his skills on the wrestling mat. This was the first time that Hill has placed in the Tiger Holiday Classic, one of the most prestigious wrestling meets in the southeast. This Saturday, Hill will look to conclude the 2023 calendar year in style. Orange will venture to Oakboro to participate in the West Stanly Duals.

Orange senior wrestler Andre Hill discusses 3rd place finish at Tiger Holiday Wrestling Classic

It was another strong finish for Orange senior wrestler Andre Hill at the Tiger Holiday Classic. At 175 pounds, Hill finished third in the midst of a deep field that included Kaden Tatro of Cedar Ridge and Brock Sullivan of Union Pines. Hill defeated Dominic Hittepole of Wheatmore to finish in third place on Saturday.

The Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team defeated Jordan-Matthews for its first win of the season on December 13. Senior Landon Dalehite scored a team-high eleven points as the Red Wolves won 46-38 to avenge an earlier loss to the Jets. Cedar Ridge center Harrison Perel finished with a double-double of ten points and eleven rebounds. The Red Wolves outrebounded the Jets 40-20, including 14 offensive boards. Dalehite drained all three of his 3-pointers, including a trey from the corner with 5:40 remaining in the third quarter assisted by freshman Jordan Jacobson to put the Red Wolves ahead 21-19. Braeden Wilbourn finished with eight points and nine rebounds to help the Red Wolves in the second half. Cedar Ridge limited the Jets to seven points in the third quarter. The Red Wolf defense held Jordan-Matthews to seven points in the third quarter. For the first time in seven years, Cedar Ridge will play in a holiday tournament this week. The Red Wolves will venture to Southeast Alamance High School in Haw River for the eight-team Southeast Alamance Holiday Hoopla Tournament. Cedar Ridge will open with its first-ever matchup against Southeast Alamance on Thursday night at 8:30. You can hear that game on Hillsboroughsports.com. The winner of the game between the Red Wolves and the Stallions will face the winner of Chatham Charter and Eastern Alamance. Cedar Ridge is one of four teams from the Central Conference in the event. 

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