Photo Credit: Den Echoes archive[/caption]This year is the first season in college football where there will be playoffs, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Instead of having two teams play a championship game, there will be a four team playoff along with the regular bowl games.
With only four playoff slots, it looks like it is going to be very competitive to get in. Chances are, if a team loses two games, they will not get in. Five teams in the top 25 are in the same division (SEC West.)
The front runners right now are Mississippi State, Florida State, Ole Miss, and Baylor. Two of those teams (Mississippi State and Ole Miss) are in the SEC West and they play each other in the final regular season game. At the pace the season is going, it will be a battle of the undefeated in the final regular season game to decide who gets to play in the SEC championship game.
The SEC champion is most likely going to win the playoffs. After seven weeks, the SEC West is undefeated against any non-divisional opponents. The western side of the division is dominating halfway through the season. So, as always, strength of schedule will be a deciding factor as to who makes the playoffs, but two extra teams will be included this year.
Photo Credit: Hannah Phillips. A shot of the 3A Mideast Regional, hosted by Northern Guilford High School.[/caption]The NCHSAA 3A Mideast Regional could have gone better for the Panthers that qualified, as some of the six athletes had remarkable performances, and the others leaving with the desire to have a redo. Two Panther athletes achieved the ultimate goal of the meet: qualification for the NCHSAA 3A State Championship.
Freshman Adalyn Fleming and sophomore Montee Mitchell have qualified in the 800m and the 110m hurdles, respectively. Fleming ran her PR (personal record) by over five seconds, an incredible accomplishment in the 800m. The freshman rising star finished in 2:24.87, taking the bronze medal by finishing third. Fleming missed regional runner-up by less than a second, while also becoming the first freshman to place in the top three in the 800m at this regional since 2003, an unbelievable feat. Adalyn also ran the 1600m, finishing seventh in 5:46.
As for Mitchell, the meet’s Performance of the Day winner, the sophomore was actually entered into the meet due to consideration (the process of selecting additional athletes other than the ones who did not meet the qualification mark). Mitchell, different from the hundreds of athletes, coaches, and spectators watching, had an ambition to not only participate, but to show out and prove that he belonged there. The sophomore was seeded thirteenth out of the fourteen entered athletes. In the prelims of the 110m hurdles, Montee took over a half a second off of is PR, finishing sixth in 16.23. The top eight finishers in the prelims qualify for the finals, meaning Mitchell was only one great race away from state qualification. Later in the day, when it was time for the 110 meter hurdle final, the sophomore was ready. Mitchell took almost another quarter of a second of his PR, finishing in 16.02. In his fourth-place finish in the finals (top four qualify), he officially made the state championship. Mitchell was the only non-senior in the top five, and will be facing his toughest competition at states.
Six other Panther athletes competed at this regional meet. Fleming’s partner-in-crime, fellow freshman Claire Barger, ran the 1600m and the 3200m. Barger just missed state qualification herself, finishing fifth in the 1600m. Her 3200m performance was a minor disappointment, with the freshman running well off her PR. The last student-athlete that rounds out the star freshman milers trio here at Orange is Julianna Lester, who actually ended up running the 1600m, despite her running in a local 5k race earlier in the morning. Lester was the second overall female in the 5k, but it was not her best performance in the 1600m. Lester finished in 6:02, 11 seconds off her PR. It was a pretty solid performance for Lester as a whole on the day.
Two other Orange girls competed, junior Morgan Efland and senior De’ja Johnson. Efland finished fifth in the prelims of the 100m hurdles, and eventually ran a 17.49 en route to a sixth-place regional finish. In what was the last Orange High School athletic competition for Johnson, the senior triple jumped almost a whopping two feet farther than her previous PR, leaping her way to a sixth-place finish at 34’2.5”.
In a very unfortunate sequence of events shortly before this regional championship, the more than likely team MVP, senior Brandon Vanhook, sustained two serious injuries in his knees. His ambition for a regional championship pushed him to participate. Shortly before departing to get to Northern Guilford, the site of regionals, Vanhook’s spikes broke. With the combination of replacement shoes and a somewhat crippling injury, the senior leader could not pull of a miracle. In what was thought to be Orange’s greatest chance for a regional champion, Vanhook in the long jump, was an unfortunate disappointment, but adequate considering the circumstances. The senior jumped just under 20’, almost two feet under his PR, finishing sixth. If Brandon would have jumped his PR, he would have won by over a foot. One great performance emerged from Vanhook, however. He ran his PR in the 100m prelims (11.19), in an eighth-place finish. This, unexpectedly, put Vanhook in the 100m championship. Vanhook ran a 12.01 in the finals in another eighth-place finish.
The last Panther who participated was another underclassman, freshman Joseph Pannachia. Pannachia ran alongside Mitchell in the 110m hurdles, and ran his PR by .7 seconds. Pannachia missed finals qualification by two spots, running a 16.91 in a solid tenth-place finish.
Congratulations to our Panther track team for a very successful regional meet! Adalyn Fleming and Montee Mitchell will advance to the NCHSAA 3A State Championship meet, which will be this Friday, May 16 at NC A&T’s Irwin Belk Track. We wish Fleming and Mitchell best of luck at the highest level of competition in the state!
Bracket is from espn.com. Filled out by Jared Riley and Spencer Husen.[/caption]What is the biggest story this year in college basketball? Is it Wichita State’s historic 34-0 season? Doug McDermott eclipsing 3,000 career points to become the fifth-highest scoring college player of all-time? There is no clear answer. But, it is almost concurrent that there is no dominant team this year in college basketball. Florida took the number one overall seed, followed by Arizona, Wichita State, and the ACC Champs, Virginia. There was only one notable exclusion from the tourney, an SMU team that went 25-9 and was ranked in the top 25 in the AP Poll at the end of the season. As for all of the inclusions in this year’s big dance, we will take you through each matchup, game by game, to help you make your picks. Happy picking!
South Region:
The South Region contains arguably the most undoubted pick for the Final Four, Florida. The Gators seem poised for a run at the national championship, despite having both Kansas and Syracuse in their region. If the Jayhawks can make it to the Elite 8 to face Florida, they could pose a strong threat, however the Embiid-less Kansas squad faces a hard road without their star freshman center until the Sweet 16. The Orange also have a fighting chance, but have been on a downward spiral of late, losing 5 of their last 7 games. If you're looking for upsets, bet on 12 seed SF Austin to upend 5 seed VCU. Also look for an Elite 8 run from 7 seed New Mexico.
(Winner in ALL CAPS)
Round of 64:
#1 FLORIDA vs. #16 Albany
#8 Colorado vs. #9 PITTSBURGH
#5 Virginia Commonwealth vs. #12 SF AUSTIN
#4 UCLA vs. #13 Tulsa
#6 OHIO STATE vs. #11 Dayton
#3 SYRACUSE vs. #14 Western Michigan
#7 NEW MEXICO vs #10 Stanford
#2 KANSAS vs. #15 Eastern Kentucky
Round of 32:
#1 FLORIDA vs. #9 Pittsburgh
#4 UCLA vs. #12 SF Austin
#3 Syracuse vs. #6 OHIO STATE
#2 Kansas vs. #7 NEW MEXICO
Sweet 16:
#1 FLORIDA vs. #4 University of California - Los Angeles
#6 Ohio State vs. #7 NEW MEXICO
Elite 8:
#1 FLORIDA vs. #7 New Mexico
East Region:
Much like the South region, many people have agreed on the winner of the East. Except it’s not the number 1 seeded ACC Champion Virginia, but 4 seed Michigan State. The Spartans enter the NCAA tournament playing some of their best basketball of the season, while being at full strength for the first time since early December. The region also includes two good teams in Iowa State and North Carolina, plus Cincinnati and Connecticut. The winner of the Cyclones and Tar Heels round of 32 match-up seem suited for an Elite 8 run and match-up, due to the inconsistency and inexperience of the 2 seed Villanova. As for upsets, watch for normal bracket buster 12 seed Harvard to defeat 5 seed Cincinnati, and 7 seed Connecticut to fall to 10 seed St. Joe’s. Look for the 4 seeded Spartans and 6 seed North Carolina to meet in the Elite 8.
(Winner in ALL CAPS)
Round of 64:
#1 VIRGINIA vs. #16 Coastal Carolina
#8 MEMPHIS vs. #9 George Washington
#5 Cincinnati vs. #12 HARVARD
#4 MICHIGAN STATE vs. #13 Delaware
#6 NORTH CAROLINA vs. #11 Providence
#3 IOWA STATE vs. #14 North Carolina Central
#7 Connecticut vs #10 ST. JOSEPH’S
#2 VILLANOVA vs. #15 Milwaukee
Round of 32:
#1 VIRGINIA vs. #8 Memphis
#4 MICHIGAN STATE vs. #12 Harvard
#3 Iowa State vs. #6 NORTH CAROLINA
#2 VILLANOVA vs. #10 St. Joseph’s
Sweet 16:
#1 Virginia vs. #4 MICHIGAN STATE
#2 Villanova vs. #6 NORTH CAROLINA
Elite 8:
#4 MICHIGAN STATE vs. #4 North Carolina
West Region:
Perhaps the least talked-about bracket of the four regions, the west is headlined by Wooden Award frontrunner Doug McDermott, who was led third-seeded Creighton to a 26-7 record, but have lost three of their last six games. Can they knock off the second-seeded Badgers of Wisconsin? This is to be decided.
(Winner in ALL CAPS)
Round of 64:
#1 ARIZONA vs. #16 Weber State
#8 Gonzaga vs. #9 OKLAHOMA STATE
#5 OKLAHOMA vs. #12 North Dakota State
#4 SAN DIEGO STATE vs. #13 New Mexico State
#6 BAYLOR vs. #11 Wisconsin
#3 CREIGHTON vs. #14 Louisiana-Lafayette
#7 OREGON vs #10 Brigham Young University
#2 WISCONSIN vs. #15 American
Round of 32:
#1 ARIZONA vs. #9 Oklahoma State
#4 SAN DIEGO STATE vs. #5 Oklahoma
#3 Creighton vs. #6 BAYLOR
#2 WISCONSIN vs. #7 Oregon
Sweet 16:
#1 ARIZONA vs. #4 San Diego State
#2 WISCONSIN vs. #6 Baylor
Elite 8:
#1 Arizona vs. #2 WISCONSIN
Midwest Region:
Last, but certainly not least, there is the Midwest. Although the Shockers of Wichita State has won all 34 of their regular season and conference tournament games, the NCAA Tournament will be full of whole new ball games, literally. The Midwest is also, debatably, the toughest region, due to the prior dominance of each of the top seeds, Wichita State, Michigan, Duke, and Louisville, in that order. There are three quick potential matchups to look out for, two of them being on upset alert. These games are potential matchups between Wichita State and Kentucky, Michigan and Duke, and a second-round game between play-in winner NC State and St. Louis. Who will prevail? These are our picks for the Midwest (sorry Wichita State).
Round of 64:
#1 WICHITA STATE vs. #16 Cal Poly
#8 KENTUCKY vs. #9 Kansas State
#5 St. Louis vs. #12 NC STATE
#4 LOUISVILLE vs. #13 Manhattan
#6 UMASS vs. #11 Tennessee
#3 DUKE vs. #14 Mercer
#7 TEXAS vs. #10 Arizona State
#2 MICHIGAN vs. #15 Wofford
Round of 32:
#1 Wichita State vs. #8 KENTUCKY
#4 LOUISVILLE vs. #12 NC State
#3 DUKE vs. #6 University of Massachusetts
#2 MICHIGAN vs. #7 Texas
Sweet 16:
#4 LOUISVILLE vs. #8 Kentucky
#2 Michigan vs. #3 DUKE
Elite 8:
#3 Duke vs. #4 LOUISVILLE
FINAL FOUR:
West vs. Midwest:
#2 Wisconsin vs. #4 LOUISVILLE
South vs. East:
#1 FLORIDA vs. #4 Michigan State
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP:
#1 FLORIDA vs. #4 Louisville
Photo Credit: Spencer Husen[/caption]After a 69-56 victory over West Brunswick High School in the east regional semifinal in the 2013-14 NCHSAA 3A State Playoffs, only two wins separate the Panthers of Orange High School from capturing their first state title in 45 years.
The game took place in Fayetteville, NC at Crown Coliseum, both teams’ first game at a neutral site. The Panthers did a great job adapting to the more hostile environment, as the coliseum had the largest opposing team’s student section that they had seen all year. Fans that took the two-and-a-half hour trip from OHS to Crown Coliseum enjoyed a pretty interesting game, with points of utter desperation to intense moments for both teams.
Orange was up early, with an eight point lead at the end of the first quarter. Continuing their strong push from the first quarter, the Panthers resumed their push by extending their lead to 15 at halftime. Sophomore point guard Eryk Brandon-Dean led the way in the first half with 10 points and 6 assists, the only player in double-figures at the half. The Trojans of Brunswick cut the lead by 9 points at the end of the third, with Orange up by just 6. Despite having a lot of confidence entering the final 10 minutes of the game, the Panthers’ lead was reduced all the way to two with 5:33 remaining. However, those five minutes and 33 seconds proved to be the last bit of time for West Brunswick’s season, thanks to Orange outscoring Brunswick by an unprecedented 28-2 in the transition game.
Brandon-Dean had debatebly the best game of his almost two-year career, with 16 points, eight assists, and seven steals. Senior JD Brooks also dropped 16, while junior guard Jawan Chambers led the charge with 18. The Trojans played a great game, coming all the way back from a near 20-point deficit by cutting the lead to two in the final quarter.
The Panthers will take on the Warriors of James Hunt High School, the two seed in the east, this Saturday at 2 pm, again at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville.