Playing in the annual Wood Bat Tournament at Orange High School, Smithfield-Selma trailed 1-0 Friday night in stormy Hillsborough when play was suspended due to severe rain and lightning in the area.

Orange led Smithfield-Selma with two outs in the bottom of the second inning.

The Scholastic Summer League baseball game will resume this afternoon, with the winner advancing to play East Chapel Hill in the championship game at 7 p.m. The loser between OHS and SSS is scheduled to play Bunn at 5 p.m. in the tournament's consolation game.

Orange is in first place as the second day of the NCHSAA state wrestling championships gets underway in Greensboro. Two CHHS wrestlers also won their first matches in the championships.

Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill both won their opening games in the NCHSAA boys’ basketball state tournament and will play second-round games Wednesday. Orange and Northwood also won.
East Chapel Hill (21-7), a 68-46 winner Monday over Apex, will play at Middle Creek (23-4) Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. Champions of the Tri-9 4-A Conference, the Mustangs eliminated Sanderson 78-56 in the first round.
Chapel Hill (19-4), which beat Mayodan McMichael 82-51 on Monday, will host Fayetteville Westover (20-3) at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Westover’s Wolverines burned Asheboro 56-42 in the NCHSAA 3-A’s first round.
Orange (11-12) will also be on the road Wednesday, playing a second-round 3-A game at Cape fear Valley champion Southern Lee (19-4). The Panthers advanced Monday with a 71-59, come-from-behind win at Eastern Guilford, thanks to a career-high 43 points by Devantay Jones.
In 2-A action, Northwood (23-4) got by Franklinton 54-47 on Monday and will host a surprising St. Paul’s team (9-14) Wednesday. Despite its lackluster record, St. Paul’s defeated 17-7 Northwest Halifax by a 50-36 score in the first round.
Carrboro (15-11) bowed out of the 2-A first round with a 64-58 loss at Bunn.
Northwood had the only local girls to survive the NCHSAA first round. The Chargers (17-9) easily handled North Johnston, 72-52 on Monday, and will travel to Winston-Salem Carver (18-7) for Wednesday’s second round.
All four Carolina-6 girls’ teams were eliminated from the 3-A tournament by the four Mid-State Conference teams — Northern Guilford, Eastern Guilford, Burlington Williams and Rockingham.
Chapel Hill (12-12), three nights after winning the Carolina-6 Conference tournament, fell 52-35 to Williams (24-3). Orange’s girls (11-11) lost 54-42 at Eastern Guilford (22-5); Cardinal Gibbons (17-7) was upset 64-62 by Mid-State No. 4 seed Rockingham (14-12), and Webb (6-14) lost 70-42 to Northern Guilford (23-4).

RALEIGH – Cardinal Gibbons continued its climb to a conference title with a convincing 41-14 win over visiting Orange Friday night.

“We wanted to climb a ladder and each week is another step,” first year coach Henry Trevathan said.

The Crusaders (8-2, 4-0) pulled away from a 22-14 third quarter lead, scoring 20 unanswered points to set up a showdown with Oxford Webb next week for the Carolina 3A conference title.

The victory bell will stay in the west side of Hillsborough for another year.

Cedar Ridge's Brent Burnette registered 172 yards on 24 carries as the Red Wolves defeated crosstown rival Orange 34-7 on Friday night in Glen Auman Stadium. Red Wolves quarterback Cam Pappas went 7-for-12 for 227 yards and a touchdown as the Red Wolves defeated the Panthers for the second consecutive year.

Game Over: Jordan 50, Orange 6

Jordan ends the game with defensive score.

The play of the quarter:Linebacker Phil Williamson intercepts Jalen Pittman’s pass and returns it for a 25-yard touchdown.

Third Quarter: Jordan 44, Orange 6

Jordan decides to keep the ball mostly on the ground with a comfortable lead. Orange is able to get its first score when quarterback Jalen Pittman scored on a 1-yard run. That touchdown was setup by Pittman finding receiver Shawn Roberts for a 43-yard pass.

Jordan responded with a score. Running back Trevon McClary scored on a 5-yard run to give the Falcons a 44-6 lead.

The play of the quarter:McClary’s first carry of the game went for 43 yards.

Second Quarter: Jordan 38, Orange 0

The first half ended with Jordan’s best player, receiver T.J. Thorpe, scooping up a fumble and returning it 70 yards for his second score of the game. The Jordan Panthers continued to move the ball down the field. Falcons’ running back Josh Williams opened the scoring in the quarter with a 7-yard touchdown run when he bounced off three tacklers near the end zone.

The Falcons’ defense has also been strong. Although the Panthers have been able to move the football, they Falcons have made key stops on third downs. The Falcons have also created timely turnovers when the Panthers have crossed midfield.

The plays of the quarter: back-to-back-to-back turnovers. First, Orange’s quarterback Jalen Pittman was intercepted by Phil Williamson. Then, Jordan’s quarterback Sam Selig’s pass was intercepted by Dillon Allen. Orange followed by losing fumble off a bad handoff.

All that led to Selig scoring on a 6-yard run to give the Falcons a 31-0 lead before Thorpe’s fumble recovery. 

First Quarter: Jordan 19, Orange 0

The Jordan Falcons’ offense started off fast with a toss to running back John Brown. He ran for 32 yards, which was followed by Sam Selig connecting with Phil Williamson for a 19-yard pass. The Panther defense did stiffen, but Selig took a quarterback sneak up the middle to give the Falcons a 6-0 lead (PAT was blocked).

The Panthers were given an extra chance to move the ball down the field after the Falcons committed an unnecessary roughness penalty. The Panthers moved the ball to midfield, but were forced to punt.

The play of the quarter: Falcon's reciever T.J. Thorpe catching a short pass from Selig, breaking a few tackles, and sprinting for a 90-yard touchdown to give the Falcons a 13-0 lead.

Following that score, Jordan’s Kyle Lineberry recovered a fumble at Orange’s 29-yard line. The led to Williamson making a diving touchdown catch of 24-yards from Selig (PAT was blocked).

The last two Chapel Hill-area golfers playing in the CGA’s N.C. Junior Championships have bowed out of the match-play competition.
Cedar Ridge junior Casey Ward defeated Kayla Sciupider of Etowah, the medalist of stroke play, 2 & 1, in Thursday morning’s Round of 16. But Ward then fell to Madison Kennedy of Salisbury, by the same 2 & 1 score, in the afternoon's quarterfinals.
Kennedy reached the quarterfinals by defeating Northwood junior Emily Brooks, 3 & 2, in the Round of 16.

The number of foreclosure filings in North Carolina this year was 46,363 at the end of September, the N.C. state Administrative Office of the Courts reported today, and are on pace to exceed 2008 filings.

There were 873 September filings reported in Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties. Foreclosure filings increased in Wake and Durham over the previous month.

Durham County had 176 filings in August and 187 in September, while Wake County's filings totaled 527 in September compared to 468 in August.

Foreclosure filings between June and September in the four-county region were up 35 percent from the previous four-month period.

Foreclosure filings in North Carolina totaled 53,961 in 2008.

Don Shula’s appearance last night in Chapel Hill was one of the nicest social events of the year. Not only did he make a few remarks to note the official opening of Shula’s 347 Grill at the Sheraton on Europa Drive, attendees put down enough bids on some Carolina and Miami Dolphin memorabilia and gifts to raise more than $5,000 for the UNC Children’s Hospital.
The restaurant, named for Shula’s record of 347 wins, (still the most ever in National Football League,) is his 29th nationwide since opening his first in 1989. His son, Dave Shula, actually presides over the family’s corporation, but Don and wife Marie still enjoy touring the holdings and making public appearances.
"When I went into coaching, I wanted to be the best. I’m proud getting the most wins, proud of the perfect (17-0) season and back-to-back Super Bowls," he said. "The restaurant business is totally different, but we still want to be the best. We want to serve the best meal in the world and the most satisfied customers."
Shula’s 347 is a hybrid of a sports bar and high-end steak house. Fittingly, Tuesday’s soiree featured a mix of crab cakes, beef filets, prawns, raw oysters and steamed mussels on the half-shell, smoked and soft cheeses, crudités and fruits. Guest were offered a commemorative bottle of Shula's Special Steak Sauce as they left.
Shula’s place atop the coaching pyramid was enough to draw a sizeable number of sporting types to the opening — from UNC coach Butch Davis and his wife Tammy to football alums Ken Huff and Ted Elkins to Lynda Baddour (flying solo for UNC Athletics, since her husband was with the UNC basketball team in Detroit at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge).
Shula’s relationship with Davis goes back to Butch’s time with the Miami Hurricanes. Shula drew applause when lauding Davis, as did master of ceremonies Ron Stutts.
"From 4-8 to 8-4 in one year … that’s pretty good," Shula noted.
There were plenty of reps from the local entertainment and tourism industries among the more than 100 attendees, including Top of the Hill founder Scott Maitland; the Sheraton’s Wes Collins (Director of Sales) and Nitin Khana (General Manager); Anthony Carey, General Manager of the Siena; marketing guru Dave Gephart; and Laurie Paolicelli, executive director of the Chapel Hill-Orange County Visitors Bureau.

Effects are still being felt from the heavy rains that inundated the Triangle in midweek. Tonight’s football in Hillsborough between East Chapel Hill and host Orange has been postponed before the first drop of rain Friday.
East Chapel Hill (0-1) now is scheduled to play at 7 p.m. Monday at Orange (1-0).
Orange’s field is situated between two concrete stands, which tend to funnel rains into the middle. Significant standing water remained across the playing surface Wednesday, and the field was still thoroughly saturated Friday morning.
"They said they walked out onto the field and sank down to their shins in one spot," East Chapel Hill athletics director Ray Hartsfield said. "They’re worried someone could get seriously hurt."
The JVs will play Sept. 11 in Chapel Hill.
Orange’s decision leaves the county without a game tonight. Chapel Hill High School (0-1) has a bye week; Cedar Ridge (0-1) is at Bartlett Yancey (0-1) in Caswell County; and Carrboro (0-1) is at Burlington Cummings (0-1).