Miami Herald High School Athlete of the Week 18: Orlando Roche of Belen basketball

By James Varsallone

January 23, 2026 12:14 AM

Orlando Roche of the Belen Jesuit boys’ basketball team. Photo Via Social Media

Belen Jesuit boys’ basketball player Orlando Roche is the Miami Herald Athlete of the Week for Week 18.

In the Dade vs. Broward Challenge, the junior guard scored 20 points with 10 rebounds and 4 assists in a 68-63 win over Chaminade-Madonna and totaled 28 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in a 77-76 win over Plantation.

Other nominees were: Christopher Smith, Archbishop McCarthy wrestling; Lucas Piedrahita, Ransom Everglades soccer; Serena Volcy, North Miami Beach basketball; and Scarlett Baur, Palmer Trinity soccer.

To be considered for a nomination (Broward and Miami-Dade high school varsity athletes only), email hssports@miamiherald.com.

Jim Varsallone

Miami Herald

305-376-3621

Jim Varsallone writes a high school sports column twice a week, featuring top performers in all varsity sports (boys and girls) in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. He also covers pro wrestling, something he’s done since his college days in the late 1980s. Now in his fifth decade of coverage, he currently follows WWE (Raw, SmackDown and NXT), AEW, Ring of Honor, TNA Impact Wrestling, MLW, WOW, NWA, and the South Florida indies, mainly CCW. He writes MMA, too -- mostly profile stories and video interviews with American Top Team and Sanford MMA fighters in South Florida. As for pro wrestling, he writes feature stories and profile pieces, updates upcoming show schedules in South Florida, photographs the action and interviews talent (audio and video) -- sharing the content here and via social media on his Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channel: jim varsallone (jimmyv3 channel). Support my work with a digital subscription

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