The fields for the Big 8 men’s and women’s basketball tournament have been finalized. Of the four teams from Hillsborough, the Orange women’s basketball team will be the only squad hosting a game when the tournament begins.
The Lady Panthers will open with East Chapel Hill on Monday night at 6 PM inside Panther Gymnasium in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, hours after finishing its season against Southern Durham in a heartbreaking loss on Senior night, Cedar Ridge will turn right back around and face the Spartans on Monday afternoon at 5:30 at Spartan Gymnasium.
In the men’s tournament, Orange will travel to Southern Durham on Monday night at 7. Also on Monday, Cedar Ridge faces Big 8 regular season champion Hillside at 7.
The Orange women’s team completed a 19-5 regular season with a 71-26 trouncing of Northern Durham on Friday night at Panther Gymnasium. Senior Icez Barnett, despite barely playing more than 12 minutes, finished with 22 points in her final regular season home game. Lauren Cates added 14. Overall, 12 Lady Panthers scored.
Orange defeated East Chapel Hill twice during the regular season, but both contests were tight. In the first matchup on January 4, the Wildcats led at the half 17-12. After being held to 21 points through the first three quarters, the Lady Panthers scored 19 in the fourth quarter to prevail 40-33. Cates led Orange with 18 points.
In Hillsborough, Orange won 45-39. Cates finished with 17 points while Barnett added eleven.
The Cedar Ridge women’s team led for the majority of its game against Southern Durham on Friday night, but the Spartans came out on top 56-51. The Red Wolves led by as many as 12.
It was a tough ending for Cedar Ridge senior Madison Wardlow, widely regarding as the greatest women’s player in school history. Wardlow finished with 28 points, becoming the first Cedar Ridge player with 1,000 points in her career. Tori Dalehite added eleven. It was also the final home game for Cedar Ridge seniors Natalia Garay and Amy Stutzer.
Southern won the first matchup 58-28 on January 30 at Spartan Gymnasium.
The Cedar Ridge women’s team is the only team in Hillsborough that has been to the state playoffs in back-to-back years. In order to reach the postseason for the third straight season, Cedar Ridge will likely have to win the tournament.
If Orange wins in the opening round, they will host the semifinals on Wednesday.
Next week’s game at Southern Durham will be the second time in six days that the Orange men’s team has traveled to face the Spartans. On Tuesday night, Southern romped past the Panthers 95-55. On Friday night, Orange shot out to a 20-9, but Northern quickly erased that deficit and went on to an easy 75-60 victory in Hillsborough.
Both the women’s and men’s championship games are slated for Friday night at Hillside High School in Durham. Hillside, which will move up to 4A at the conclusion of the season, claimed both the men’s and women’s regular season championships.
Big 8 Conference Men’s Tournament:
#1 Hillside
#8 Cedar Ridge
#4 Chapel Hill
#5 Northern Durham
#3 Northwood
#6 East Chapel Hill
#2 Southern Durham
#7 Orange
Women’s Tournament:
#1 Hillside
#8 Northern Durham
#4 Chapel Hill
#5 Northwood
#3 Southern Durham
#6 Cedar Ridge
#2 Orange
#7 East Chapel Hill