Month: January 2020

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is wrestler James Rosati-Brown. On Saturday, Rosati-Brown won the 152-pound championship at the Buccaneer Cup in Yanceyville. Rosati-Brown won five matches in the round robin tournament to win his first individual title of his high school career. Competing in five matches, Rosati-Brown won all five via pinfall to improve to 24-9 on the season. He has 15 pins. Cedar Ridge won the team championship, the first team from Hillsborough to win a tournament this season. On January 8, Cedar Ridge started the year by beating Northern Durham 63-10 for its first Big 8 Conference victory of the year. Against the Knights, Rosati-Brown defeated Shamari Zachari 7-6. Rosati-Brown finished 5th in the Jim King/Orange Invitational on December 7th at Orange High. Cedar Ridge will host its senior night next Thursday in a tri-meet against East Chapel Hill and Vance County.

Hello loyal readers, it’s been a while since the last edition of Campbell’s Ramble and it’s good to be back. In this edition we talk a little basketball, and I’m going to make a prediction for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Since we are in the meat of basketball season however, my formatting is going to be a little bit different than the more football focused editions. Due to the nature of basketball, I will only be providing my thoughts on 8 teams a week, not like football where I did every ACC team who played a game. Those teams will be the 3 triangle based ACC schools (Carolina, Duke, State) along with Syracuse (my school) and then 4 other ACC squads that I find interesting for this edition. For predictions, I will be picking at least one game for every ACC team, with repeats allowed. Enough talk about the rules though, let’s talk hoops!

Duke

Right now, this is the only local team I feel I can actually trust to win a game. Early on in the season when Duke’s 150 game non conference home win streak was snapped at the hands of Stephen F. Austin, it seemed like this would be a bit of a rebuilding year for the Blue Devils. That being said, the Dukies flipped the script and haven’t lost a game since. Despite a tough test in Atlanta at Georgia Tech, Duke is clearly the best team in the conference right now. Tre Jones is the best point guard in the conference and Vernon Carey has the ability to take over in the post and because of those two, Coach K’s team is one of the few real championship contenders this season.

North Carolina

This team is truly terrible right now. With Cole Anthony, Anthony Harris, and Sterling Manley all out injured. The Heels only have 4 of their top 7 rotation players healthy. Not to mention Christian Keeling being nowhere close to being as good as advertised. A team with no real starting point guard available and only 3 ACC starting caliber players (Bacot, Brooks, Robinson) available is destined for failure. With a very strong 2020 recruiting class, the Heels probably have another championship window left in the Roy Williams era, but it’s going to be a rough rest of the season.

NC State

Like every NC State in the 21st century, the Pack are wildly inconsistent once again. You see a big comeback win over Notre Dame, only to see Kevin Keatts’s squad put up a pathetic performance in a road loss to Virginia Tech. I don’t know what to make of the Wolfpack this season. If you had to ask me whether NC State will make the tournament this year I would lean slightly towards yes due to how much I like Markell Johnson, but I really just can’t decide whether this team is actually good or not.

Syracuse

Syracuse lives and dies by the 3 pointer. Their defense is not very good, largely due to the fact that Bourama Sidibe doesn’t box out to save his life and teams constantly snag offensive rebounds on the Orange end of the court. Because of this, Cuse is forced to shoot from 3 point land to make up for the defensive meltdowns. Thankfully, when you play a team that shoots as poorly as Virginia, it doesn’t take that much to beat them. A solid performance from Joe Girard III and Elijah Hughes gets Syracuse a nice little win in overtime against the defending champs.

Syracuse still has a chance to make a run for an NCAA tournament bid, but Girard and Hughes will have to drag them kicking and screaming to the field of 68.

Virginia

This UVA team might be better defensively than last year’s championship team. Unfortunately, they can’t shoot to save their lives. Not a single Cavalier is hitting more than 40 percent of their shots beyond the arc, and as a team are shooting only 27 percent from three. It’s so unfortunate to have to watch a team just fall off a cliff like the Hoos have, and I have my doubts that Virginia makes the tournament this year.

Clemson

Yes, this Clemson team broke the 59 game losing streak in Chapel Hill. No, that does not mean they are good. This might be the worst team in Brad Brownell’s tenure at Clemson. Thankfully for Brad, the win in Chapel Hill might just be enough to keep him around another season at the helm of the Tigers.

Florida State

If there is ever a year for Lenny Ham to make his first Final Four appearance, this is the one. A weak ACC leaves Florida State with plenty of opportunities to rack up wins and get themselves a favorable draw in the NCAA field. With a very balanced scoring attack, the Noles don’t have to rely on one man to win games like so many other teams this year are forced to. Vassell, Forrest, and Walker can all contribute day in and day out and it’s looking like this could be the best team Florida State has had in a long time.

Boston College

Like Clemson, don’t let the early 3-2 conference record fool you into thinking the Eagles are good. They are not. Jim Christian is a good coach who can make Boston College a fairly competitive team despite minimal talent levels. That being said, the conference wins are against Wake Forest, Notre Dame, and then a Virginia team who can’t shoot. It’s not like the Eagles have been giant killers here, and they’re going to be near the bottom of the conference at the end of the season.

Basketball Predictions

Duke vs. Clemson. Duke 89-60

Virginia Tech vs. Wake Forest. Virginia Tech 82-71

Virginia vs. Florida State. Florida State 61-49

Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech 75-73

Miami vs. NC State. NC State 83-76

Boston College vs. Syracuse. Syracuse 70-57

North Carolina vs. Pitt. Pitt 68-63

Louisville at Duke. Louisville 77-76

Last edition record: 1-5

Season record: 19-12

CFP Championship Prediction

Clemson vs. LSU. Clemson 41-38

Last edition record: 7-1

Season record: 42-23

Basketball Power Rankings

1. Duke

2. Florida State

3. Louisville

4. Virginia

5. Virginia Tech

6. NC State

7. Syracuse

8. Miami

9. Boston College

10. Georgia Tech

11. Clemson

12. Pittsburgh

13. Notre Dame

14. North Carolina

15. Wake Forest

This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior swimmer Ashley Behringer. On Tuesday, Behringer won the 100 yard backstroke in a meet against Chapel Hill and Northern Durham at the Orange County Sportsplex. Behringer finished with a time of 1:05.35, which earns her consideration for the Mideast Regionals. Behringer joined Caroline Lazarus, Melissa Campbell and Abby Dease on the 400 yard freestyle relay team, which qualified for the regionals with a time of 4:15.65. The group finished. 2nd in a six-team race behind Chapel Hill. Behringer also played tennis this fall for Coach Justin Webb. The Lady Panthers finished 11-8, its best mark since 2013, at least. The Orange women’s swimming team has victories over Eastern Alamance, Walter Williams, Cedar Ridge and Northern Durham this season. The Lady Panthers will compete in the Big 8 Conference Championships at Duke University on Wednesday, January 22.

A good year for western Hillsborough wrestling continues.

The Cedar Ridge wrestling team claimed the Buccaneer Cup at Bartlett Yancey High School on Saturday, the first team championship claimed by a Hillsborough squad this year. The Red Wolves finished with 38 points in the six-team tournament. Granville Central finished 2nd with 32 points. Burlington Cummings had 30 points.

Durham School of the Arts, Graham and Bartlett Yancey also participated.

In an unusual round robin format, five Cedar Ridge wrestlers won individual championships.

Freshman Fernando Martinez claimed the 106-pound championship by winning all three of his matches. Martinez scored two pins. In the match that decided his weight division, he defeated Granville Central’s Trevor Johnson 13-11 in the first sudden victory round. Martinez, who finished runner-up in the Red Wolves Invitational on November 23, is now 25-6 with 12 pins.

Daina Pritchard won the 138-pound championship after scoring three pins in three matches. He defeated Jakoby Casselman of Bartlett Yancey in 3:00 to claim the title. Pritchard, who finished 3rd in the Jim King/Orange Invitational on December 7, is tied with Martinez for the team-lead with 25 wins. He now has 16 pins.

James Rosati-Brown claimed the 152-pound championship with the largest workload of any of his teammates. He won five matches, all by pitfall. Rosati-Brown pinned Blake Collins of Bartlett-Yancey to finish the tournament with an unblemished record. It was the second time this season that Rosati-Brown has placed in a tournament. He finished 5th in the JKO.

Rosati-Brown is 24-9 with 15 pins.

Ruffin Wyrick took the 170 pound championship to improve to 20-9. He now leads Cedar Ridge with 18 pins. Wyrick pinned Marcos Padron-Diaz of Durham School of the Arts in 20 seconds, leading to the final where he pinned Randy Smith of Bartlett Yancey.

At heavyweight, Louis Tedder won his first individual championship of his career. Competing in two matches, Tedder pinned Adonay Pineda-Sorto of Durham School of the Arts and Jalik McNair of Bartlett Yancey.

Alex Christian was on the verge of taking the 182-pound championship. Christian finished 3-1 with pinfall wins over Ashton Applewhite of Granville Central, Dalton Roberson of Cummings and Alexander Salinas of Durham School of the Arts. Dylan Wall of Bartlett Yancey pinned Christian in the championship match.

Cedar Ridge entered the season after the graduation of Darius McLeod, who amassed 97 wins in his career. McLeod is now at Western Carolina University, but checked in on his former team during the Tiger Holiday Classic last month at Chapel Hill High School.

In other results, Cedar Ridge’s Kady Watkins won her seventh match of the season. As she prepares for the NCHSAA Girls State Tournament on February 8 in Winston-Salem, Watkins pinned Wasim Alsaidi of Barlett Yancey at 120 pounds.

Last week, Cedar Ridge earned its first Big 8 Conference win of the season by beating Northern Durham 63-10 at Poe Gymtorium. Wyrick, Alex Christian, Gio Poma, and Louis Tedder all earn pinfall victories. Rosati-Brown defeated Shamari Zachary 7-6. Poma’s victory sewed up the win for Cedar Ridge.

Cedar Ridge returns to action on Friday in the Dash Classic in Willow Springs. It will be a two-day tournament.

Alvis Whitted: The 1993 Orange graduate is headed to the NFC Championship game. Whitted, the wide receivers coach for the Green Bay Packers, was on the sideline as Green Bay held on to defeat the Seattle Seahawks 28-23 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay on Sunday night in the NFC Divisional Playoffs. Whitted was a wide receiver and ran track & field for three seasons at Orange. He was a 4A State Champion in the 100 and 200 meters. Whitted was a member of the 1991 Orange team that went to the 2nd round of the 4A State Playoffs. At N.C. State, he played wide receiver/kick returner for Coach Mike O’Cain. Whitted is the last Orange Panther to play in a bowl game, where he suited up as a kick returner in the Wolfpack’s 28-24 win over Mississippi State at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Whitted is also the only Orange Panther to play in the Super Bowl. He played special teams for the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. Whitted started his coaching career at Orange under Dickie Schock. From there, he went on to Millsaps College, a Division III team in Jackson, Mississippi. He joined Rick Neuheisel’s staff at UCLA in 2011 before starting a seven-year stint as wide receivers coach at Colorado State. Whitted met Green Bay head coach Matt LaFleur during a predraft workout at Colorado State with Michael Gallup, one of three All-Americans that Whitted coached in Fort Collins. Green Bay faces San Francisco for the NFC Championship next Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.

Icez Barnett: Barnett, a freshman with the Division II Chowan women’s basketball team, returned to action on January 8 in a 73-67 loss to Mount Olive. Barnett played two minutes and grabbed one rebound. She didn’t play on Saturday as King defeated the Hawks 68-52 at the Helms Center in Murfreesboro. Chowan is 3-11, 3-7 in Conference Carolinas Thus far in her freshman season, Barnett has played ten games. In 80 minutes, she has scored six points and 17 rebounds.

Lauren Cates: The Wake Tech Community College women’s basketball team returned to action with a 94-19 destruction of Fayetteville Technical Community College on January 8 in Raleigh. Cates had the best shooting game of her college career, going 6-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range. She finished with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists. On Saturday, Catawba Valley Community College defeated Wake Tech 80-57 to end a four-game winning streak. The Eagles are 9-4, 5-3 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Braden Homsey: The Division III Ferrum wrestling team advanced to the championship of the Virginia Duals at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, VA. Kutztown, ranked #16 in Division III, defeated the Panthers 19-13 in the final on Saturday afternoon. Homsey, wrestling at 197 pounds, defeated Anthony Emig 13-11.

In the semifinals, Ferrum upended Waynesburg 29-10. Homsey claimed a 9-6 decision over Dan Verhovsek. In the quarterfinals on Friday, Ferrum advanced past Alderson Broaddus 34-11. Homsey earned a major decision by beating Alex Eaton 15-3. This season, Homsey is 19-7 with one pin.

The Panthers are 5-2 this season.

Ferrum returns to action in the Builder Open next Saturday in Virginia Beach, VA.

Just before the holidays, Cedar Ridge guard Mekai Collins quietly eclipsed a rare milestone. He scored his 1,000th point in his high school career in the Red Wolves’ game against Chapel Hill on December 9. Collins scored 12 points, which put him exactly at 1,000 points. He surpassed the mark the following night with 26 points in Cedar Ridge’s 56-47 with over the Durham School of the Arts. Collins started his career at Cedar Ridge, scoring 245 points his freshman year. As a sophomore, Collins scored 333 points. This season, he has led Cedar Ridge to four wins, three more than they had all of last season. He is the first Cedar Ridge player to surpass 1,000 points since Peyton Pappas in 2016 Pappas is the all-time leading scorer in school history. A native of California, Collins is a big Los Angeles Clippers fan. He will return to action on Tuesday night when Cedar Ridge travels to East Chapel Hill. You can hear that game on Hillsboroughsports.com live starting at 7:30 with Tim Hackett on the call.

Aenean feugiat purus vitae sollicitudin laoreet. Duis fringilla ligula vel velit lacinia, in mattis felis consectetur. Sed at pretium orci. Ut tempus libero odio, sit amet consequat neque pretium ut. Integer hendrerit mauris nec odio auctor suscipit. Proin porttitor turpis vitae ligula dictum, a sollicitudin purus congue. Nulla viverra nisi ex, ut ornare tellus cursus quis. Nulla posuere tincidunt leo at condimentum. Sed egestas tortor a nisi fringilla, id cursus odio rhoncus.

Aenean feugiat purus vitae sollicitudin laoreet. Duis fringilla ligula vel velit lacinia, in mattis felis consectetur. Sed at pretium orci. Ut tempus libero odio, sit amet consequat neque pretium ut. Integer hendrerit mauris nec odio auctor suscipit. Proin porttitor turpis vitae ligula dictum, a sollicitudin purus congue. Nulla viverra nisi ex, ut ornare tellus cursus quis. Nulla posuere tincidunt leo at condimentum. Sed egestas tortor a nisi fringilla, id cursus odio rhoncus.