Month: January 2023

On a night where points were at a premium, the Cedar Ridge Red Wolves turned to its most steady hand for its first conference win in nearly one year.

Colton Taylor took a pass from Jonovan Wingate, drove past a defender set up for a charge along the right block for a lay-in with 44 seconds remaining to put Cedar Ridge into the lead against Western Alamance 40-39. Sophomore Harrison Perel added two late free throws and the Red Wolves (5-8, 1-4 in the Central Carolina Conference) emerged with a 42-39 win on Tuesday night at Red Wolves Arena.

The victory ended Cedar Ridge’s nine-game Central Carolina Conference losing streak. The Red Wolves’ last CCC win also came against Western Alamance on February 4, 2022 in Hillsborough.

Brooks Allred led the Warriors (1-14, 0-4) with ten points.

Western Alamance led 22-11 in the second quarter after a jumper by Kris Barnwell. The Red Wolves didn’t score in the opening 5:03 of the second quarter. Taylor ended the drought with a lay-in while being fouled by Wyatt Lee. Taylor scored seven straight points for Cedar Ridge during the first half before Sophomore Harrison Perel sank a 3-pointer to reduce the Warriors’ lead to 24-19.

“We were lacking energy in the first half,” said Cedar Ridge coach Mike Jones, who earned his first conference win as the head coach of the Red Wolves. “I think we looked at this team’s record and took them softly. Once we started playing like ourselves, we looked a lot better.”

In the second half, Western Alamance only scored four field goals. Trailing 26-20 at halftime, Cedar Ridge center Hayden Kirk tied the game at 32-32 with two free throws with 2:36 remaining in the third quarter.

Taylor put Cedar Ridge in the lead at 37-36 with a coast-to-coast lay-in with 5:14 remaining. John Long, a backup guard who played nearly the entire second half, put the Warriors ahead with two free throws. Long finished with eight points.

“We defended well in the second half,” Jones said. “We’re playing really hard right now. I’m proud of my guys. We’re getting better.”

Taylor, who had a career-high 31 points against Eastern Alamance on Friday night, tied the game with a free throw. Tied 38-38, Kris Barnwell drew an offensive foul on Taylor. which led to Allred getting fouled by Perel. Allred split two free throws to give the Warriors a 39-38 lead.

After Taylor’s go-ahead lay-in, Joey Peterson missed a baseline jumper and the rebound was knocked out of bounds by the Warriors. Perel was fouled and sank two pressure free throws to expand the Red Wolves’ lead. Barnwell missed an attempt to tie the game late.

Western Alamance’s Elijah Wade scored nine points in the first quarter, but curiously didn’t play in the fourth quarter.

“It didn’t even look like Colton had 24 points,” Jones said. “I’m telling you, Colton plays so hard. It’s definitely a confidence boost to win this game. Our goal right now is to make the state playoffs. That’s our goal. That was a big step in that direction tonight.”

The Red Wolves will return home to face Walter Williams on Friday night in Hillsborough.

Women’s Basketball: Western Alamance 61, Cedar Ridge 34

The surprising start of the Western Alamance women’s basketball team continued on Tuesday night. The Warriors, who finished 8-12 last year, defeated Cedar Ridge to improve to 13-2, 3-1 in the CCC.

Tina Bowers led the Warriors with 19 points. Amiyah Ware, the Cedar Ridge junior who set the school record with 37 points against Eastern Alamance on Friday night, scored 20 against the Warriors.

The Red Wolves trailed by only two points late in the first half, but things quickly crumbled after Ware picked up her third foul late in the second quarter. The Warriors, ranked #2 in the 3A East Region by MaxPreps, got 18 points from Emma Johnson and 13 points from Cayden White.

Cedar Ridge (2-11, 1-4) will host Williams on Friday night at 6PM in Hillsborough.

ROXBORO–In Roxboro, frantic is a way of life on the basketball court.

Every tipped loose ball can lead to an ally-top in transition, which always triggers a gargantuan roar from the stands that are packed on Friday nights. It’s a style of play that keeps the fans coming to Rockets Gymnasium and something that a young Orange squad hasn’t caught up with yet.

Person, playing without injured center Lamont Johnson, overcame foul trouble to leading scorer Julian Crawley to defeat Orange 91-77 on Friday night in Roxboro, its third straight win over the Panthers. It was a battle of attrition as the Rockets had enough firepower to overcome the loss of Crawley, who picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter. Sophomore Lance Clarke led the Rockets with 30 points.

The Panthers had four players foul out. Freshman Coleman Cloer, who played most of the second half with four fouls, led Orange with a season-best 35 points. Another freshman, Kai Wade, added 20 points despite being disqualified late in the fourth quarter.

In his first 17 games as a varsity player, Cloer has scored in double-figures in 16 of them. He has eight 20-point games, including a 25-point outing agains Cedar Ridge last Tuesday.

Person (12-2, 2-1 in the Central Carolina Conference) won just days after being blown out by 77-45 by Northwood in Pittsboro.

The Panthers (11-6, 2-2) haven’t won in Roxboro since December 15, 2014.

While the Panthers forced 18 turnovers, including four steals from Darius Corbett, they shot only 6-of-30 from 3-point range. The Panthers had a 6-4 lead following a 3-pointer with 5:48 remaining in the first quarter, but couldn’t consistently knock down shots from outside. Person shot 11-of-13 from the field in the opening quarter, led by 12 points from Crawley. After Crawley was forced to the bench early in the second quarter, sophomore Lance Clarke picked up the void with nine points in the second quarter.

Orange still had a chance to take the lead late in the third quarter after Corbett stripped the ball away from Isaiah Smith and scored on a lay-in to cut Person’s lead to 47-46. After Orange missed a 3-pointer, Clarke sank two free throws, which was the theme of the second half. That triggered a 14-1 Person run that kept the lead in double figures for the balance of the game.

Person went 29-of-47 from the foul line, mainly because the Panthers continued to foul late. Orange shot 17-of-23 from the charity stripe.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Orange 60, Person 25

Another double-double from Sophomore Evelyn George led the Orange women’s basketball team over Person 60-25 in Roxboro on Friday night. Orange (9-8, 2-3 in the Central Carolina Conference) has won five in a row.

George finished with 20 points and ten rebounds. George has had five games this year where she’s finished with double-figure rebounds. She had 14 points and 12 rebounds in a 53-47 win over Walter Williams in the Eastern Guilford Holiday Invitational on December 27.

Orange outscored Person 18-0 in the first quarter. Sophomore Addie Atkins had two 3-pointers in the opening eight minutes. Atkins finished with eight points.

Senior Jada Reed scored 12 points, her seventh game in double-figures scoring in the last eight contests. Reed’s season-high of 18 points came against Franklinton on November 29.

Senior center Erin Jordan-Cornell, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the Eastern Guilford tournament, finished with six points and eight rebounds.

Mekayla Bradsher led Person with nine points. Orange, who had nine players in uniform, had eight players score. Sophomore Maura McMurtry had six points off the bench.

The Lady Panthers five game winning streak is its longest since the opening of the pandemic season of 2020, when they reeled off five straight victories. The Lady Panthers, who were the only team in Hillsborough to make the 3A State Playoffs last year, are currently ranked #19 in the MaxPreps 3A East Region.

The Cedar Ridge Red Wolves turned to a reliable presence for its first conference win of the season. With Western Alamance leading 39-38, Colton Taylor took a pass from Jonovan Wingate and scored on a lay-in with 44 seconds remaining. Sophomore Harrison Perel would sink two free throws with 20.2 seconds remaining to preserve a 42-39 victory for Cedar Ridge. The victory ended Cedar Ridge’s 9-game conference losing streak.  It was the Red Wolves first Central Carolina Conference win since they defeated Western Alamance last February in Hillsborough. Taylor, who scored 31 points against Eastern Alamance last Friday, finished with a game-high 24 points. Landon Dalehite had an early 3-pointer for the Red Wolves and provided key defense in the absence of forward Luke Orstad, who was out because of injury. Cedar Ridge held the Warriors to only one field goal in the fourth quarter. Cedar Ridge is now 5-8 on the season. They will host Walter Williams on Friday night in Hillsborough. The doubleheader will begin with the women’s game at 6PM with the men’s game to follow.

Cedar Ridge’s Colton Taylor & Landon Dalehite discuss win over Western Alamance

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The immediate impact of Amiyah Ware into the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball lineup was apparent in her first game in a Red Wolves’ uniform.

Cedar Ridge, who opened the year without Ware in its opening six games as she recovered from a torn ACL in her right knee, went from losing by 60 points to Chapel Hill to taking East Chapel Hill down to the wire in a matter of days. The Red Wolves had a chance to tie on its final possession but a final shot fell short and the Wildcats held on to win 54-51.

Three days later, the Red Wolves ended a 39-game conference losing streak with a 50-27 victory over Person in Roxboro. It was Cedar RIdge’s first conference win since February 8, 2019.

On Friday night, Ware permanently branded her name in the Cedar Ridge record books when she scored 37 points against Eastern Alamance at Jobe Gymnasium in Mebane. Ware broke the previous record set by Madison Wardlow, who scored 35 points against Northern Durham on February 5, 2019. Wardlow is the only female player in Cedar Ridge history to score over 1,000 points.

Eastern Alamance held on to defeat the Red Wolves 56-47.

On Thursday night, Ware scored 22 points to lift Cedar Ridge past Franklin Academy 38-30 at Red Wolves Gymnasium. It was the Red Wolves first home win of the season as well as its first nonconference victory.

Cedar Ridge never trailed against the Patriots as Ware scored six points in the opening quarter. Annora Leaf added another bucket as Cedar Ridge led 8-2 at the end of the first quarter.

Franklin Academy’s Sarah Godwin keep the Patriots (6-10) alive in the second half. Godwin had ten points in the third quarter, including two 3-pointers, to reduce the Red Wolves lead to 27-20. Koryn Shearin knocked down a 3-pointer with 56 seconds remaining in the third quarter, but Franklin’s Illiana Rodriguez, a 6-foot-3 center, got her long arms on a rebound for a stickback bucket. Franklin’s Ashley Probasco got a steal and threw in a set shot as the third quarter buzzer sounded  to cut the Red Wolves lead to 31-25 going into the fourth quarter.

To open the fourth quarter, Ware drew an offensive foul when Godwin was called for using the off-arm against her on offense. On the subsequent possession, Shearin threw a skip pass to Ware, who jumped up-and-down calling for the ball before she finally drained a 3-pointer for her 20th point. It was the Red Wolves only field goal of the second half, but it turned out to be all they needed. Godwin scored on a stickback field goal with 4:20 remaining to reduce the Red Wolves lead to 33-28.

The Patriots had several attempts to cut the Red Wolves’ deficit to one possession in the final four minutes, but Cameron Copeland tied up Rodriguez to force a held ball that sent the possession back to Cedar Ridge. A moment later, Ware knocked the ball away from Franklin’s Emily Capps. Copeland took the loose ball and drew a foul against Rodriguez, which was her fifth.

Probasco missed the front end of an 1-and-1 with 2:55 remaining. Franklin missed another 3-point opportunity and Shearin got the rebound. Young finally ended the long scoreless string with a free throw, and Ware got a key steal to preserve the Red Wolves lead on the next possession.

Godwin had 17 points for the Patriots.

Grace Young added seven points for the Red Wolves.

Ware, a transfer from the Burlington School, started her career playing at the age of eight at the Orange Parks and Recreation Department.

Cedar Ridge will host Western Alamance on Tuesday night at 6, the first of three straight home games. They will also host Walter Williams on Friday night, which will mark the halfway point of the conference schedule. The Red Wolves will face Person again on January 20 at Red Wolves Gymnasium.