It was her first year playing high school basketball playing in the town she grew up in, but Amiyah Ware made it a memorable one.
Playing guard for Cedar Ridge, Ware broke a series of school and county records. Ware has been named to the All-District 6 first-team for the North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association. Joining Ware on the first-team was Laynie Smith of Chapel Hill, Emerson Thompson of Falls Lake, Rymiah Sanders of Southern Durham and Sydney Barker of Jordan.
Orange’s Erin Jordan-Cornell, the leading scorer and rebounder for the Lady Panthers, was named to the third-team.
This year, Ware broke the Cedar Ridge single-season school record with 470 points. The previous record was held by Madison Wardlow, who scored 389 points in the 2018-19 season. Even more impressively, she did in 17 games. Ware missed Cedar Ridge’s opening six games as she continued to recover from a torn ACL suffered last spring when she still attended the Burlington School. Ware’s impact was immediate. In her second game, she scored 18 points as the Red Wolves defeated Person 50-27 in Roxboro, which ended the Red Wolves 39-game conference losing streak. It was Cedar Ridge’s first conference win since February 8, 2019.
Ware broke the Orange County record on February 3 when she scored 54 points against Western Alamance. The previous record, regardless of gender, was set by Ronnie McAdoo of Orange High when he scored 53 against Southern Durham on January 24, 1978. She also broke the single-game Cedar Ridge women’s scoring record, which was set be Wardlow when she scored 35 against Northern Durham on February 5, 2019.
The following week, Ware became the first player, regardless of gender, in county history to score 50 points twice in a season. Against Durham School of the Arts on February 8, Ware scored 51 points as the Red Wolves defeated the Bulldogs 66-57 at Sykes Gymnasium.
In each of her final 12 games, Ware scored over 20 points. She eclipsed over 30 points six times, including in each of her final five regular season games.
Jordan-Cornell overcame her second knee surgery in 2022 to lead Orange in scoring and rebounding. This season, Orange reached the state playoffs for the fourth time in the last five years and had a winning season for the third straight campaign.
Jordan-Cornell was name the Most Valuable Player of the Eastern Guilford Holiday Showcase, a tournament that Orange won in Gibsonville. In the championship game against Northeast Guilford, she had 13 points and nine rebounds as the Lady Panthers rolled 46-25. In the semifinals, Jordan-Cornell had 14 points and 14 rebounds as Orange defeated Walter Williams, a Central Carolina Conference rival, 53-49. In the opening round of the tournament, held at 10 AM on December 26, Jordan-Cornell had eleven points and eight rebounds as Orange defeated the Burlington School 54-44.
This season, Jordan-Cornell had six double-doubles. Her final game at Orange was one of her best. She registered 12 points, 18 rebounds, four blocks and four steals against Southern Wayne in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs in Dudley. It turned out to be the final game for Orange head coach B.J. Condron, who announced his resignation the following week in order to become the first Athletic Director at Southeast Alamance.
An All-Conference performer in volleyball and basketball, Jordan-Cornell led Orange with 16 points and 14 rebounds in a victory over Eastern Alamance in the opening round of the Central Carolina Conference Tournament on February 13. In her senior night game, held on February 10, Jordan-Cornell scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Eastern Alamance in a 44-39 victory. She finished in double-figures scoring in each of her last six games and seven of her last nine.
Jordan-Cornell was also a student advisor for the North Carolina High School Athletic Association this year. She attended board meetings with the NCHSAA to advice the panel on student-athlete concerns.