On the second day of 2024, the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team sprung the upset of the year.
Facing a 9-1 Person team that many felt will challenge for the Central Conference championship, a 1-10 Cedar Ridge team slowed Person’s transition game, grabbed key rebounds down the stretch and controlled the two minutes to shock the Rockets 48-41 on Tuesday night in Red Wolves Gymnasium.
Cedar Ridge’s Braedon Wilbourn led all scorers with 19 points while Landon Dalehite added 12 on a night where things that should be relevant were not.
Cedar Ridge’s losing a key guard who left the team over Christmas? Didn’t matter.
Person’s superior height and quickness advantage? Didn’t matter.
Person’s Lance Clark raining down 14 points in the second half? Nothing that couldn’t be solved with some well-timed defense.
What did matter was last January in Hillsborough. Cedar Ridge led the Rockets by 19 points at halftime. But Person rallied, held the Red Wolves to three points in the third quarter, nine free throw attempts the entire game and wound up winning 56-49.
Cedar Ridge coach Mike Jones generally has boundless optimism, but that game left a sour taste in his mouth. He can still quote the halftime score off the top of his head like its name of his daughter.
“I’ve wanted that one for a year,” Jones said. “I’ve been thinking about that game for a year. I’m so proud of the way my team just played. We punched them. We took a punch. We kept fighting. We ignored the crowd. We ignored the referees. We just focused and we played. I’m so proud of them.”
Cedar Ridge held the Rockets scoreless in the final 2:48, outscoring the Rockets 11-0 to end the game.
Clarke scored 14 points for Person, all in the second half. With 4:12 remaining in the fourth quarter, Person’s DaeJon Hodge collected an entry pass from Clarke and scored a lay-in to put the Rockets ahead 38-34, its largest advantage of the game. Dalehite responded with a clutch 3-pointer, which led to some clutch plays by the Red Wolves.
“That was probably the biggest jumper Landon has hit in his whole life,” Jones said. “That was a huge one.”
With 3:20 remaining, Wilbourn stole a pass from Hodge and scored on a lay-in to put the Red Wolves ahead 39-38.
Clarke immediately drained a 3-pointer off a skip pass from C.J. Hunt to put the Rockets in front 41-39. It was Person’s final field goal.
After Harrison Perel split two free throws with 2:38 remaining, Clarke appeared to have a steal for Person, but Cedar Ridge’s Hayden Kirk stole it right back and fed Perel for a lay-in to give the Red Wolves a 42-41 lead with 1:37 left.
In the final minute, Kirk grabbed a crucial offensive rebound off a Perel miss and fed Wilbourn for a lay-in. The Red Wolves got a crucial free throw from Dalehite with :14.1 remaining, then got another huge offensive board from Kirk to secure a stunning upset.
“The last three or four games, Harrison, Hayden and Luke Orstad have rebounded the basketball so well,” Jones said. “It’s just made a world of difference for us.”
Leading by seven at the break, the Red Wolves built a ten-point advantage early in the second half. It appeared that Clarke would shoot the Rockets troubles away when he drained three 3-pointers in the third quarter. Person started another rally whenHodge sank a baseline jumper, then Person’s Jordan Lunsford stole the inbounds pass, leading to Hodge scoring again while getting fouled by Perel to cut the Red Wolf lead to 28-24.
Cedar Ridge grabbed a win days after a heartbreaking loss to Western Alamance in the seventh-place game of the Southeast Alamance Holiday Hoopla. On Saturday, the Red Wolves led 34-30 with 3:12 remaining. The Warriors scored the final seven points, capped by a three-pointer from James Newton at the buzzer.
But that was so 2023. It’s now 2024 and late Monday night, Jones was the happiest man in Hillsborough.
“I’ve been blessed to say I’ve been the coach here for a year-and-a-half,” Jones said. “This is the biggest win we’ve had since I’ve been here.”