PITTSBORO: There was something special waiting for the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team as they approached Thanksgiving break.
Playing inside a gym adorned with championship banners even though it’s barely four years old, the Red Wolves hung in after a tough start to end a 16-game road losing streak.
While two guards were instrumental in keeping things close in the first half, it was a senior who paved the way to victory.
Braeden Wilbourn scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half as the Red Wolves defeated the Hawks 59-50 on November 26 at Seaforth Gymnasium. It was the Red Wolves first win over Seaforth.
It was Cedar Ridge’s first road win since they defeated Western Alamance 42-33 on February 3, 2023 in Elon.
“I just told them that,” said Cedar Ridge head coach Mike Jones, who just started his third year. “They didn’t believe me. It’s a relief, but at the same time I don’t want to make a big deal out of it because we still have work to do. I finally feel like we’re trending in the right direction. We’re just trying to build a program here.”
Junior Tripp Beasley, in just his third varsity game, scored 15 points as the Red Wolves improved to 2-1. Cedar Ridge opened the season with a victory over Carrboro in Hillsborough on November 15.
Seaforth, who lost at Carrboro to open the season, fell to 0-2.
The irony was that sophomore guard Jordan Jacobson, who kept Cedar Ridge in the game early with ten first half points, didn’t score after halftime until the final three minutes of the fourth quarter. Wilbourn set the tone of the second half when he drained a three-pointer on the first shot of the third quarter to put the Red Wolves ahead 26-25. Beasley added another 3-pointer and Seaforth spent the final 16 minutes chasing the Red Wolves.
On two separate occasions, Wilbourn scored a field goal, then stole the subsequent inbound pass and was fouled.
Seaforth didn’t score in the opening 5:00 of the fourth quarter. Christian Conrad, a backup forward, ended the Hawks dry spell when he scored off a stick back to cut Cedar Ridge’s lead to 57-52. Seaforth guard Nate Emerson, who led the Hawks with 13 points, scored off a steal to cut into the Cedar Ridge lead. Red Wolf junior center Jack Kelsey scored on two lay-ins during the third quarter, then came up with some crucial blocks in the final minutes as Seaforth tried to narrow the gap.
Wilbourn and Beasley sank pressure free throws down the stretch.
“I love Tripp,” Jones said. “Tripp is aggressive. Tripp is always looking to score. Tripp is really receptive to coaching. He’s going to be a big part to what we do this year, for sure.”
Seaforth led 19-10 at the end of the first quarter. Jacobson kept the Red Wolves close with a 3-pointer. Beasley, Jacobson and Luke Orstad each knocked down 3-pointers in the second quarter.
While Cedar Ridge returned three starters from last year’s team, the senior captain from the 2023-2024 team isn’t that far away. Landon Dalehite, who graduated from Cedar Ridge in June, has joined Jones staff as an assistant coach.
“Me and Landon think alike,” Jones said. “The kids listen to Landon. He can give them a teenage voice because he was teammates with half of them. We really enjoy having Landon here, for sure.”
Cedar Ridge will travel to Durham School of the Arts on Friday night.
The Red Wolves (2-1) lost its opening road game to Chapel Hill on November 19 in Tiger Gymnasium. Jeremiah McIlwaine led the Tigers with 19 points. Cedar Ridge was led by Jacobson, who scored 19 points, including 6-of-13 shooting from 3-point range.