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This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is freshman women’s basketball center Kassidy Tolliver. In December, Tolliver scored 12 points to lead the Red Wolves over Durham School of the Arts 54-31 at Sykes Gymnasium in Durham. On a young Cedar Ridge team that lost its top two scorers from last season, Tolliver has taken the reigns right away this season. Just eight games into her high school career, Tolliver is Cedar Ridge’s leading scorer. Tolliver has been playing basketball since her sixth grade year at Gravelly Hill Middle School, where she played alongside her current teammate Kennedi Fearrington. Against Eno River Academy, Tolliver scored 15 points as the Red Wolves defeated the Bobcats 41-25 in the first-ever game between the Hillsborough schools. Against Person on December 20, Tolliver grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds. Cedar Ridge won its first Central Conference game of the season on Friday night over Southern Alamance. Tolliver scored nine points, grabbed seven rebounds and forced eight steals. Tolliver has become a regular starter for the Red Wolves in her freshman season. She aims to keep improving as Cedar Ridge aims to reach the state playoffs for the second straight year. This week, Cedar Ridge will play three games over four days. They will host Orange on Tuesday, then host Chatham Central. On Friday night, the Red Wolves will travel to Mebane to face Eastern Alamance at Tal Jobe Gymnasium.
Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Kassidy Tolliver
This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is freshman women’s basketball center Kassidy Tolliver. In December, Tolliver scored 12 points to lead the Red Wolves over Durham School of the Arts 54-31 at Sykes Gymnasium in Durham.
In a Central Conference women’s basketball chase filled with experienced teams, Cedar Ridge is playing more freshmen in its regular rotation than seniors.
On Friday night, two rookies paved the way for the Red Wolves first conference win of the season.
Kennedi Fearrington tied her career-high with eleven points while Kassidy Tolliver added nine points as the Red Wolves held off Southern Alamance 37-29 at Red Wolves Gymnasium on Friday night. Junior James Watson added nine points for the Red Wolves (4-5, 1-1 in the Central Conference).
Tolliver and Fearrington were teammates with the Gravelly Hill Middle School team the past three years, as well as several travel teams.
Southern Alamance outrebounded the Red Wolves 38-23. Sarah Kathryn Maness led all scorers with 15 points.
With the Patriots leading 14-12 at halftime, the Red Wolves scored eleven consecutive points starting with back-to-back 3-pointers from Watson and Elliott Wisenfeld. After Fearrington scored on a lay-in after a feed from Ava Smith, Watson drained another 3-pointer off a skip pass from Fearrington. In the final seconds of the quarter, Tolliver scored off a pass from Fearrington to give Cedar Ridge a 25-18 lead going into the final stanza.
Cedar Ridge forced eight Southern Alamance turnovers in the third quarter.
Maness keyed a late Southern Alamance charge. With 1:37 remaining, she made two free throws to cut the Red Wolf lead to 33-27. Maness stole the ball off an inbounds pass and scored on a lay-in with 1:321 remaining. Fearrington put the game away on a breakaway lay-in off a pass from Fearrington.
Cedar Ridge didn’t trail in the first quarter after Wisenfeld scored on a 3-pointer on Cedar Ridge’s first possession. Tolliver scored off a steal by Fearrington to cap a 7-2 Red Wolf run to start the game. Southern Alamance’s Emory Gilley scored a jumper off a pass from Maness to give the Patriots its first lead at 11-10. Maness drained a 3-pointer just before halftime to give Southern Alamance the lead going into the locker room.
Men’s Basketball: Southern Alamance 51, Cedar Ridge 49: In a game with 16 lead changes, Southern Alamance built a 48-39 lead and held on for dear life to beat the Red Wolves on Friday night.
Drayden Brewer paced a balanced Patriot attack with 12 points as Southern Alamance won despite shooting 29% from the field. The Patriots grabbed 18 offensive rebounds.
Cedar Ridge sophomore Jordan Jacobson led all scorers with 17 points, shooting 3-of-8 from 3-point range. Red Wolf senior Braeden Wilbourn added 13 points.
Jacobson knocked down a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining in the first half to tie the game 27-27 at halftime. Cedar Ridge center Jack Kelsey, who finished with six blocks, scored off a pass from Jacobson to give the Red Wolves a 31-29 lead, but that would be the home team’s last lead. Southern Alamance went on a 12-2 run keyed by Brewer, who sank consecutive 3-pointers. Southern Alamance’s Riley Warren, who finished with ten points and eleven rebounds, assisted on Brewer’s second three-pointer that put the Patriots ahead 41-32.
Cedar Ridge (5-8, 0-2) chipped away at the Patriot lead in the final five minutes. Southern Alamance was held without a field goal for 4:46 as Jacobson drained back-to-back 3-pointers which reduced the Patriots lead to 48-45 with 1:56 remaining. Warren scored a crucial lay-in off a pass from Brewer with 1:01 remaining. Cedar Ridge’s Tripp Beasley got free on the wing, took a skip pass from Jacobson and scored another 3-pointer to cut the Red Wolf deficit to 50-48.
Brewer split two free throws with 20 seconds remaining. With Cedar Ridge trailing 51-48, Kelsey grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed shot, which led to Wilbourn hitting one free throw. On the subsequent inbounds pass, Beasley stole the ball from Brewer. In a wild scramble at the finish, Wilbourn got free for a 3-point attempt which bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
BURLINGTON–There’s no place like home for the holidays.
Unfortunately, it’s a place that Orange basketball won’t be seeing for awhile.
On December 23, the Panthers played the Ivanhoe Knights out of Australia at Northeast Guilford High School. It started a string of ten consecutive games away from Panther Gymnasium.
In the midst of the coldest winter in several years, there’s also the problem of illness and fatigue.
Sure enough, the Orang men’s basketball team was sick and tired as they entered Burlington last Friday night. Coach Derryl Britt didn’t make the trip because he was under the weather. Assistant coach Lemont Jones, who lives six minutes away from Williams High in Graham, learned at about 1 o’clock on Friday afternoon that he would serve as acting head coach.
While Orange’s shooting was as cold as the winter early, the Panthers overcame foul trouble to post its fifth straight win over Williams 66-60. Junior point guard Kai Wade led the Panthers with 20 points as Orange improved to 10-4 overall, its best start ever in Britt’s seven-year tenure.
Orange didn’t trail after the midway point of the first quarter, but never built a lead larger than eight points until the final minute of regulation.
Jaeden Smith paces Williams (5-6, 0-1 in the Central Conference) with 21 points.
With Orange leading 29-24 at halftime, Panther senior Michael Clark opened the second half with a stickback bucket to give the Panthers its largest lead of the game. Whenever Orange pushed its lead out to seven points, the Bulldogs found a way to draw closer. Williams’ Cavion Stokes drained his only field goal of the game beyond the arc narrowed the Panthers’ lead to 38-34. Orange senior Freddy Sneed, who finished with 14 points, scored on an acrobatic lay-in. Just moments after checking into the game for the first time, the Bulldogs’ Kyrian Fuller scored off a lay-in while getting fouled by Jalen Crayton. Fuller’s free throw reduced Orange’s lead to 38-37 with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Orange junior Ethan Ellis came up with back-to-back 3-pointers from the same spot in the left corner to extend the Panther advantage to 44-37.
Elliot, who scored eleven of his 15 points in the second half, started the fourth quarter with a dribble drive lay-in to cut the Panther lead to 44-42. Orange center Hector Garrido got two offensive rebounds on a possession that wound up with Xandrell Pennix scoring his first three-pointer of the game. After Elliot scored on another lay-in, Pennix immediately drained another shot from downtown. Wade knocked down seven free throws in the final minute to keep the Bulldogs at bay.
Smith scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half.
Women’s Basketball: Orange 58, Water Williams 41: On the night she claimed her 20th career double-double, Orange senior Evelyn George may have come the closest anyone has in women’s basketball history to a triple-double.
George finished with 18 points, ten rebounds and seven assists as Orange rolled past Williams in Burlington to win its first Central Conference game. Senior center Marshea Byrd added eleven points and four rebounds as the Lady Panthers won in Burlington for the first time since December 6, 2018.
Despite finishing seventh in the Southeast Alamance Holiday Hoops Invitational, the Lady Panthers made its presence felt. They extended Southeast Alamance to double overtime on December 27 before falling 74-72. Orange senior Shannon Murphy scored a career-high 18 points against the Stallions. Maura McMurtry added 21 points to lead Orange against the Stallions,
After losing to Green Hope in the consolation round, Orange easily put away Northeast Guilford 60-28 in the seventh place game. George finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Byrd came away with five points and ten rebounds. McMurtry finished with 14 points off 4-of-9 shooting from 3-point range.
With the win over Williams, Orange is now 6-6 overall.
This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior point guard Kai Wade. The Panthers opened the season with a win over Voyager Academy on November 15. Wade set a career-high with 31 points in a 75-64 Orange victory. After Coleman Cloer and Mason Robinson each left Orange after their sophomore seasons last June, a greater scoring load fell on Wade’s shoulders. He has responded by being the team’s leading scorer, averaging 14.7 points per game after 13 games. Wade led Orange with 18 points in Orange’s 60-50 win over Williams on Friday night. It was the Panthers third straight win over Williams at Spike Gymnasium. Wade has been a winner in basketball dating back to his days at Gravelly Hill Middle School, where he was a starter on the Grizzlies 2020 Orange Person Athletic Conference championship team. He formed a bond with teammates Freddy Sneed, Xandrell Pennix, Cloer and Robinson from the time he started as a freshman at Orange. Last year, he was the starter for Orange’s 2024 Central Conference Tournament championship team, the first time since 2016 that the Panthers won a postseason conference tournament. Wade also helped the Panthers to the 2024 Central Conference regular season title, the first time since 2017 that the Panthers won a regular season crown. Wade will continue his junior season at Cedar Ridge on Tuesday night.
Orange Panther of the Week: Kai Wade
This week’s Orange Panther of the Week is junior point guard Kai Wade. The Panthers opened the season with a win over Voyager Academy on November 15. Wade set a career-high with 31 points in a 75-64 Orange victory.
