With Southern Durham’s defense taking the ball out of Connor Crabtree’s hands, Orange wouldn’t have captured its first postseason tournament championship in modern history without a 27 point game from Daniel Mulligan.
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The Orange basketball team got huge contributions from Daniel Mulligan, Logan Vosburg and Connor Crabtree in the scoring column in Friday’s victory over Southern Durham, but Demares Drummond and Reggie Bradsher were instrumental in handling the ball against the Spartans’ fierce defense. They discussed the victory after the game at Chapel Hill High.
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After winning ten of its last eleven, there was more than hope within the Cedar Ridge basketball camp that Wednesday night would be the night they could gain the elusive win over Orange in the Big 8 Semifinal.
There was not only proof they could play with anyone. They could beat anyone. They had won 10 of its last 11. They defeated Southern Durham less than three weeks ago, still the only team in the Big 8 to accomplish that this season. The very next night, Southern blew out Orange 81-62, despite losing leading scorer J’Tori Christmas 80 seconds into the game with an injured ankle.
All of that hope dissipated within seconds at Orange High Gymansium on Wednesday night.
The Panthers defeated the Red Wolves 76-62 in the Big 8 Semifinals at Jim King Gymnasium. With the win, the Panthers will face Southern again, this time for the Big 8 Championship on Friday night at Chapel Hill High School. Game time will be 7:30. You can hear the game on Hillsboroughsports.com.
There was some good news for the Red Wolves. Southern defeated Northern Vance 83-54, meaning Cedar Ridge will make the 3-A state playoffs as the third seed from the Big 8. The announcement of the state playoff field will be made on Saturday.
With the win, Orange improves to 16-8. Cedar Ridge drops to 17-8.
Peyton Pappas opened the game with a transition layup off a blocked shot by Jacob Thomas. It was Cedar Ridge’s only lead of the game. Not only that, but only one other CRHS player aside from Jacob Thomas scored a field goal in the first half, a Khalil Barnett jumper in the second quarter long after the Panthers had established a double-digit lead.
As usual, Orange’s Connor Crabtree was the X factor, finishing with 28 points. He hit consecutive 3-pointers in the first quarter, and finished with 10 points in the opening stanza. Daniel Mulligan, who ended with 11 points, scored on a reverse layup with :40 remaining to put Orange ahead 21-10 to finish the first quarter.
Thomas kept Cear Ridge in the game during the second quarter with nine points. He finished with 23. But after Cameron Cavanaugh hit a three-pointer, followed by Logan Vosburg’s spinning lay in that put Orange ahead 27-15, the Red Wolves never got the deficit below ten points again.
The Cedar Ridge transition games was slowed by the Panthers. Pappas finished with 12 points, but eight of those came from the foul line.
“Once he gave up the ball, we tried to keep him from getting it back. We know he handles the ball well in transition, and we tried to limit that tonight.” Orange coach Greg Motley.
Now, Orange focuses on something that’s been elusive: a conference tournament championship. Since Motley became head coach of Orange in 1998, the Panthers have never won one.
To do it, they’ll have to defeat a Southern Durham team that won the last Big 8 Tournament championship in 2014 against Orange. In the same building where they won it two years ago (Last year’s tournament was cancelled because of snow).
The victory by Orange means the Panthers will be the 2nd-seed from the Big 8 conference, which likely means a home game in the opening round of the playoffs.
Cedar Ridge: 10 15 19 18 = 62
Orange: 21 20 16 19 = 76
Cedar Ridge: Peyton Pappas 12, Khalil Barnett 8, Shane Evans 2, Jonathan Hall 2, Jacob Thomas 22, Terrrence Crawford 8, Colby Cashaw 1.
Ornage: Cameron Cavanaugh 3, Reggie Bradsher 5, Alex Long 5, Connor Crabtree 28, Daniel Mulligan 11, Logan Vosburg 21, Marquise Phelps 1, Jace-Jordan Cornell 2.
The Orange Panthers are headed to the Big 8 Tournament championship game after beating Cedar Ridge 76-62 on Wednesday night. Connor Crabtree scored 28 points. Coach Greg Motley discussed the win, and what’s ahead in Friday night’s Big 8 Tournament Championship game against Southern Durham at Chapel Hill High. Game time will be 7:30.
Greg Motley Talks Orange’ Win over Cedar Ridge
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While neither team won the Big 8 Conference regular season championship, Cedar Ridge and Orange have played as well as anyone in the league over the past month.
On Wednesday night, they’ll meet again. This time with a berth in the Big 8 Championship tournament championship game on the line.
On Tuesday night, 2nd seeded Orange easily defeated Northwood 72-54 in the opening round of the Big 8 Tournament. Conor Crabtree scored 25 points as the Panthers improved to 15-8, sweeping the season series from the Chargers, who finish the year 5-19.
Meanwhile across town, Cedar Ridge advanced to the semifinals by trumping Oxford Webb 73-46. The Red Wolves didn’t even need Peyton Pappas, the leading scorer in school history, to reach double figures to win easily. Pappas finished with a season-low nine points in what’s likely his final game at Red Wolves Gymnasium.
Classmate Jacob Thomas scored 22 points to pace the Red Wolves. Colby Cashaw, in his first postseason game, came off the bench to score 12 points, a season high.
Cedar Ridge led 30-16 at the half and was never seriously challenge by the Warriors, who failed to register one player in double figures.
While Orange swept the regular season series from the Red Wolves, winning 74-67 on December 11th and 63-43 on January 11th, CRHS is playing its best basketball of the season. They’ve now won 10 of its last 11, and was the only team from the Big 8 to defeat Southern Durham during the regular season.
The fact the Battle of Hillsborough takes place hours before Duke-UNC in Chapel Hill seems natural. It’s a crosstown rivalry on one level followed by a cross county rivalry on another.
There was a mild upset on the opening night of Big 8 Tournament action. Northern Vance defeated Chapel Hill 65-61 at Tiger Gymnasium. The Vikings travel to Southern Durham on Wednesday night. The Spartans received a bye through the first round after winning the regular season championship.
Hillsboroughsports.com will broadcast the Orange-Cedar Ridge game on Wednesday night. Look for a post here at 6:45, as well as our Facebook page and Twitter page for all the action live from Jim King Gymnasium.
Cedar Ridge finished the regular season by winning 9 of its last 10 games, including Friday night’s 66-51 victory over Carrboro. They ended the regular season 16-8. Coach Clay Jones discussed preparations for the start of the Big 8 Tournament,which starts Monday when Webb visits CRHS.
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Five seniors played their final regular season home game for the Cedar Ridge boys basketball team on Friday night. Among them was the school’s all-time leading scorer, Peyton Pappas, and the second-leading scorer on this year’s team, Jacob Thomas. They talked about CRHS’ 66-51 win, which improved their record to 16-8 going into the Big 8 Tournament.
Pappas, Thomas Talk Cedar Ridge’s Win on Senior Night
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