Cedar Ridge Men’s Basketball

Whether its a date, a kiss or another of life’s pleasures, you never forget your first time.

Coach Jaison Brooks’ won’t forget his first home game against Orange. Not only because his Cedar Ridge Red Wolves defeated the Panthers 66-60 to complete its first regular season sweep of Orange since 2015.

With a spring in his step evident from the pregame warmups, Brooks appeared to be more eager for tipoff than his players.

“It’s a great rivalry,” Brooks said. “So to be able to participate in it is an awesome thing. The fans showed up tonight and it was a great environment.”

When its Cedar Ridge-Orange, there’s no need for a pregame speech that would make Ric Flair proud to get players ready to play. Despite a 27-point loss to Chapel Hill on Tuesday, Cedar Ridge emerged confident and vibrant right from the start. It was a 180-degree change from last season, when the Red Wolves labored through a 1-win campaign.

Of course, there’s another lesson that sank in for millions of basketball fans around the world this week. It’s called treasuring the moment.

Brooks, a Los Angeles Lakers fan, was one of many devastated by the death of Kobe Bryant on Sunday.

“We’ve all been thinking about Kobe’s death,” Brooks said. “We don’t know when our last day is going to come. We have to live each day to the fullest. So our mantra for tonight was ‘no regrets.’ By the end of the night, we wanted to say we played to our fullest capabilities, whether we won or lost.”

That made Friday night all the better for Chris Tinnen, Jai’Kel Gibbs, Zach Holmes, Andrew Altieri, K.J. Barnes, Grayson Ramon and Cameron Hartley, all of whom survived the 2018-2019 season to enjoy a senior night worth savoring.

The emotion of the packed Cedar Ridge student section knocked Orange back early. Orange only led for 14 seconds in the entire game after Joey McMullin scored on a stickback bucket with 3:18 remaining in the first quarter.

Then Gibbs entered the game. Barely off the bench, Gibbs hit three 3-pointer in less than two minutes to push the Red Wolves ahead 20-14 at the end of the first quarter.

“We know Jai’kel can shoot,” Brooks said. “Then he gets into the game and he shows it. We asked everybody to step up. We weren’t sure how much each player would play, but when they stepped out on the floor, they needed to do what they were supposed to do. Jai’kel did that tonight. We are super proud of them.”

Cedar Ridge (5-14, 3-7 in the Big 8 Conference) hit eight 3-pointers in the first half and led 37-23 at halftime. Mekai Collins, who played at Orange last season after spending two years at Cedar Ridge, scored ten points for the Red Wolves in the first half. He finished with 16.

Orange narrowed its deficit down to 43-39 midway through the third quarter after Kendrell Brooks scored seven points to open the stanza. Tinnen connected on three straight field goals, while Gibbs hit a critical three late in the quarter to keep Cedar Ridge from being challenged again.

Jason Franklin led all scorers with 24 points, while Joey McMullin added 20 for Orange. The Panthers (8-12, 2-8) have won only once since December 26.

Cedar Ridge will travel to Northern Durham on Tuesday. Orange faces Northwood in Pittsboro.

CEDAR RIDGE 66, ORANGE 60

ORANGE–Jerec Thompson 3, Jason Franklin 24, Joey McMullin 20, Kyle Stanley 4, Kandrell Brooks 9.

CEDAR RIDGE–K.J. Barnes 4, Chris Tinnen 21, Andrew Altieri 4, Mekai Collins 16, Zach Holmes 2, Ian Johnson 3, Jai’kel Gibbs 15, Grady Ray 1.

On Senior night, Cedar Ridge guard Jai’kel Gibbs came off the bench to lift the Red Wolves. Within seconds of entering the game, Gibbs hit three 3-pointers in a span of three minutes against crosstown rival Orange. Gibbs finished with 15 points as the Red Wolves completed a regular season sweep of the Panthers, 66-60 in a packed Red Wolves Gymnasium. It was the first time Cedar Ridge has swept the Panthers since 2015. Gibbs finished with 15 points, including two more three-pointers in the second half. Cedar Ridge hit eight 3-pointers in the first half for a lead they wouldn’t surrender the rest of the game. The Red Wolves will travel to Northern Durham on Tuesday night. Tipoff will be at 7:30 at Poe Gymtorium.  

Hello loyal readers, it’s been a while since the last edition of Campbell’s Ramble and it’s good to be back. In this edition we talk a little basketball, and I’m going to make a prediction for the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Since we are in the meat of basketball season however, my formatting is going to be a little bit different than the more football focused editions. Due to the nature of basketball, I will only be providing my thoughts on 8 teams a week, not like football where I did every ACC team who played a game. Those teams will be the 3 triangle based ACC schools (Carolina, Duke, State) along with Syracuse (my school) and then 4 other ACC squads that I find interesting for this edition. For predictions, I will be picking at least one game for every ACC team, with repeats allowed. Enough talk about the rules though, let’s talk hoops!

Duke

Right now, this is the only local team I feel I can actually trust to win a game. Early on in the season when Duke’s 150 game non conference home win streak was snapped at the hands of Stephen F. Austin, it seemed like this would be a bit of a rebuilding year for the Blue Devils. That being said, the Dukies flipped the script and haven’t lost a game since. Despite a tough test in Atlanta at Georgia Tech, Duke is clearly the best team in the conference right now. Tre Jones is the best point guard in the conference and Vernon Carey has the ability to take over in the post and because of those two, Coach K’s team is one of the few real championship contenders this season.

North Carolina

This team is truly terrible right now. With Cole Anthony, Anthony Harris, and Sterling Manley all out injured. The Heels only have 4 of their top 7 rotation players healthy. Not to mention Christian Keeling being nowhere close to being as good as advertised. A team with no real starting point guard available and only 3 ACC starting caliber players (Bacot, Brooks, Robinson) available is destined for failure. With a very strong 2020 recruiting class, the Heels probably have another championship window left in the Roy Williams era, but it’s going to be a rough rest of the season.

NC State

Like every NC State in the 21st century, the Pack are wildly inconsistent once again. You see a big comeback win over Notre Dame, only to see Kevin Keatts’s squad put up a pathetic performance in a road loss to Virginia Tech. I don’t know what to make of the Wolfpack this season. If you had to ask me whether NC State will make the tournament this year I would lean slightly towards yes due to how much I like Markell Johnson, but I really just can’t decide whether this team is actually good or not.

Syracuse

Syracuse lives and dies by the 3 pointer. Their defense is not very good, largely due to the fact that Bourama Sidibe doesn’t box out to save his life and teams constantly snag offensive rebounds on the Orange end of the court. Because of this, Cuse is forced to shoot from 3 point land to make up for the defensive meltdowns. Thankfully, when you play a team that shoots as poorly as Virginia, it doesn’t take that much to beat them. A solid performance from Joe Girard III and Elijah Hughes gets Syracuse a nice little win in overtime against the defending champs.

Syracuse still has a chance to make a run for an NCAA tournament bid, but Girard and Hughes will have to drag them kicking and screaming to the field of 68.

Virginia

This UVA team might be better defensively than last year’s championship team. Unfortunately, they can’t shoot to save their lives. Not a single Cavalier is hitting more than 40 percent of their shots beyond the arc, and as a team are shooting only 27 percent from three. It’s so unfortunate to have to watch a team just fall off a cliff like the Hoos have, and I have my doubts that Virginia makes the tournament this year.

Clemson

Yes, this Clemson team broke the 59 game losing streak in Chapel Hill. No, that does not mean they are good. This might be the worst team in Brad Brownell’s tenure at Clemson. Thankfully for Brad, the win in Chapel Hill might just be enough to keep him around another season at the helm of the Tigers.

Florida State

If there is ever a year for Lenny Ham to make his first Final Four appearance, this is the one. A weak ACC leaves Florida State with plenty of opportunities to rack up wins and get themselves a favorable draw in the NCAA field. With a very balanced scoring attack, the Noles don’t have to rely on one man to win games like so many other teams this year are forced to. Vassell, Forrest, and Walker can all contribute day in and day out and it’s looking like this could be the best team Florida State has had in a long time.

Boston College

Like Clemson, don’t let the early 3-2 conference record fool you into thinking the Eagles are good. They are not. Jim Christian is a good coach who can make Boston College a fairly competitive team despite minimal talent levels. That being said, the conference wins are against Wake Forest, Notre Dame, and then a Virginia team who can’t shoot. It’s not like the Eagles have been giant killers here, and they’re going to be near the bottom of the conference at the end of the season.

Basketball Predictions

Duke vs. Clemson. Duke 89-60

Virginia Tech vs. Wake Forest. Virginia Tech 82-71

Virginia vs. Florida State. Florida State 61-49

Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech 75-73

Miami vs. NC State. NC State 83-76

Boston College vs. Syracuse. Syracuse 70-57

North Carolina vs. Pitt. Pitt 68-63

Louisville at Duke. Louisville 77-76

Last edition record: 1-5

Season record: 19-12

CFP Championship Prediction

Clemson vs. LSU. Clemson 41-38

Last edition record: 7-1

Season record: 42-23

Basketball Power Rankings

1. Duke

2. Florida State

3. Louisville

4. Virginia

5. Virginia Tech

6. NC State

7. Syracuse

8. Miami

9. Boston College

10. Georgia Tech

11. Clemson

12. Pittsburgh

13. Notre Dame

14. North Carolina

15. Wake Forest

Just before the holidays, Cedar Ridge guard Mekai Collins quietly eclipsed a rare milestone. He scored his 1,000th point in his high school career in the Red Wolves’ game against Chapel Hill on December 9. Collins scored 12 points, which put him exactly at 1,000 points. He surpassed the mark the following night with 26 points in Cedar Ridge’s 56-47 with over the Durham School of the Arts. Collins started his career at Cedar Ridge, scoring 245 points his freshman year. As a sophomore, Collins scored 333 points. This season, he has led Cedar Ridge to four wins, three more than they had all of last season. He is the first Cedar Ridge player to surpass 1,000 points since Peyton Pappas in 2016 Pappas is the all-time leading scorer in school history. A native of California, Collins is a big Los Angeles Clippers fan. He will return to action on Tuesday night when Cedar Ridge travels to East Chapel Hill. You can hear that game on Hillsboroughsports.com live starting at 7:30 with Tim Hackett on the call.

In many instances, basketball can be a true team sport. Collapse defense, tic-tac-toe passing, alley-oops – none of those elements are possible without effort, communication and teamwork. In many instances, strong teams where everyone contributes can win games, and even championships. 

But on many other occasions, the sport of basketball can create a star, a player who, nearly single-handedly at times, is the difference between victory and defeat. Other players can deliver good or even great games, sure, but that one (or two in today’s NBA) star is the player the fans, coaches, and other players expect to always deliver. And the brightest stars nearly always do. Picture someone like Jimmer Fredette at BYU, Brittney Griner at Baylor, LeBron James when he went back to the Cavaliers – superstar players who nearly always help their team overcome whatever opposition they face.

Friday night in Hillsborough, the fans inside Red Wolves Gym got to see two more players that fit that kind of bill – Maya Hood and Mekai Collins. Hood dominated after halftime to help Northern Durham overcome one of Cedar Ridge’s best team performances of the season in the women’s game, while Collins dominated throughout to lead Cedar Ridge to its second-straight conference win in the men’s. 

It was always meant to be Mekai Collins’ night. He was celebrated pregame for joining the rare group of Red Wolves to have reached 1,000 points in his career earlier in the week, but it had been an up-and-down week for him: the night after he dropped a season-high 29 points against his old friends at Orange, he finished with only four in a loss at Granville Central, a season-low. The question on Friday was a clear one: which form of Mekai Collins (and Cedar Ridge) would come to play? The answer became clear quickly: the former. 

A solid Northern Durham team played well in the second quarter, cutting an early Cedar Ridge edge down to 22-20 with strong efforts from football veterans Javion Hart and Anthony Freeman, returning to Hillsborough after wreaking havoc on the gridiron there just a few months prior. But Cedar Ridge scored eight of the final ten points of the second quarter and the first 22 points of the third, and the Red Wolves (4-8, 2-2 Big 8) cruised to a 76-51 victory over the Knights (4-11, 2-4). It was the Red Wolves’ second-largest margin of victory and second-highest point total of the season, after they routed the School of Science and Math in their season opener to match their win total from a year ago. 

Collins was his usual dynamic self from the jump, causing turnovers, snagging rebounds, setting up clean looks with no-look passes, and, of course, scoring: still playing deep into the fourth quarter with his team up big, he hit back-to-back threes to give him a career-best 32 points and salt the game away. He hit 12 field goals, including a trio of deep balls, in another stellar all-around outing. 

But while Cedar Ridge had the star performer, he wasn’t the only guy on the stage Friday. Freeman delivered 15 points in a strong game for the Knights. Derrick Smith had a nine in a typically solid all-around outing. Ian Johnson turned in one of his best performances of the season with four points and a handful of steals and assists. And had it not been for Collins’ new personal best, Sam Garbee would have stolen the show in the fourth quarter – he hit three field goals for a career-high six points of his own, and his teammates’ reaction to each one epitomized the bond this Cedar Ridge team has. The Red Wolves have now won two Big 8 games in a row, and while they won’t be in contention for the conference’s top spots, a place somewhere in the middle is now there for the taking – if they want to take it. 

In a battle of two teams still searching for the first Big 8 Conference win of the season, the Cedar Ridge women’s team turned in perhaps its best overall defensive performance of the season, but Knight star Maya Hood erupted for 14 of her match-high 22 points in the fourth quarter and Phoenix Smith saw her buzzer-beater for the tie swirl around the rim and out, and Northern Durham (5-8, 1-5 Big 8) held on for a 46-43 victory over Cedar Ridge (1-12, 0-4), snapping a six-game Knight losing streak and sending Cedar Ridge to its fourth straight defeat. 

It was an end-to-end affair in which neither team led by more than five. Phoenix Smith and Nadia Oswald were both excellent on defense, forcing a few Knight turnovers with their full-court press. Both Oswald and Jacori Walton chipped in ten points, while Catherine Coyle’s seven and Caitlin Lloyd’s six were both career bests. But just like Mekai Collins was in the men’s game, Maya Hood was the difference-maker in the women’s. She only had one field goal in the first three quarters, but she delivered five more in the fourth, including the one that put the visitors up 45-43. Nia Boney hit one of two free throws to provide the three-point edge, and Cedar Ridge tried to draw up a shot for Oswald to tie, but she missed what would have been a long-range two. Coyle dug out the rebound and it fell to Smith in the left wing, but her stepback three to tie clanged off the back rim and went wayward – it was just Smith’s second three-point attempt of the season. 

It was a bittersweet end to a great effort from a Cedar Ridge team that has rarely looked hapless in the face of a one-win season. But their best chance at a conference win fell just centimeters short, and, because of how strong throughout this Big 8 conference seems this year, the Red Wolves might not get another chance this good until they play Northern again next month. This time, they were close. Next time, they better be ready.