Cedar Ridge Women’s Basketball

Cedar Ridge freshmen basketball players Kassidy Tolliver and Kennedi Fearrington have seen plenty of action right away in their high school careers. Tolliver is the leading scorer for the Red Wolves just six games into her varsity career. Against Durham School of the Arts last Friday, Tolliver led Cedar Ridge with 12 points as the Red Wolves defeated the Bulldogs 55-31 in a wire-to-wire victory. Against Eno River Academy on Wednesday night, Tolliver posted a career-high 17 points as the Red Wolves defeated the Bobcats 41-25, squaring its record on the season to 3-3. Fearrington added ten points as the Red Wolves defeated the Bobcats in the first-ever meeting between the two schools from Hillsborough. Cedar Ridge is replacing its top two scorers from last season. They lost Amiyah Ware, who holds the county record with 54 points in a game, when she graduated in June. Ware is now playing at Division II North Greenville. The Red Wolves also lost point guard Sarah Utley, who transferred. Cedar Ridge reached the state playoffs last season and finished with a 13-13 record. They will continue its season with a trip to Bear Creek to face Chatham Central on Wednesday night. They will open Central Conference play with a home game against Person on December 20, its final game before Christmas.

Cedar Ridge women’s basketball’s Kassidy Tolliver & Kennedi Fearrington talk win at DSA

Cedar Ridge freshmen basketball players Kassidy Tolliver and Kennedi Fearrington have seen plenty of action right away in their high school careers. Tolliver is the leading scorer for the Red Wolves just six games into her varsity career.

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While the Orange and Cedar Ridge women’s basketball teams were several counties apart in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs on Tuesday night, they both had their chances to win.

And both fell short in frustrating fashion.

Cedar Ridge, making the 3A State Playoffs for the first time since 2018, fell to Scotland County 56-42 in Laurinburg. The Red Wolves end the year 13-13, its best season since the 2017-2018 campaign when they were coached by Felton Page.

The Red Wolves led by four at halftime. Amiyah Ware, in her final game at Cedar Ridge, scored 18 points. Junior point guard Sarah Utley finished with 16 points and ten rebounds.

Fighting Scots junior Morgan Thompson finished with 25 points as Scotland County, the 9th-seed out of the Sandhills Conference, advanced to face Fike in the round of 32 in Wilson on Friday night.

Cedar Ridge led 37-33 at the end of the third quarter following a running-one hander from Utley. But Scotland opened up the 4th quarter with a 14-2 run to take control of the game. The Red Wolves shot just 24%.

The loss ended the careers of Ware, Cameron Copeland, Cierra Copeland, Addie Reid and Jordyan Delph. Reid has been a three-sport athlete at Cedar Ridge and won the 2021 3A State Championship in volleyball. Ware’s legacy will be remembered in the record books as she set the Orange County record for most points scored in a game when she registered 54 against Western Alamance last year. She is the only player in the history of Orange County to score 50 points twice in a season. She scored 51 against Durham School of the Arts just two weeks after the game against the Warriors.

Meanwhile in Rocky Mount, Orange struggled in the second half and fell 43-26. The Gyphons never trailed and advanced to the second round to face Big East Conference rival Franklinton on Friday night.

Rocky Mount’s Keysha Mizzell led all scorers with 15 points.  She opened the game by scoring the opening five points, including a three-pointer. Orange’s Evelyn George countered with a 3-pointer, but the Lady Panthers would never get that close again. The Gryphons went on a 9-2 run, which Kaitlin White capped off with a 3-pointer to increase the lead to 14-5.

Orange closed the first half with a 7-0 run. Shannon Murphy started with a 3-pointer off a feed from George. In the final minute of the second quarter, George drained two free throws, then scored off a lay-in while getting fouled by Candrice Davis. Orange trailed 22-18 at the half.

Rocky Mount (19-6) shut out the Lady Panthers in the third quarter 19-0 using a full-court press that resulted in ten Orange turnovers. Not only was Orange unable to score. They barely got off any shots. Orange was only 0-for-3 in the third quarter and just 3-of-8 from the field in the entire second half. In all, the Lady Panthers committed 12 turnovers in the second half.

Rocky Mount’s Candrice Davis, who came out for White after she picked up her third foul, sparked the Gryphons with six points and three steals in the second half. In all, Rocky Mount had 17 steals compare to just eight for Orange.

26 points is a season-low for Orange.

George and Murphy led the Lady Panthers with seven points. Natalie Roberson had six points as Orange ended the year 13-13 under first-year head coach Lamont Jones. After Orange defeated Western Alamance and Walter Williams to open 2024, they were tied for first place in the Central Conference. But Cedar Ridge swept the season series from the Lady Panthers for the first time since the 2013-2014 season and was unable to regain the momentum to catch up with Western Alamance in the race for the conference championship.

It was the final game for Orange senior Lily Crayton.

For all the the things that Amiyah Ware has accomplished for the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team the past two years, the only thing missing was winning a tournament game.

Until Monday night.

In her final game inside Red Wolves Gymnasium, Ware scored 17 points as Cedar Ridge committed only four turnovers to defeat Southern Alamance 35-28 in the opening round of the Central Conference Tournament. The Red Wolves advance to face Eastern Alamance at Person High School in the semifinals on Wednesday night at 6PM.

It is the first postseason tournament win for the Red Wolves women’s basketball team since February 21, 2017, when they defeated Cleveland in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs in Clayton.

Cedar Ridge trailed 16-15 at halftime, but the Red Wolves held the Patriots to three points in the third quarter. The sequence that changed the game came when Red Wolf freshman center Kate Finnegan blocked a shot off a drive from Madison Brouillard, which was captured by Hailey McCloud. In a rare transition attempt against the Patriots, Ware threw a diagonal pass to Jamee Watson, who scored off a lay-in as she was hacked on the arm by Morgan Edmunds to even the game at 19-19.

Ware grabbed a rebound following a Patriots miss and was fouled by Sarah Kathryn Maness, which led to two Red Wolf free throws to put Cedar Ridge ahead 21-19 with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter.

Cedar Ridge point guard Sarah Utley opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer off a drop off from Ware. Following a three-pointer from Brouillard, Watson grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Ware for a lay-in. Ware scored six points in the fourth quarter.

Finnegan and Hailey McCloud kept the Patriots from scoring in the paint. Southern Alamance’s Sunny Yarnell, the team’s leading scorer, was limited to just two points with no field goals.

Finnegan finished with seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals.

It was the final game at home for Ware, Cameron Copeland, Cierra Copeland and Jordyan Delph.

Orange 62, Walter Williams 39: Just in time for the postseason, the Orange women’s team played its best half of the season against Walter Williams.

After getting blown out by 59-39 by the Bulldogs in Burlington on January 31, the Lady Panthers led wire-to-wire in an 62-39 victory in Hillsborough on Monday night. The Panthers advance to the Central Conference Tournament semifinals, where they will face top-seeded Western Alamance at Person High School on Tuesday night (tonight) at 6 PM.

Junior Evelyn George finished with 22 points and seven rebounds, while Shannon Murphy added ten points with eight rebounds.

In the first half, Orange (13-11) shot a torrid 15-of-18 of the field. Of the Lady Panthers 15 field goals in the first half, 13 were assisted.

Williams (15-10) Reagan Averett paced the Bulldogs with 13 points, but Williams shot just 26% from the field. Orange out rebounded the Bulldogs 43-34, with 17 offensive rebounds. Orange built its lead to as big as 27 points.

Orange point guard Maura McMurtry finished with nine assists.

It seemed destined to be a long night for Williams during pregame warmups when they were assessed a technical foul for leaving players out of their scorebook. Instead of a jump ball, the game started with George making two technical free throws and it didn’t get any better for the Bulldogs from there.

Murphy drained a short jumper off a pass from Marshea Byrd, who finished with ten points, four rebounds and three assists. George scored consecutive field goals, each one assisted by Byrd, and then Byrd scored off a pass from McMurtry to build a 10-3 lead, leading to a Williams timeout.

After Adkins cored a three-pointer with 3:21 remaining in the first quarter, Orange led 16-5. The lead stayed at double-digits for the remainder of the game after George added another shot from downtown.

For the first time since the formation of the Central Conference in 2022, there will be a neutral site for the league tournament’s semifinals and championship games.

Well, at least in theory.

The conference semifinals will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday night at Person High School, The men’s and women’s championship games will also be in Roxboro on Friday night, starting with the women’s game at 6PM.

The last two years, the tournament championship games were held at Northwood High School in Pittsboro, which won the men’s and women’s tournament titles each of the first two years of the league. The event is being held in Roxboro based on proximity with Southern Alamance being added to the Central Conference this year after Northwood moved back down to 2A.

In the men’s tournament, Orange is the regular season champion and will receive a bye into the semifinals. The Panthers will face either Walter Williams or Person in the semifinals on Tuesday night at 7:30 in Roxboro. The Rockets and the Bulldogs will play in Burlington tonight.

In the bottom half of the bracket, second-seeded Eastern Alamance hosts Cedar Ridge at Tal Jobe Gymnasium in Mebane. The third-seed, Southern Alamance, hosts Western Alamance in Graham. The winners will meet on Wednesday night at 7:30 in Roxboro.

Two of the three first-round meetings will be rematches from Friday night, the final night of the regular season. Williams upset Person 63-62 in Burlington, which put the Bulldogs in the top half of the league. In Graham, Western Alamance upset Southern Alamance 46-42 in Graham. The Warriors beat the Patriots on its senior night.

In the women’s bracket, Western Alamance has earned a bye after winning the regular season title. They will await the winner of Orange vs. Walter Williams, who will meet in Hillsborough tonight. Western Alamance will play on Tuesday night at 6PM in Roxboro against either Orange or Williams.

Eastern Alamance will host Person at Tal Jobs Gymnasium in Mebane. Also tonight at 6:30, 3rd-seeded Cedar Ridge will host Southern Alamance. The winners of EA/Person & Cedar Ridge/SAHS will meet on Wednesday night at Person at 6PM.

Cedar Ridge’s women’s game will almost certainly be the final home game for senior Amiyah Ware, Cameron Copeland, Cierra Copeland, Addie Reid and Jordyan Delph. The Red Wolves defeated Walter Williams 53-38 last Tuesday on Senior Night to sew up a spot in the top half of the conference.

Cedar Ridge will tip off at 6:30 tonight at Red Wolves Gymnasium.

Orange split the season-series with Williams, beating the Bulldogs in Hillsborough. They lost to Williams in Burlington.

Cedar Ridge also split the season series with Southern Alamance. The Red Wolves won against the Patriots in Hillsborough.

It took a lot of waiting, plenty of patience and practices. Everything that the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team has strived for the past four years paid off on its Senior Night.

After winning just seven games over the previous four years, the Cedar Ridge has secured a winning season.

And they will host a conference tournament game next week.

It all was secured on Tuesday night when the Red Wolves defeated Walter Williams 53-38 at Red Wolves Gymnasium to conclude the regular season. The Red Wolves will go into the Central Conference Tournament with a 12-11 mark and will finish in 3rd place in the Central Conference.

In her final regular season game at Red Wolves Gymnasium, senior Amiyah Ware finished with 24 points, five rebounds and seven steals. Junior Sarah Utley added eleven points and four rebounds as the Red Wolves gained a split in the season series against the Bulldogs.

“Amiyah is just a baller,” said Cedar Ridge women’s coach Megan Skouby. “She works hard out there. She draws all the attention. Every team we’ve played, they’ve put up a box-and-one against her. She’s still dropping 20 points a night, which is a pretty big feat if you ask me.”

The inclusion of Utley, a junior who transferred from Burlington Christian Academy over the summer, has led Ware to move to her natural off guard position.

Cedar Ridge actually never trailed against the Bulldogs after they jumped out to a 9-1 lead with Ware scoring all there field goals in the opening quarter. Williams didn’t get its first field goal until Jordan Taylor scored off a pass from Ryleigh Surles with 7:01 remaining in the second quarter, but Cedar Ridge still led 14-5.

“I think this year we’re played much more as a team,” Skouby said. “Everyone has concentrated so much this year on Amiyah, some other people have really stepped up. They’ve all contributed to that.”

Williams opened the second half with four straight 3-point baskets, including one from Surles that tied the game at 26-26. After Ware sank an outside jumper off a pass from Cierra Copeland to put the Red Wolves back in front, Williams’ Scout Winter drained an attempt from downtown to even it back up at 29-29.

Cedar Ridge ended the quarter on a 10-3 run to keep the lead for good. After Utley hit a free throw, Ware scored off a strip and steal. Freshman Kate Finnegan scored off a shot from point-blank range to end the quarter with Cedar Ridge leading 39-32.

Junior Jamee Watson opened the fourth quarter by hitting two three-pointers to open up a 45-36 lead for the.Red Wolves.

Seniors Addie Reid, Cierra Copeland, Cameron Copeland and Jordyan Delph were also honored on Senior Night. Reid, who is going to play volleyball at North Carolina Central, had her former volleyball coach, Fiona Cunningham in attendance.

It was a gratifying win for the Copeland sisters, who played on the varsity basketball team during the pandemic in 2021 when the Red Wolves often had just five players on the team.

“I’m really excited for them,” Skouby said. “They’ve worked hard and come a long way. They’re always there and always pushing their teammates.”

Men’s Basketball: Walter Williams 49, Cedar Ridge 36: 

Despite losing its top two post players early in the fourth quarter, Walter Williams held Cedar Ridge 17-9 in the fourth quarter to beat the Red Wolves on senior night.

The Red Wolves were without Luke Orstad and senior Hayden Kirk, regular rotation players who were both injured.

It was the final home game for Landon Dalehite, Harrison Perel, Tyler Fields, Brian Valentine and Kirk.

Perel led Cedar Ridge with 16 points and eleven rebounds, but the Red Wolves shot just 28% from the field. Williams out rebounded the Red Wolves 49-32. The Bulldogs had 21 offensive rebounds.

Brian Williams paced the Bulldogs with 17 points. Milton Turner had seven points and 12 rebounds for Williams before he fouled out with 6:11 remaining. At that point, Williams led 37-30, but Brian Williams scored six points down the stretch while the Red Wolves couldn’t get traction on offense.

Cedar Ridge will play at Eastern Alamance in the opening round of the Central Conference Tournament in Mebane on Monday night.