Weisenfeld scores 13 points as Cedar Ridge women’s basketball upsets Eastern Alamance; George leads Orange over Southern Alamance
In its final home game of the year, the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team gave a sign of good times ahead.
It led to their biggest win of the season.
Freshman Elliott Wisenfeld drained two 3-pointers as Cedar Ridge closed with a 15-3 run in the final seven minutes of regulation to upset Eastern Alamance 47-35 on Thursday night in Hillsborough. Wisenfeld drained a 21-footer with 5:59 remaining in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 32-32. Sophomore Kate Finnegan scored a lay-up off a steal by Hailey McLeod to put the Red Wolves ahead for good.
The Cedar Ridge defense limited Eastern Alamance, who came into the game in second place in the Central Conference, to 3-of-98 shooting from the field in the fourth quarter. Cedar Ridge outscored the Eagles 20-7 in the final eight minutes. The Red Wolves shot 10-of-14 from the free throw line in the final quarter and went 4-of-5 from the field.
Eastern Alamance (11-10) had a two-game winning streak snapped. The Eagles led 28-23 with 2:22 remaining in the third quarter after Marion Scott scored a short jumper off a pass from Aliya Trollinger. Makayla Scott led the Eagles with 13 points. Cedar Ridge closed the quarter with two free throws from Finnegan and a jumper by Ava Smith off a pass from McLeod to close the Eagles lead to 28-27 going into the fourth quarter.
Cedar Ridge forced six Eastern Alamance turnovers in the fourth quarter and held the Eagles scoreless for over six minutes. Freshman Kennedi Fearrington, junior Jamee Watson and sophomore Esther Mwirinzi sank free throws in the fourth quarter to help the Red Wolves pull away. Makayla Scott injected some drama with a 3-pointer to cut the Red Wolves lead to 39-35, but Mwirinzi drained two more free throws, followed by a 3-pointer from Weisenfeld.
Cedar Ridge (7-12 overall, 3-8 in the Central Conference) will take a #6 seed into next week’s Central Conference Tournament. The Red Wolves will finish the regular season against Walter Williams in Burlington on Wednesday night.
The win ensured that Western Alamance would repeat as Central Conference regular season champions.
Orange 56, Southern Alamance 17: Lady Panthers forward Evelyn George completed her 12th double-double of the season and the 24th of her career as Orange easily put away Southern Alamance to remain in contention to finish in 2nd place in the Central Conference.
George registered 16 points, 13 rebounds, six steals and three assists as Orange improved to 14-8 overall, 7-4 in the Central Conference.
Senior forward Shannon Murphy finished with 13 points while sophomore Lily Wilson had a career-high 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from 3-point range.
Sarah Kathryn Manness led Southern Alamance with nine points. The Patriots managed to stay close early as Cayla Shaw and Manness closed the first quarter with consecutive field goals to cut Orange’s lead to 14-12 going into the second quarter.
Wilson opened the second quarter with a three-pointer off a skip pass from George, but the Patriots refused to go away. Madison Holloway and Shaw each scored field goals to reduce the Orange lead to 17-16. George grabbed an offensive rebound and found Wilson for another 3-pointer, which sparked a 20-0 Orange run. Southern Alamance didn’t score in the final 4:18 of the first half.
Orange junior point guard closed out the first half with a 3-pointer off a pass from Wilson to send the Lady Panthers into the locker room with a 33-16 lead.
Orange held Southern Alamance without a field goal in the second half, outscoring the Patriots 26-1. The Lady Panthers led by as much as 56-17 in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Panthers are now guaranteed a home game in the opening round of the Central Conference Tournament. They will face Eastern Alamance on Friday night for senior night. George, Murphy, Marshea Byrd, Chloe Caldwell, Bryce Jones and Rhiley Crabtree will be honored during festivities between games of the doubleheader just before the men’s game.
Cedar Ridge’s Jamee Watson & Esther Mwirinzi discuss win over Chatham Central
In a pressure situation, two players stepped up for the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team in its biggest win of the season. Junior Jamee Watson drained two free throws with 54 seconds remaining for the game-winning points as the Red Wolves defeated Chatham Central 36-33 on January 10 at Red Wolves Gymnasium. The Bears came into the game with an 8-2 record. Sophomore Esther Mwirinzi added six points, including two more free throws after a steal by Kennedi Fearrington with 17 seconds remaining. Watson finished with eight points to lead the Red Wolves. Watson has been on the varsity since her freshman year under head coach Megan Skouby. Mwirinzi is in her second year at the varsity level. To start 2025, Cedar Ridge defeated Southern Alamance 37-29 for its first Central Conference win of the season. Watson scored nine points against the Patriots and also had four steals. Cedar Ridge forced 28 turnovers in the win over the Patriots. Mwirinzi has learned on the job as the starting point guard this season after the transfer of Sarah Utley during the summer. The win over the Bears gave a boost for Cedar Ridge to make the state playoffs for the second year in a row. The Red Wolves will commemorate Senior Night with a home game against Walter Williams on Friday night in Hillsborough.
Cedar Ridge’s Jamee Watson & Esther Mwirinzi discuss win over Chatham Central
In a pressure situation, two players stepped up for the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team in its biggest win of the season. Junior Jamee Watson drained two free throws with 54 seconds remaining for the game-winning points as the Red Wolves defeated Chatham Central 36-33 on January 10 at Red Wolves Gymnasium.
Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Kennedi Fearrington
This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is women’s basketball forward Kennedi Fearrington. To open 2025, Fearrington scored eleven points as the Red Wolves defeated Southern Alamance 37-29 at Red Wolves Gymnasium. It was Cedar Ridge’s first Central Conference win of the season. Fearrington and fellow freshman Kassidy Tolliver have developed a young core of the Red Wolves women’s basketball team after losing leading scorer Amiyah Ware and starting point guard Sarah Utley from last year’s team. Fearrington and Tolliver have been teammates since their sixth grade season at Gravelly Hill Middle School. Fearrington has played on the varsity since the start of the season. In only her fifth varsity game, Fearrington scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds in a 55-31 win over the Durham School of the Arts on December 6. Against Eno Rivera Academy, Fearringotn scored ten points as the Red Wolves won its first-ever matchup against the Bobcats 41-25. Fearrington played 13 minutes in the Red Wolves 36-33 win over Chatham Central last week in Hillsborough. Chatham came into the game with an 8-2 record, which gave a boost to Cedar Ridge’s hopes of making the state playoffs for the second straight year. Fearrington figures to be a standout performer in the years ahead for Cedar Ridge women’s basketball.
Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Kennedi Fearrington
This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is women’s basketball forward Kennedi Fearrington. To open 2025, Fearrington scored eleven points as the Red Wolves defeated Southern Alamance 37-29 at Red Wolves Gymnasium. It was Cedar Ridge’s first Central Conference win of the season.
Watson’s free throws lead Cedar Ridge women past Chatham Central; Murphy, George push Orange women over Person
Against a Chatham Central team that arrived into Hillsborough with an 8-2 record, the Cedar Ridge women’s team had young players came through in the clutch to deliver its biggest win of the season.
Junior Jamee Watson hit two free throws with 54 seconds remaining to put the Red Wolves ahead while sophomore Esther Mwirinzi added two insurance points in the final seconds to lift Cedar Ridge over Chatham Central 36-33 on Wednesday night at Red Wolf Gymnasium. In a time game where neither team led by more than six points, free throws proved to make the difference. Cedar Ridge was 6-of-9 from the stripe in the fourth quarter while the Bears were 4-of-8.
Watson led Cedar Ridge with eight points while freshman Elliott Weisenfeld added seven.
Chatham Central (8-3) was led by Karaleigh Dodson, who finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. With 2:10 remaining in regulation, Dodson hit two free throws to tie the game at 32-32. The Bears, who had 13 offensive rebounds, took the lead with 1:29 remaining after Dodson sank a free throw with 1:29 remaining to conclude a trip where Central grabbed three offensive rebounds.
With 5:54 left in regulation, Dodson tied the game off a strip and steal and scored in transition. Cedar Ridge freshman Kennedi Fearrington drained a short jumper while getting fouled by Central’s Sydney Scott. Dodson found Addison Goldston to tie the game at 30-30.
Cedar Ridge’s Kate Finnegan put the Red Wolves ahead 32-30 on a breakaway layup off a pass from Ava Smith with 3:58 remaining.
Chatham Central led 9-5, then Cedar Ridge went on an 8-0 run in the second quarter. Mwirinizi drained a 3-pointer off a pass from freshman Kassidy Tolliver. Mwirinzi threw to Watson for another 3-pointer to give the Red Wolves its first lead since its was 2-0. Tolliver scored a three-point play to conclude the first half after getting fouled to send the Red Wolves into the locker room with a 16-12 lead.
Orange 62, Person 36: The Lady Panthers outscored the Rockets 21-6 in the second quarter to beat the Rockets for the eighth straight time.
Two day after scoring her 1,000 career point, Orange forward Evelyn George led the Lady Panthers with 19 points and nine rebounds. Orange claimed its third straight win.
Orange senior Shannon Murphy added 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field. She knocked down 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
The Lady Panthers forced 35 turnovers and had 21 steals. George, McMurtry and Kyla Mehl each had four steals each. Orange improved to 8-6 overall.
Person led 14-13 at the end of the first quarter because of 7-of-15 shooting from the field. Ava Mandizha opened the game with a field goal and Nayahana Marner added all six of her points in the first quarter. The Lady Panthers took its first lead of the game when Evelyn George scored on a short jumper off a pass from Mehl.
Orange outscored Person 21-6 in the second quarter and didn’t look back. The Lady Panthers shot 9-of-11 from the field in the second quarter and forced 12 turnovers to turn the game into a rout. After Marshea Byrd’s lay-in assisted by Mehl, Orange kept its lead in double-figures for the rest of the game.
Orange’s lead grew to 31 points in the second half. Midway through the third quarter, Murphy and George combined to hit three straight 3-pointers as the lead stayed about 20 points for the rest of the game.
Bryce Jones scored a late field goal for Orange
Nayahana Marner and Destyni Harris each had seven points to lead the Rockets. Person falls to 7-7, 2-1 in the Central Conference.
Person’s last win over the Lady Panthers was on December 17, 2013.
Orange will travel to Durham Academy for a game that will tipoff at 6PM. Orange returns to Central Conference play against Southern Alamance on Tuesday night in Graham.
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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. 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.