Cedar Ridge Women’s Basketball

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.

Three yeas ago, it would have been hard to fathom the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team finishing with a winning season, much less making the state playoffs. On Tuesday night, the Red Wolves sewed up a winning season with a 53-38 win over Walter Williams on Senior Night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Seniors Amiyah Ware, Cameron Copeland, Addie Reid, Cierra Copeland and Jordyan Delph were honored between games of the doubleheader. Once again, it was Ware who provided the fireworks offensively for the Red Wolves. She scored 24 points to lead all scorers. Ware’s name will go down in the record books after she broke the county record with 54 points against Western Alamance last year, breaking the Orange County record that had stood for 45 years. For Reid, it was her final regular season game inside a gym she’s grown very accustomed to over the years. She won two conference championships and a regional title inside Red Wolves Gymnasium in volleyball. On Tuesday night, her former high school coach, Fiona Cunningham, was in attendance. Cunningham is now an assistant at North Carolina Central, where Reid will attend next season. Cameron and Cierra Copeland have stuck through the program from the very beginning of their freshman year, when the pandemic was still present. The Red Wolves had just five players for some games. The Copelands were two of those players who stuck it out through a winless season. Now, they will host a game in the Central Conference Tournament next Monday. Delph is in her first season on the varsity. Cedar Ridge will await to see who they will place for the Central Tournament, which will be Monday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. 

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior basketball guard Amiyah Ware. In her first year at Cedar Ridge, Ware grabbed the scene unlike any women’s basketball player in Hillsborough since possibly Tere Williams at Orange High in the mid-1990s, putting up scoring numbers never seen in town history. A transfer from The Burlington School, Ware set the county record by scoring 54 points in a game against Western Alamance on January 10, 2023. She broke a record that had stood since 1978. The following month in a win over Durham School of the Arts, Ware scored 51 points in a win at Sikes Gymnasium. She became the first player, regardless of gender, to ever score 50 points in a season in Orange County history. This year, Ware has been the leading scorer for a Cedar Ridge team that’s on track to make the state playoffs for the first time since 2018. The Red Wolves swept the season series from Orange for the first time since 2014. She scored 15 points in a victory over the Lady Panthers. Last month, Ware had a season-high 35 points in an overtime win over the Panthers. In November, Ware signed with Division II North Greenville to play college basketball.. While her career at Cedar Ridge will only be two years, she will leave a legacy in the record books that won’t be forgotten.

For the first time since 2013, the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team has swept a season series from crosstown rival Orange. On Friday night, the Red Wolves defeated the Panthers 37-32 at Red Wolves Gymnasium on Friday night. The Red Wolves trailed 26=17 with 4:58 remaining in the third quarter, but the Red Wolves outscored the Lady Panthers 13-5 in the fourth quarter. Senior Amiyah Ware led the Red Wolves with 15 points, but senior center Addie Reid added eight points and four rebounds. Junior point guard Sarah Utley registered eight points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Cedar Ridge is looking to make the state playoffs for the first time since 2018, when they went 14-11. This season has been the most successful year for Cedar Ridge women’s basketball since the 2018 campaign, when they won 14 games. After beating Orange on Friday, Cedar Ridge has won eleven and are gunning for more. For Reid, she’s looking forward to the next chapter after an eventful school year. She was named Homecoming Queen last September. In October, she won the Central Conference Tournament championship, beating Orange in four sets. It was her seventh championship in volleyball. Last week, Reid announced she was going to play volleyball at North Carolina Central. Former Cedar Ridge head coach Fiona Cunningham is now an assistant at Central. Cedar Ridge will travel to Mebane to face Eastern Alamance on Tuesday night. 

In Red Wolves Gymnasium on January 27, 2021, the Orange women’s basketball team entered a barren, desolate Red Wolves Gymnasium to face its crosstown rival.

There were no fans allowed inside because America was still frozen in the pandemic. The sounds from the mouths of coaches B.J. Condron of Orange and William Dobbs of Cedar Ridge, along with the players, were muffled because they were wearing masks. Cedar Ridge suited up only five players, and one of those fouled out in the fourth quarter.

Needless to say, Orange, which suited up eleven players, won by the score of 52-13. Though then-Cedar Ridge principal Carlos Ramirez applauded his team after the buzzer sounded, it was the textbook definition of bleak.

Two of those five players who suited up for Cedar Ridge that day, and forced to play the entire 32 minutes simply because of necessity, were freshmen Cameron and Cierra Copeland.

Four years later, the twin sisters started as the Red Wolves women’s basketball team carried out a milestone much more to its liking.

For the first time since 2014, the Red Wolves completed a season sweep of crosstown rival Orange with a 37-32 victory inside a much more crowded Red Wolves Gymnasium on Friday night. Cedar Ridge senior Amiyah Ware scored 15 points to help the Red Wolves finish the game on a 15-5 run.

Cedar Ridge improved to 5-4 in the Central Conference. They’re currently a half-game ahead of Walter Williams for third place and now hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Orange, which goes a long way to helping the Red Wolves host a game in the Central Conference Tournament.

Orange (10-9, 4-5), which was tied with Western Alamance for first place in the Central Conference two weeks ago, dropped its fourth straight game.

Addie Atkins led Orange with 12 points.

In the opening minutes of the third quarter, it appeared that Orange would avenge its overtime loss to the Red Wolves from January 10. The Red Wolves missed its first six shots from the field in the second half. Atkins drained a 3-pointer with 4:58 remaining in the third quarter off a pass from Evelyn George to put the Lady Panthers ahead 26-17. Cedar Ridge point guard Sarah Utley started the comeback with a running one-hander over the outstretched arms of Natalie Robertson from the right baseline. After a shot by Orange’s Shannon Murphy rimmed out, Utley came down the floor and sank a three-pointer from the top of the floor to cut the Red Wolves deficit to 26-22, leading to an Orange timeout.

The turning point came late in the third quarter when Orange center Marshea Byrd, who finished with eleven rebounds, had a stickback attempted that nearly balanced on the front of the rim before it fell off. Cedar Ridge’s Jamee Watson threw a gorgeous bounce pass that avoided the right baseline and found center Addie Reid, who banked in a shot while getting fouled by Byrd. That cut Orange’s lead to 27-25 at the end of the quarter.

Ware started the fourth quarter with a baseline drive push shot off a pass from Watson that beat Orange’s 1-2-2 zone press. Then Watson drained a jumper from the top of the key to give Cedar Ridge its first lead since it was 10-8. Ware grabbed a defensive rebound following a subsequent Orange miss and eventually found Kate Finnegan for a 19-footer to give the Red Wolves a 30-27 lead.

Orange’s Maura McMurtry sank a 15-footer over Watson with 4:27 remaining, but Cedar Ridge kept the Panthers scoreless for the next four minutes. Ware rebounded her own miss and scored on a short baseline jumper, then followed with a deep scoop shot that banked in high off the window.

Byrd’s stickback shot with 16 seconds remaining gave Orange a fleeting hope, but Reid erased that with two free throws in the waning seconds.

Cedar Ridge, which improved to 11-9, travels to Eastern Alamance on Tuesday. The Red Wolves eleven wins are the most for the team since the 2017-2018 season, when they finished 14-11.

The Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team is in position to reach the 3A State Playoffs for the first time since 2018. The Red Wolves are 9-6 as they prepare to face Walter Williams in Burlington on Friday night. The Red Wolves defeated crosstown rival Orange last Wednesday behind 35 points from Amiyah Ware, which was the most points any player from Orange County has scored so far this year, regardless of gender. Last Monday, the Red Wolves defeated Chatham Central 46-35 at Red Wolves Gymnasium in its final nonconfernce game of the regular season. Ware led the Red Wolves with 17 points. Freshman Calla Lundberg, who was called up from the junior varsity team last month, chipped in with nine points as the Red Wolves reached nine wins in a season for the first time in six years. Lundberg and Kate Finnegan were both moved up to varsity before Christmas and have provided an immediate contribution. Cedar Ridge is only one game behind Orange, Western Alamance and Eastern Alamance for first place in the Central Conference as the second half of the conference campaign starts next week. Ware, who signed to play with Division II North Greenville, is having another All-Conference season. She scored 24 points in a loss to Eastern Alamance on Friday.

It’s not news that another Orange women’s basketball game went down to the wire.

All four of its Central Conference contests this year have followed the same path. The only different on Wednesday night was Orange was opposed by Amiyah Ware, who was more than they could deal with.

Now, after Cedar Ridge’s first win at Orange since December 19, 2017, it’s officially game on in the race for the Central Conference championship.

Ware added to her legacy of statistically incredible performances with 35 points in the Red Wolves 54-47 win over the Panthers on Wednesday night. It wasn’t the 54 points that she scored against Western Alamance last February, which broke the Orange County record. But Ware did either score or assist on every Cedar Ridge field goal in the second half.

Evelyn George, who was matched up against Ware most of the night, led Orange with 21 points.

It was the Red Wolves first win over its crosstown rival since January 8, 2019. On that night, Cedar Ridge defeated Orange 44-37 at Red Wolves Gymnasium behind 23 points from Madison Wardlow.

“She really stepped up tonight,” said Cedar Ridge coach Megan Skouby. “The past couple of games after she got hurt I think was a little hesitant. This game she really picked it back up again.”

Cedar Ridge’s win overshadowed a strong performance by Orange center Marshea Byrd, who finished with the first double-double of her career with 12 points and 12 rebounds. With 1:16 remaining in regulation, Byrd fouled out after trying to block a shot from Ware. Orange, who played without sophomore forward Mariah Poole, missed Byrd’s post presence in the extra session.

After Byrd’s fifth foul, Ware sank a free throw to tie the game at 42-42.

Cedar Ridge didn’t miss a shot in overtime. After Orange won the jump ball, Ware pulled down a defensive rebound and sank a three-pointer over George to give the Red Wolves a 45-42 lead. Junior Sarah Utley stole the ball away from Shannon Murphy on Orange’s next possession and split two free throws after being fouled by Maura McMurtry.

After Murphy scored off an offensive rebound to cut the Red Wolf lead to 46-44, Cedar Ridge freshman Kate Finnegan drained a jumper from the top of the key off a pass from Utley.

Finnegan, who wasn’t even on the varsity when Cedar Ridge started its season in November, finished with ten points and seven rebounds.

“She isn’t afraid to shoot,” Skouby said. “That’s something you can’t teach a freshman. She’s working hard. We pulled her up from junior varsity a couple of weeks ago and she’s now one of our starters because she’s working her butt off.”

Orange missed a three-pointer on its next possession and Ware drained four three throws in the final 90 seconds to put the game away.

The contest had 12 lead changes and six ties. Just as they had done against Western Alamance, Southern Alamance and Walter Williams, it appeared Orange would mount a late run to earn another home win. After Ware scored the opening points of the fourth quarter, Byrd and George scored field goals, both assisted by McMurtry, to put the Lady Panthers ahead 36-34.

Ware wouldn’t be denied as she went on a personal 6-0 run to vault the Red Wolves ahead 39-36. Following a free throw by Lily Crayton with 4:36 remaining, McMurtry grabbed an offensive rebound and fed George for a 3-pointer to put Orange ahead 40-39.

Following a Cedar Ridge timeout, Ware drained a baseline jumper off a drive with 2:12 remaining to give Cedar Ridge the lead at 41-40. After an Orange turnover, Alexis Stephens blocked a shot by Cedar Ridge’s Addie Reid, which led to a fast break where George scored off a lay-up from a pass by McMurtry.

Cedar Ridge, who fielded a team with only five players during the pandemic three years ago, is now tied with Orange, Western Alamance and Eastern Alamance for first place in the Central Conference in a race that is anything but predictable just one-quarter of the way into the league slate.

“I think on any given night, whoever is playing their best is gonna come out on top,” Skouby said. “I think a lot of games are going to go down to the end this year.”

Amiyah Ware came up with her biggest game of the season for the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team on Wednesday night. The end result was Cedar Ridge’s first win over its crosstown rival, Orange, since 2019. Ware finished with a season-high 35 points as the Red Wolves defeated Orange 54-47 in overtime. It was Cedar Ridge’s first win inside Panther Gymnasium since December 19, 2017. Ware either scored or assisted on all 22 points that Cedar Ridge scored in the second half. Ware tied the game at 42-42 with a free throw with 1:16 remaining in regulation. Cedar Ridge never trailed in overtime after Ware opened with a three-pointer on the Red Wolves opening possession. Kate Finnegan sank a crucial jumper from the top of the key off a feed from Sarah Utley with 1:54 remains in overtime to put the Red Wolves ahead 48-44. Ware has had another big week. On Monday night, she scored 17 point in Cedar Ridge’s 46-35 win over Chatham Central. Cedar Ridge is 9-5 overall and tied for first place in the loss column with three other teams in the Central Conference. The Red Wolves haven’t won ten games in a season since 2017-2018, when they were coached by Felton Page. Cedar Ridge will face Eastern Alamance tonight at 6PM at Red Wolves Gymnasium.