Cedar Ridge Women’s Basketball

Tori Dalehite played volleyball for four years and women’s basketball for three years inside Cedar Ridge Gymnasium. She even held her commitment ceremony to sign with UNC Greensboro for softball inside the new gym. On Friday night, she played her final game inside the place where she’s spent so much of her young life against Orange. While the Red Wolves didn’t come out on top, Dalehite did everything she could. She led the Red Wolves with 14 points. The Cedar Ridge women will play its final three games on the road for this season. During basketball season, Dalehite has prepared for her final softball season at Cedar Ridge with weekly workouts. The Cedar Ridge softball team has won back-to-back Big 8 Conference championships and has reached the third round of the 3A State Playoffs in 2018 and 2019. Dalehite was the 2018 Big 8 Hitter of the Year, which was her sophomore season. 

With three starters injured, Orange women’s basketball coach B.J. Condron has been required to put new players in new roles this year.

After losing freshman center Erin Jordan-Cornell to a sprained ankle in practice on Monday, Orange only suited up eight players in Tuesday’s loss to Vance County.

Before Friday’s game against crosstown rival Cedar Ridge, Condron put himself in a new position. He called up three players from the junior varsity team, something he’s never done before in five years on the job.

It paid off handsomely.

In her first varsity game, Jada Reed hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as Orange (10-8, 4-6 in the Big 8 Conference) defeated the Red Wolves 54-40 at Red Wolves Gymnasium on Friday night.

Orange sophomore point guard Aaliyah Harris scored 17 for Orange, including 14 in the second half after missing the bulk of the second quarter because of foul trouble. Senior Grace Andrews, in her final game against Cedar Ridge, added 14.

Another JV Gallup, Nikalya Whitted, scored a field goal in the fourth quarter as Orange defeated the Red Wolves for the seventh time in their last nine meetings.

“We have discussed bringing some players up for a while now,” Condron said. “with there not being a jv game tonight and having a short bench due to injuries and other commitments, it seemed like a good time to try them out. I thought considering the atmosphere they had to play in for their first varsity game, all three gave us some great minutes.”

Alexa Adkins made her Orange varsity debut in the first half.

Tori Dalehite, in her final game inside Cedar Ridge Gymnasium, scored 14 to lead the Red Wolves. Dalehite, who also played volleyball for four seasons, was honored on senior night along with teammates Jacori Walton, Caitlyn Lloyd and Isabella Flynt.

The four players took a party bus to the game, which was paid for by Lloyd’s father, Craig. Dalehite, Lloyd and Walton had played basketball together since their days at Gravelly Hill Middle School in Efland.

After Cedar Ridge’s Phoenix Smith sank two free throws to tie the game, Harris grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed 3-pointer and fed Jala Rainey for a five-foot jumper to give the Lady Panthers a 27-25 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Walton scored off a stickback basket to tie the game at 28 with 5:33 remaining, but Harris struck back with a 3-pointer to put Orange ahead 31-28, which was actually the largest Lady Panther lead up to that point. After Cedar Ridge missed a lay-up, Reed scored a 3-pointer to increase Orange’s lead to 34-28.

Cedar Ridge had a four-point possession to whittle the deficit to 34-32. Dalehite scored off an offensive rebound and drew a foul against Katelyn Van Mater. After the missed free throw went out of bounds, Dalehite went to her knees after a loose ball and fed Lloyd for a short jumper with 4:23 remaining.

Reed got a shooter’s bounce on a 3-pointer on the next Orange possession, which was followed by a jumper from Andrews to increase Orange’s lead to 39-32. Dalehite scored back-to-back field goals for Cedar Ridge, but Andrews drilled a critical 3-pointer with 2:23 remaining.

The first half was reminiscent of Cedar Ridge’s 44-37 upset of the Lady Panthers last year. Harris picked up two fouls and was relegated to the bench early in the second quarter, which left the Orange offense rhythmless. Nadia Oswald drilled a 3-pointer midway through the second quarter to put Cedar Ridge ahead 12-8. Orange was held to four field goals in the first half.

Cedar Ridge (1-18, 0-10) will travel to Northern Durham on Tuesday. Orange will host Northwood, who leads the Big 8 Conference with a 9-1 record.

ORANGE 54, CEDAR RIDGE 40

ORANGE: Aaliyah Harris 17, Grace Andrews 14, Jala Rainey 11, Katelyn Van Mater 1, Brenna Mehl 2, Cheyenne Mann 1, Nikayla Whitted 2, Jada Reed 6.

CEDAR RIDGE: Tori Dalehite 14, Caitlyn Lloyd 4, Isabella Flynt 2, Jacori Walton 5, Catherine Coyle 3, Nadia Oswald 8, Takia Nichols 2, Phoenix Smith 2.

It was a night of emotion for the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team on Friday night. They played its senior night game against crosstown rival Orange. For the second time this season, Cedar Ridge led at the half before the Panthers closed out strong for the win. Senior Caitlyn Lloyd played her final game with classmates Tori Dalehite, Jacori Walton and Isabella Flynt.  Lloyd had played on the women’s basketball team for four years. She had played alongside Dalehite and Walton since their days at Gravelly Hill in Efland. Lloyd plans to go to UNC Charlotte after she graduates from Cedar Ridge in June,  then plans to go to Campbell for law school. She still plans to find time on the hardwood for intramurals. Cedar Ridge will continue its season against Northern Durham on Tuesday at Poe Gymtorium. You can hear the game on Hillsboroughsports.com starting at 6. 

Icez Barnett: The 2019 Orange graduate was the first player off the bench for the Division II Chowan women’s basketball team in its 81-55 win over Southern Wesleyan at the Helms Center in Murfreesboro on Saturday. Barnett scored a career-high ten points as the Hawks defeated the Warriors 81-55. Barnett also played 14 minutes, her longest sting since November 30 against UNC Pembroke. The Hawks are 4-14 overall, 4-10 in Conference Carolinas. They host #25 Belmont Abbey in the Helms Center tonight (Tuesday).

Kaylen Campbell: The Division III Trinity women’s basketball team is on a five-game winning streak. On Sunday, the Bantams defeated MCLA 43-31 in Hartford, CT. It was the second-fewest amount of points the Bantams have allowed this season. Campbell played eight minutes and grabbed three rebounds and made a steal. Trinity is now 14-4 overall, 3-1 in the New England Small Conference Athletic Conference. On Saturday, Trinity rallied to defeat Connecticut College 60-57 in Posting Gymnasium in Hartford. Campbell came off the bench to play six minutes. She finished with two points and one rebound. Trinity travels to Middlebury on Friday.

Lauren Cates: The Wake Tech Community College women’s basketball team has won nine of its last ten games. On Saturday, the Eagles defeated Southwest Virginia 73-50 in Raleigh. Cates scored four points off 2-of-6 shooting from the field. She also had three rebounds and a steal. The Eagles are 14-4 overall, 7-3 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association. On Thursday, the Eagles defeated Spartanburg Methodist 63-62. Cates finished with eight points off 3-of-5 shooting from the field. Cates finished 2-of-4 from 3-point range. The Wake Tech school record for wins in a season is 18.

Jamar Davis: A week after he clinched a spot in the ACC Track & Field Indoor Championships, Davis won his first indoor meet of the 2020 season on Saturday. Davis won the long jump with a leap of 7.43 meters to take the championship of the Hokie Invitational at Rector Field House in Blacksburg, VA. Davis also won the triple jump championship with a jump of 15.67, which was three inches better than North Carolina’s Jaren Holmes. On Friday and Saturday, the Wolfpack men’s and women’s teams will journey to Lubbock, TX to compete in the Texas Tech Invitational. Davis qualified for the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships during the Gamecock Opener at the University of South Carolina on January 17 & 18.

Marvin Jones: The North Carolina Central junior finished 2nd in the high jump in the Liberty Kickoff indoor track & field event in Lynchburg, VA on Saturday. Jones had a jump of 2.05 meters. Tequann Claitt of Indiana Tech finished first with a jump of 2.21 meters. Jones’ performance was one of five top-5 finishes for the Eagles last weekend. Central will continue its indoor season on Friday and Saturday in the Camel City Invitational. The meet will take place at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem.

Braden Homsey: Washington & Lee defeated the Division III Ferrum wrestling team 21-18 on Saturday in the W&L Student Activities Pavilion in Lexington, VA. Homsey scored a major decision for Ferrum. Wrestling at 197 pounds, Homsey defeated Brad Basham 12-1. It’s been a solid sophomore season for Homsey, who is now 19-7 with one pin.

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.