Cedar Ridge High School

Cedar Ridge Baseball Stomps Roxboro Community 14-0, Starts 2-0

Two games into the 2017 season, Cedar Ridge Baseball has two wins, both by mercy rule.

In its home opener on Thursday night, the Red Wolves pounded Roxboro Community High School 14-0 in a game shortened by five innings.

Sophomore starter Phillip Berger yielded one hit over five innings for his first win of the season. Berger’s win comes after senior Brandon Andrews threw a five-inning no-hitter in the season-opening  15-0 win at Hillside on Tuesday.

Against the Bulldogs, leadoff batter Dante DeFranco laced two doubles, finishing 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs. Freshman Jake DeFranco went 2-for-3, scoring twice. Senior Simon Little finished 2-for-2 with 4 RBIs.

Berger, batting third, scored twice while going 2-for-3 with a double.

Cedar Ridge finished with 12 hits and ended the game by scoring nine runs in the fourth inning.

In Tuesday’s win over Hillside, the Red Wolves opened the season by scoring four runs in the first and second innings. Along with earning the no-hitter, Andrew slammed the season’s first home run. DeFranco went 3-for-4 with an RBI off a sacrifice fly. The Red Wolves had 11 hits against the Hornets.

Cedar Ridge will take its 2-0 start to Graham on Wednesday to face Southern Alamance. They return home next Friday against Carrboro.

Mia Davidson, State Record?; 3 Questions for the First Week of Spring Sports Season

Six different sports teams from Cedar Ridge and Orange High will begin the Spring Sports season on Monday.

We’ll have in-depth previews of each team as the spring goes on, but here are some of the standout questions as spring arrives.

#1 Will Mia Davidson break the NCHSAA career home run record this week? If there’s one thing to be certain of going into the spring, it’s this: Mia Davidson will break the state record for career home runs. The question is when? Davidson enters her senior season with 41. The state record is 42. Orange plays at Cardinal Gibbons on Thursday, then hosts East Chapel Hill on Friday. Just between me and you, the single-season record is 19, which Davidson nearly tied last year (18). Might want to file that one away.

#2 How determined will Cedar Ridge Boys Lacrosse Be? Probably, the answer will be: a lot. Cedar Ridge was knocked out of the 3A/2A/1A state quarterfinals in about as bitter as fashion as possible. The Red Wolves, which had won 13 in a row, led Carrboro 8-2 at halftime. Then midfielder Jack Widman was ejected following a skirmish with Carrboro’s Chase Bolesky. Without Widman’s presence, the Jaguars went from firing 13 shots in the first half to 27 in the second. The Red Wolves scored only one goal in the second half and Carrboro won 10-9. Cedar Ridge coach Patrick Cavanaugh made no secret about what he felt was the turning point of the game, and he’s had nine months to think about it. Cedar Ridge. Widman returns, as does Sean Tobin, who scored the game-winning goal in overtime at Orange last year. The Red Wolves open its season against Jordan on Tuesday.

#3. How will Orange Baseball adjust to life without Bryse Wilson and Brad Debo? 

If you know, call Dean Dease immediately, because he’d love to find out. Orange will start the season on Wednesday at home against Riverside without Wilson, who was drafted in the 4th round by the Atlanta Braves last June. Wilson was a four-year starter who won 33 games with a 0.99 ERA. Debo is now a catcher at N.C. State, where is already has started three games and hitting .375. And then there’s the other seven position players who played regularly for the Panthers last season that graduated. Second-day starter Derek Lindaman returns, along with third baseman Ryan Puckett and centerfielder Jaydin Poteat, who didn’t start the last ten games in 2016 after suffering a broken hand sliding into home plate at Northwood.

Here’s the schedule for the first week of the season:

Monday: 

Girls Soccer: Eastern Alamance at Cedar Ridge, 6:30 (5:00 JV); Orange at Northern Guilford, 7:00 (5:30 JV)

Boys Tennis: Eastern Alamance at Cedar Ridge, 4:30; Southern Alamance at Orange, 4:30

Tuesday:

Baseball: Cedar Ridge at Hillside, 6:00

Softball: Cedar Ridge at Eastern Guilford, 6:00 (only varsity)

Boys Lacrosse: Jordan at Cedar Ridge 7:00 (5:00 JV); Orange at Eastern Alamance 6:45 (5:00 JV).

Wednesday: 

Baseball: Riverside at Orange, 5:00

Girls Soccer: Durham School of the Arts at Cedar Ridge, 6:00 (only varsity); Orange at Northern Durham 6:30 (4:45 JV)

Thursday: 

Baseball: Roxboro Community at Cedar Ridge, 6:30.

Softball: Roxboro Community at Cedar Ridge 6:00 (Varsity only); Orange at Cardinal Gibbons 5:00 (only varsity)

Boys Lacrosse: Southern Alamance at Orange 5:00 (varsity only)

Boys and Girls Track: Orange at Eastern Guilford 4:30.

Boys Tennis: Cedar Ridge at Durham School of the Arts, 4:30; Orange at Walter Williams 4:30

Friday: 

Baseball: Orange at Jordan, 5:00 (only varsity)

Softball: East Chapel Hill at Orange 6:00 (only varsity)

Boys Lacrosse: Cedar Ridge at J.F. Webb, 6:00 (only varsity)

Girls Soccer: Walter Williams at Orange 7:00 (5:30 JV)

Boys and Girls Track & Field: Cedar Ridge at Friday Night Lights at Mt. Tabor, 4:45

Boys Tennis: Eastern Alamance at Orange 4:30

11 Orange Wrestlers, Cedar Ridge’s Smith, Davis, McLeod in Contention for Titles at Mideast Regionals

After coming one takedown short of its sixth state championship last weekend in Monroe, the Orange Wresting team is off to a strong start at the 3-A Mideast Regionals.

On day one of the regionals at Morehead High School in Eden, eleven Orange grapplers qualified for next weekend’s state championships at the Greensboro Coliseum.

In addition, three Cedar Ridge wrestlers all also headed to the state finals.

Cedar Ridge’s Demarcus Smith also punched his ticket to Greensboro after pinning Giovon Poirer of Lee County in 3:24. Smith will face Orange’s Braden Homsey on Saturday morning. Homsey outscored Chris Kelly of Union Pines 12-10 in Friday’s 2nd round. In the first round, he pinned Eastern Guilford’s Dylan Dains in :45.

At 160, Cedar Ridge’s Colin Davis is still in contention for a regional championship. Davis started the day with a pin of Northern Vance’s Josh Florentino in 3:07. He advanced to the semifnals with a 9-5 decision over Chapel Hill’s William Hess.

At 113, Darius McLeod pinned Chapel Hill’s Zin Maung in 4:24. He faces Rockingham County’s Noah Wilson on Saturday. McLeod improved to 20-12 on the season.

After day one, Orange leads the overall team standings with 74 points. Union Pines is 2nd with 61.5. Morehead has 50.5. Chapel Hill is in 5th with 35.5, while Cedar Ridge is tenth with 26.

Orange’s Payton Wilson, ranked #1 in the state at 220, improved to 37-0 by pinning Dan Freeman of Northern Guilford in :52 He faces Big 8 rival Joseph Cannon of Chapel Hill in Saturday’s semifinal.

At heavyweight, Daylan Alston pinned Union Pines’ Jessie McLean in :57. Alston is now 37-6 with 22 pins this season.

Coming off a thrilling 3-2 victory last Saturday over Piedmont’s Mathis Strickland, Josiah Ramirez scored two pins on Friday. For the second time in eight days, he pinned Gray Creek’s Leo Walsh, this time in :27. In th second round, he pinned Eastern Guilford’s Justin Spruill in 4:56. Ramirez takes on Morehead’s Kyler Whicker (36-6) on Saturday morning. Ramirez is now 47-4 with 28 pins, tied with Charlie Fitzpatrick for the team lead.

Speaking of Fitzpatrick, he’s in the semifinals at 152 after pinning Jordan Isenour of Morehead in 4:21.

At 120, sophomore Gavin Wiggins scored an 11-3 major decision over Northern Guilford’s Max Benfield 11-3. Wiggins, now 40-9, faces Union Pines Josh Yeshulas.

A week after scoring his 100th victory, junior Bailey Hawkins shutout Northwood’s Carter Stallings 13-0. Awaiting Hawkins in the semifinals is Chapel Hill’s Wesley Kelley.

Sophomore Levi Anderson is going to his first state tournament at 138 pounds. He opened Friday by pinning Sabeon Campbell of Douglas Byrd in 2:22. Anderson advanced to the semifinals with a 18-9 major decision against Eastern Alamance’s Andrew Dawson.

The fastest pin of the day by a Panther belonged to Avery Jenkins at 145, who finished off Cedar Ridge’s Ruffin Wyrick in :17. Jenkins, a sophomore, moved on to the semifinals with a 10-1 major decision over senior Carson Amy of Northwood.

At 106, Mitchell Askew improved to 39-8 by pinning Steven Gaus of Western Alamance in 1:57. It was Askew’s 20th pin of the season. He faces Garrett Johnson of Western Alamance on Saturday morning.

After a stunning victory last weekend in the state dual championship match, Jamar Davis continued a strong sophomore season with two pins on Friday. He defeated McMichael’s Khalil Ngom in 2:40, then pinned Western Alamance’s Trevon Hart in 3:37. Davis improved to 42-8 with 26 pins.

If Orange holds on to the overall team lead, it will be its fifth victory in a individual tournament this season. They already have captured championships in the Jim King Invitational, Southwest Guilford Invitational, Eastern Alamance Invitational and Roselle Park Tournament in New Jersey.

 

Cashaw Scores 18 as Cedar Ridge Battles Past Roxboro Community 51-48

Thanks in part to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association expanding the state basketball playoffs to 64 teams in each classification, the term “bubble teams” is now coined freely in prep basketball.

HighSchoolOT.com editors now work well into the early morning hours to determine the “last four in” and “first four out,” just as Joe Lunardi does. Only for a much bigger paycheck on a network with far less integrity.

The Cedar Ridge boys squad is a bubble team which helped its cause on Friday night by beating Roxboro Community 51-48 in Person County. In among his final games in a Red Wolves uniform, center Colby Cashaw was the most steady player on the floor.

Cashaw finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds as Cedar Ridge improved to 9-15. Coincidentally, that was also Cashaw’s stat line in Thursday 66-55 loss at Burlington Cummings.

“He finished his regular season career on a good note,” said Cedar Ridge Coach Clay Jo

With the NCHSAA allowing teams to subtract four nonconference losses because of Hurricane Matthew (which caused teams in eastern North Carolina to push football season one week back, leading to basketball teams playing shorthanded to open the season because the football playoffs ran long), Cedar Ridge has a 9-11 record. Projections by HighSchoolOT.com currently have the Red Wolves as among the last four out of the state playoffs, along with Concord, North Gaston and St. Stephens (all of whom have 9-11 records).

For Cedar Ridge, that makes Monday’s Big 8 Quarterfinal matchup against Northern Vance of paramount importance.

Unfortunately, Red Wolves coach Clay Jones had had to work hard just to put a complete team on the floor. Freshman B.J. Freeman missed Friday’s game because of a disciplinary measure. Freshman Mekai Collins missed Thursday’s game against Cummings, but he made up for it by hitting possibly the biggest shot of the game on Friday.

Moments after Roxboro’s Dylan Jones put the Bulldogs ahead 45-42 with a  three-pointer, Collins tied the game with his own trey with 3:37 remaining. Cashaw drained two free throws to give Cedar Ridge the lead for good 47-45. After Khalil Hill drained a jumper to extend CRHS’ lead to 49-45, Collins sank two free throws with :19 remaining. Roxboro’s last-ditch three-pointer from C.J. Rios was an airball as time expired.

Collins finished with eleven points, seven steals and three assists.

“He’s similar to the give-and-take relationships I’ve had with other players before,” said Jones. “He makes you want to pull your hair out sometimes, but he’s a gamer.”

Dylan Jones was the only Roxboro player in double figures with 14 points.

Coach Clay Jones earned a victory in his return to his hometown. Jones grew up in Roxboro and played basketball at nearby Person High School.

“I had a lot of family, friends and classmates in the house tonight,” said Jones. “I’ve known (Roxboro Community Coach Justin) Bettendorf for a long time. We’re very good friends. He’s done a really good job with those guys.”

The winner of Northern Vance-Cedar Ridge on Monday night advances to face Orange in the Big 8 Conference semifinals on Wednesday night in Hillsborugh.

CEDAR RIDGE 51, ROXBORO COMMUNITY 48

CEDAR RIDGE–Dmonte Kinney 2, Khalil Barnett 7, Terrence Crawford 7, Khalil Hill 4, Colby Cashaw 18, Mekai Collins 11, John Vaughn 2.

ROXBORO COMMUNITY–Tajarrell Wright-Young 8, Te’Shon Clayton 7, Dylan Jones 14, Spencer Blalock 8, J.R. Paylor 4,

Big 8 Tournament Basketball Field Set

Most years, high school basketball nerds sit around on the final night of the regular season trying to figure out tiebreakers, wait for Maxpreps to update scores from around the state, and wonder if coaches will ever return text messages in order to get that darned final score from Oxford that will determine 4th place from 5th in the Big 8 Conference.

This year, the nerds slept easy.

By the end of Tuesday night, the field for the Big 8 Boys and Girls Basketball Tournament had already been set.

In both the boys and girls ranks, Orange captured the regular season championship. Thus, both teams will get a bye into the semifinals.

The respective tournaments begin Monday night. The only change this year is for Championship Friday. The past two tournaments, Chapel Hill High has hosted the boys and girls championship games. This year, the higher seed will host the tournament championship game.

In the boys tournament, second-seeded Southern Durham (10-2) hosts seventh-seeded Northwood (2-10) at 7:30. The winner faces the matchup between #3 Chapel Hill (8-3, with one game against Northern Vance set for Saturday) vs. sixth-seeded J.F. Webb (2-10, earned the tiebreaker by sweeping Northwood) on Wednesday night.

Also on Monday night, fifth-seeded Cedar Ridge (3-9) travels to Northern Vance (5-6) on Monday. The winner goes to Orange on Wednesday night.

In the girls tournament, second-seeded Northwood (10-2) hosts Northern Vance (0-10) on Monday night at 7. The winner of that game will face the winner of the second quarterfinal between third-seeded Southern Durham (7-4) and sixth-seeded Chapel Hill (1-10) at 6 PM.

The other quarterfinal features J.F. Webb (6-6) hosting Cedar Ridge (5-7). The victor travels to Orange for Monday night’s semifinal at 6 PM.

The Chapel Hill-Southern Durham game may be a milestone. There’s been speculation that Chapel Hill coach Sherry Norris, who has led the Tigers girls squad for 40 years, may retire at year’s end. Norris has yet to make an official announcement.

Northern Vance may be fatigued against Cedar Ridge by the time Monday rolls around. The Vikings have a Saturday game at Chapel Hill, which was postponed from last week because of the water main break in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area. That will conclude a stretch of four games in five days. NVHS defeated Northwood 68-55 in Pittsboro on Tuesday, knocked off J.F. Webb 64-55 on Thursday and lost to Southern Durham 82-59 on Friday night.

Cedar Ridge and Northern Vance split the season series. The Red Wolves defeated the Vikings 39-36 on December 13. The Vikings routed CRHS 68-52 on January 20.

The Cedar Ridge girls team defeated J.F. Webb 45-43 on February 3 in Hillsborough behind 22 points from Carrie Davis. Webb captured the first matchup against CRHS 32-23 on January 25.

You can hear Cedar Ridge vs. Northern Vance boys on Monday night here on HillsboroughSports.com.

 

Collins Scores 14 as Cedar Ridge Storms Past Webb 65-55

Cedar Ridge has ended its Big 8 regular season slate, and while much of the season has been disappointing, its future was on full display in Oxford on Friday night.

Freshman Mekai Collins scored 14 points while junior Dmonte Kinney added 12 as the Red Wolves ended a three-game losing streak, beating J.F. Webb 65-55.

Another freshman, B.J. Freeman, added 10 points and grabbed crucial rebounds as the Red Wolves pulled away late for its first and only conference win of the season.

Cedar Ridge will finish the regular season next Friday at Roxboro Community School. Then they will venture into the Big 8 Tournament against an opponent to be determined on February 13.

Leading 42-41, Webb (4-16, 2-8) opened the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run. Kendall Baskett three-point play with 7:13 remaining gave Webb a 47-41 lead, their largest of the game.

Battling against the Warriors’ 2-3 zone, Khalil Crawford started the comeback with a three-pointer. After Collins split a pair from the foul line to narrow the Webb lead to 47-45, B.J. Freeman found Khalil Barnett for a lay-up to tie the game.

On the subsequent possession, Collins stole the ball from Warriors center Shemar Coachman and scored on a breakaway with 4:15 remaining.

Collins rebounded an miss by Kenneth Veney and found Barnett on a no-look pass to extend the Red Wolves lead to 49-45.

After a field goal by Webb’s Serba Davis, Cedar Ridge’s B.J. Freeman scored on a lay-in. Freeman rebounded the subsequent missed free-throw, then found Tahjai Hill-Wells for another layup. Freeman then put the game on ice after Barnett found him on an inbounds pass wide open at the other end of the floor, beating the Warriors press.

Cedar Ridge completed a season-sweep of the Warriors. The Red Wolves prevailed 69-52 on January 25.

CEDAR RIDGE: Dmonte Kinney 12, Khalil Barnett 8, Terrence Crawford 5, Tahjai Hill-Wells 4, Mekai Collins 14, Khalil Hill 8, Colby Cashaw 4, B.J. Freeman 10.

J.F. WEBB: Unique Heggie 4, Shurone Harris 9, Kendell Baskett 16, Serba Davis 7, Kenneth Veney 6, Shaddarius Wilkerson 13.

Basketball Round Up: Chapel Hill Edges Orange; Northwood Tops CRHS

For a fleeting moment, the Orange Panthers appeared to have the Big 8 regular season championship all but sewn up.

Trailing 55-54 to Chapel Hill at Tiger Gymnasium, Orange’s Mitch Portman hit a shot at the buzzer. It would have put Orange 9-0 in league play, needing only two more wins to clinch the regular season title.

But did it beat the buzzer?

After a huddle, the referees ruled the answer was no. Chapel Hill, which was pounded 74-46 by Southern Durham just 24 hours earlier, edged the Panthers 55-54.

The loss snapped the Panthers eleven-game winning streak and makes the race for the Big 8 championship much more interesting in the final ten days of the regular season.

Orange remains in first place at 8-1, while Chapel Hill is in second at 8-2, tied in the loss column with Southern Durham at 7-2. The Spartans travel to Cedar Ridge on Wednesday night. Orange has swept the season series from the Spartans, but split against CHHS.

On Tuesday night, the Tigers took the air out of the ball against the Panthers. Orange’s 54 points was a season-low. More importantly, the Tigers double-teamed leading scorer Connor Crabtree before he even got the ball on several occasions. The strategy worked as Chapel Hill led 36-31 going into the fourth quarter.

Elijah Haynes, who hit the game-winning shot against Cedar Ridge at the buzzer on Friday night in Hillsborough, paced the Tigers with 31 points. Ben Gaynes added eleven.

Orange will play its sixth game in 12 days on Wednesday night in Hillsborough when they host Northern Vance. The Orange girls will look to go to 21-0 when they face the Vikings at 6, while the boys will follow at 7:30.

Orange defeated Northern Vance 64-57 last Tuesday in Henderson.

In Pittsboro, Cedar Ridge’s playoff hopes to a major hit as Northwood rallied to defeat the Red Wolves 65-57. Cedar Ridge led 42-38 going into the fourth quarter, but Northwood piled up 27 points in the fourth quarter to earn its 2nd Big 8 win this season, both against Cedar Ridge.

The Red Wolves were led by Colby Cashaw’s 14 points while Mekai Collins added ten.

Northwood’s (8-13, 2-8 in the Big 8) Cameron Goins led all scorers with 16 points.

Cedar Ridge is now 7-13, 2-10 in the Big 8. They host Southern Durham tonight for Senior Night at Red Wolves Gymnasium.