Cedar Ridge High School

Cedar Ridge goes into the Clinton Christmas Tournament 6-5.

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To the truest since of the term, Christmas came early for Southern Durham.

It came Friday night, to be exact.

J’Tori Christmas scored 14 points, including eleven in the first half, as Southern Durham (7-2, 3-0 in the Big 8) defeated Cedar Ridge 71-59. Christmas hit a trio of 3-pointers in the 1st half as the Spartans pushed out to a 11-3 lead. They never trailed by led than 12 in the final 30 minutes of the game.

The riddle for the Red Wolves was finding scoring from someone other than Payton Pappas and Jacob Thomas, the team’s top scorers. Pappas and Thomas combined for all of Cedar Ridge’s points through the first 15 minutes of the game. Jonathan Hall’s three points in the waning minutes of the first half was the only scoring outside of the Red Wolves top duo.

Southern pushed its lead to 21 early in the third quarter. The smoothest Cedar Ridge looked offensively came in the middle of the third quarter, when Hall scored five consecutive points to narrow the gap to 53-41. Every time the Red Wolves got closer, the Spartans would force a turnover and get a basket in transition.

Rashad Dixon led the Spartans with 15, while Jajuan Whitted added 14. Antonio Daye had 13.

The Red Wolves have gone two consecutive games without holding a lead after losing to Northern Vance on Tuesday night.

Hall finished with nine for the Red Wolves. Cedar Ridge now moves on to the Clinton Christmas Tournament, which has a four-team field. They will face C.B. Aycock on December 28th, followed by another game on December 29th. They resume conference play on Tuesday, January 5th against Chapel Hill in Hillsborough.

Jacob Thomas is the 2nd leading scorer on the Cedar Ridge Basketball Team. He’s also the club’s leading rebounder. In helping CRHS get to a 6-2 start, Thomas averaged 19 points in the first five games. Jacob is a transfer from Chapel Hill and talked over Friday’s game against Southern Durham.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Jacob Thomas

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Coming off a victory in its Big 8 opener against Oxford Webb, Northern Vance kept its winning streak alive in Hillsborough on Tuesday night.

The Vikings defeated Cedar Ridge 58-40 at Red Wolves Gymnasium, the first losing streak of the season for CRHS. Cedar Riege played without leading scorer Payton Pappas, who is still with the team.

Without Pappas, the Red Wolves found points hard to come by. Jacob Thomas was the only Cedar Ridge in double figures with 11 points. Khalil Barnett added seven.

Cedar Ridge is 0-2 to start the Big 8 slate. They face a huge game Friday night at Southern Durham, which you can hear on the Facebook page for HillsboroughSports.com starting at 7.

There’s a difference between a basketball game and a rivalry game.

Most coaches treat all games like they’re the same, regardless of whether the gym is slammed full or sparse. On an average night, you hear the cheerleaders back their feet against the bleachers while chanting in unison while a member of the opposing team shoots a free throw. The gym feels cold, even when it’s only in the low-50s outside. Attendance is limited to some students and mainly parents of players and cheerleaders. It’s important enough, but it’s not a townwide event.

Then there’s crosstown rivalry nights, featuring things you’ll only see in prep sports.

Of course, the home team will have a student section. But so will the visitors of nearly the same size. Can you imagine Duke students making up 30% of the Smith Center attendance for a Carolina game?

You aren’t supposed to feel humidity during the winter, but you do on rivalry nights. Of course, Friday had unseasonably warm highs in the low-70s, two weeks before Christmas. That led to a scorching Jim King Gymnasium on a night when emotions were already high.

You can’t hear the cheerleaders on either side. The students chant the harmony from “Seven Nation Army,” which may be cliche. It’s also noisy.

Then there’s the “Beat the Ridge” t-shirts worn in unison on one side. “Beat Orange” on the other.

Most importantly, it wouldn’t be a rivalry night at Jim King Gymnasium without Charles Watters behind the PA microphone.

Hey, Rome ain’t Rome without the Pope.

And it was the conference opener.

It’s all about atmosphere on rivalry nights. That’s when they stop being players and become heroes and villians. Next month at Cedar Ridge, the roles will be reversed, as it is in Chapel Hill, Durham and every other town in various sizes across the state which makes high school sports a labor of love for those live with it.

On Friday night, Connor Crabtree wore the white uniform for Orange—and the white hat.

Crabtree, who earned a scholarship offer from Lehigh on Wednesday, scored 32 points as the Panthers defeated crosstown rival Cedar Ridge 71-67 at Jim King Gymnasium. The Panthers never trailed in the contest, but the game was tied at 60 with 3:20 remaining.

That’s when Logan Vosburg and Crabtree took over. Vosburg scored on a jump hook in the lane to give the Panthers the lead for good 62-60. After CRHS Khalil Barnett missed a reverse lay-up at the other end, Crabtree nailed a 3-pointer in transition and the lead was 65-60.

The Panthers 2-3 zone was effective in limiting the Red Wolves’ Jacob Thomas down the stretch. Trailing by as many as nine in the second half, Thomas scored 14 in the 2nd half to keep CRHS in the game. But Thomas had limited touches in the final four minutes, partly because of Orange’s zone. Cedar Ridge Coach Clay Jones had his own theory.

“I think we lost him a little bit,” said Jones. “We were worried about hitting the home run shot and went away from him. I called time outs to get us focused on one basket at a time. We wanted to get to the line.”

Thomas’ only basket down the stretch was a desperation three-pointer, his only triple of the night that cut the Orange lead to 69-66 with :22 remaining.

Cedar Ridge point guard Payton Pappas, the HillsboroughSports.com Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week, finished with 19 points. All seven of his second half points came from the foul line.

The Panthers stormed out to a 21-9 lead behind early field goals from Vosburg and Crabtree. Demares Drummond and Reggie Bradsher shared time at point guard as Coach Greg Motley continues to search for the right combination to replace Eryk Brandon-Dean, out for the season with a torn ACL suffered during football season.

It was the first win for Orange over Cedar Ridge since February 17, 2014. Last February, Cedar Ridge not only rallied from 18 down to upset Orange 69-63. It also ruined Orange’s chances of winning the Big 8 Championship.

“It feels good to get this one,” said Crabtree, who received a scholarship offer from Lehigh on Wednesday. “It was devastating to lose to them last year. We got another one on Tuesday to worry about.”

Cedar Ridge (6-3, 0-1 in the Big 8) hosts Northern Vance on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. Orange will host Riverside on Tuesday in a nonconference game. Hillsboroughsports.com will carry Cedar Ridge vs. Northerrn Vance in boys action starting at 7:15.

Last season, Cedar Ridge swept the season series from the Panthers. Tonight, they meet at OHS. Cedar Ridge coach Clay Jones discusses the matchup with the Panthers. Our coverage on Hillsboroughsports.com begins at 6:50. Listen here on the site as we will have a link.

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Payton Pappas, the senior point guard for the Red Wolves, is averaging 22 points per game. The Red Wolves are off to a 5-2 start as they face Orange tonight at Jim King Gymnasium.

Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Payton Pappas

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In the 1990s, Florida State ruled ACC football with an iron hand, winning nine consecutive conference championships under Bobby Bowden. The joke used to be ACC Football was Florida State and the seven dwarfs—plus Duke, which was hoping to become a dwarf.
Of course, times have changed.
But not in whatever league Orange wrestling is competing in. Regardless of whether the Panthers hang their headgear in the 4-A PAC-6, the 2-A Mid-State or the 3-A Big 8, it’s their home until someone proves otherwise. Their reputation proceeds them, just like the Seminoles of 20 years ago.
Orange started its pursuit of its 13 consecutive conference championship on Wednesday night with a 67-0 whitewashing of Cedar Ridge.
Jamar Davis recorded a major decisiion win over Seth McKee to improve to 11-2 at 170.
At 182, Juan Torres capitalized on a strong 3rd place finish at the Jim King Invitational with a 10-5 decision over Demarcus Smith. After starting the season with eleven straight wins, Torres is 12-1.
Shannon Thompson scored his seventh pin of the season in :32 over Ethan Harvey. Thompson is now 7-2 on the year.
Payton Wilson, three weeks removed from football season, scored a major decision over Issac Rivera 12-1.
At 120 pounds, sophomore Bailey Hawkins, mullett and all, scored a pin in 40 seconds. Hawkins is now 12-1 on the season with seven pins.
Grant Thompson also scored a pin at 132 in :47 to improve to 5-3.
Avery Jenkins (145), Joe Scott (152) also recorded decision wins. Scott is 11-1 with his only loss coming in the 152-pound championship at the Jim King Invitatonal on Saturday to the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler, Eastern Alamance’s Mitch Dean.
Heavyweight Daylan Alston (12-1), Freshman 113-pounder Gavin Wiggins (9-3), and 126-pounder Jamison Askew (10-3) received forfeit victories.
The Panthers travel to Southwest Guilford on Saturday.
Cedar Ridge travels to the Villan Tournament on Saturday at Biship McGuinness Catholic High School in Kernersville.

All Clay Jones could ask from his Cedar Ridge Red Wolves is to have momentum going into its conference opener against Orange on Friday night.

And they have it.

The Red Wolves claimed its second win in as many days on Tuesday night, downing the Graham Red Devils 82-70. It was another night where Payton Pappas paced the Red Wolves, scoring a season-high 33 points. Jonathan Hall has provided a scoring punch in both of the Red Wolves wins this week. He scored 14 on Tuesday night, while Jacob Thomas added a dozen.

Cedar Ridge is now 6-2 going into the trip to Jim King Gymnasium on Friday night to face the Panthers.

On Monday night, Cedar Ridge welcomed the Austrailian All Stars to Red Wolves Gymnasium. The Red Wolves won 72-51. Pappas added 20 points, while Hall and Thomas added 13.

In America, this is the heart of the school year. Thanksgiving is over. Christmas is around the corner, and so is the holiday break. Summer vacation seems like years away.

In Australia, what we call winter is their summer vaction, and they’re on it right now. In recent years, various high school teams from the land Down Under journey across the southeast United States to play American teams.

On Monday night, Cedar Ridge will play one of those squads in Hillsborough.

Make no mistake, these are players dedicated to playing in America, even if its only exhibition games. They pay their own way for the 20-hour flight. They seek living arrangements with various American families in advance. Then they pay a grueling schedule across various towns, often as many as five games in a week.

Though it won’t count in the official standings, it’s a chance for the Red Wolves to gear up for another busy week. After a trip to Graham on Tuesday night, the Red Wolves start Big 8 Conference play on Friday night at archrival Orange.

Cedar Ridge arrives into tonight’s game against the Aussies with a 4-2 record. After beating Southern Alamance on Wednesday, the Red Wolves lost to Burlington Cummings 75-59 on Friday night.

Leading 31-28 at the half, the Cavaliers exploded for 31 points in the third quarter to put the game away. Peyt0n Pappas led the Red Wolves with 21 points while Jacob Thomas added 15.

Hillsboroughsports.com will have coverage of Orange-Cedar Ridge on Friday night starting at 6:50. Go to Hillsboroughsports.com Facebook page to listen in.