Cedar Ridge High School

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. 

Whether its a date, a kiss or another of life’s pleasures, you never forget your first time.

Coach Jaison Brooks’ won’t forget his first home game against Orange. Not only because his Cedar Ridge Red Wolves defeated the Panthers 66-60 to complete its first regular season sweep of Orange since 2015.

With a spring in his step evident from the pregame warmups, Brooks appeared to be more eager for tipoff than his players.

“It’s a great rivalry,” Brooks said. “So to be able to participate in it is an awesome thing. The fans showed up tonight and it was a great environment.”

When its Cedar Ridge-Orange, there’s no need for a pregame speech that would make Ric Flair proud to get players ready to play. Despite a 27-point loss to Chapel Hill on Tuesday, Cedar Ridge emerged confident and vibrant right from the start. It was a 180-degree change from last season, when the Red Wolves labored through a 1-win campaign.

Of course, there’s another lesson that sank in for millions of basketball fans around the world this week. It’s called treasuring the moment.

Brooks, a Los Angeles Lakers fan, was one of many devastated by the death of Kobe Bryant on Sunday.

“We’ve all been thinking about Kobe’s death,” Brooks said. “We don’t know when our last day is going to come. We have to live each day to the fullest. So our mantra for tonight was ‘no regrets.’ By the end of the night, we wanted to say we played to our fullest capabilities, whether we won or lost.”

That made Friday night all the better for Chris Tinnen, Jai’Kel Gibbs, Zach Holmes, Andrew Altieri, K.J. Barnes, Grayson Ramon and Cameron Hartley, all of whom survived the 2018-2019 season to enjoy a senior night worth savoring.

The emotion of the packed Cedar Ridge student section knocked Orange back early. Orange only led for 14 seconds in the entire game after Joey McMullin scored on a stickback bucket with 3:18 remaining in the first quarter.

Then Gibbs entered the game. Barely off the bench, Gibbs hit three 3-pointer in less than two minutes to push the Red Wolves ahead 20-14 at the end of the first quarter.

“We know Jai’kel can shoot,” Brooks said. “Then he gets into the game and he shows it. We asked everybody to step up. We weren’t sure how much each player would play, but when they stepped out on the floor, they needed to do what they were supposed to do. Jai’kel did that tonight. We are super proud of them.”

Cedar Ridge (5-14, 3-7 in the Big 8 Conference) hit eight 3-pointers in the first half and led 37-23 at halftime. Mekai Collins, who played at Orange last season after spending two years at Cedar Ridge, scored ten points for the Red Wolves in the first half. He finished with 16.

Orange narrowed its deficit down to 43-39 midway through the third quarter after Kendrell Brooks scored seven points to open the stanza. Tinnen connected on three straight field goals, while Gibbs hit a critical three late in the quarter to keep Cedar Ridge from being challenged again.

Jason Franklin led all scorers with 24 points, while Joey McMullin added 20 for Orange. The Panthers (8-12, 2-8) have won only once since December 26.

Cedar Ridge will travel to Northern Durham on Tuesday. Orange faces Northwood in Pittsboro.

CEDAR RIDGE 66, ORANGE 60

ORANGE–Jerec Thompson 3, Jason Franklin 24, Joey McMullin 20, Kyle Stanley 4, Kandrell Brooks 9.

CEDAR RIDGE–K.J. Barnes 4, Chris Tinnen 21, Andrew Altieri 4, Mekai Collins 16, Zach Holmes 2, Ian Johnson 3, Jai’kel Gibbs 15, Grady Ray 1.

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.

On Senior night, Cedar Ridge guard Jai’kel Gibbs came off the bench to lift the Red Wolves. Within seconds of entering the game, Gibbs hit three 3-pointers in a span of three minutes against crosstown rival Orange. Gibbs finished with 15 points as the Red Wolves completed a regular season sweep of the Panthers, 66-60 in a packed Red Wolves Gymnasium. It was the first time Cedar Ridge has swept the Panthers since 2015. Gibbs finished with 15 points, including two more three-pointers in the second half. Cedar Ridge hit eight 3-pointers in the first half for a lead they wouldn’t surrender the rest of the game. The Red Wolves will travel to Northern Durham on Tuesday night. Tipoff will be at 7:30 at Poe Gymtorium.  

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. 

With the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Indoor Track & Field Championships only two weeks away, several Hillsborough athletes will be included in the festivities.

After qualifying for the NCHSAA 3A Outdoor Track & Field Championships last year, Cedar Ridge sophomore Caroline Fowlkes has qualified for the Indoor State Championships in the pole vault. In the Eastern Alamance Polar Bear #1 on December 3, Fowlkes clear nine feet. The NCHSAA standard is 8’6″ to qualify for the state championships.

Since then, Fowlkes has reestablished for career-high with an attempt of 9’6″ in the Eastern Alamance Polar Bear #2 on December 18. On Tuesday, Fowlkes peaked at nine feet, once again, at the Eastern Alamance Polar Bear #3, which concluded the Red Wolves regular season.

Joining Fowlkes in the indoor state championships will be Cedar Ridge sprinter Elijah Horne. In the Eastern Alamance Polar Bear #1, Horne qualified for the 500 meters after he finished first with a time of 1:07.81. The NCHSAA state qualifying standard is 1:08.5.

In the Eastern Alamance Polar Bear #2, Horne won the 300 meters and barely missed qualifying for the state championships. He crossed the finish line at 37.85 seconds, just behind the state mandate of 36.4 seconds.

Meanwhile, Orange’s Keanu Mims attained a goal he had been shooting for throughout the winter: qualifying for the 300 meter state championships. Last Saturday at East Chapel Hill High School inside Dave Thaden Stadium, Mims finally qualified by winning the East Polar Bear #5. Mims competed the race in 35.94 seconds, finishing first.

The previous weekend at the East Polar Bear #4, Mims finished at 37.24 on the same track.

Mims narrowly missed qualifying in the 55 meter dash last Saturday. He finished fifth at 6.84 seconds, below the state mandate of 6.4 seconds.

Fowlkes’ has been a pole vaulter since the sixth grade. She started her career in Mobile, AL, where she was allowed to pole vault in middle school. Her mother and father were also pole vaulters at Tolland High School in Alabama. Her father went on to compete at the University of South Alabama, while her mother competed at the University of Florida.

Mims qualified for Orange’s 4×400 relay team in the state Outdoor Championships last May. In the final event of the day at North Carolina A&T’s Belk Track in Greensboro, Mims, Thomas Kaltenbach, Jose Torres and Cameron Michalski completed the race with a time of 3:28.63. They finished tenth in the state.

Running individually last outdoor season, Mims won two meets in the 100 meter dash. On March 7, 2019 he set a new personal best of 11.39 seconds in a meet against East Chapel Hill. He also finished first in a tri-meet against Chapel Hill and Southern Durham on March 14, 2019.

Last weekend at Eastern Alamance, Cedar Ridge’s Sarah Tucker won the women’s 1000 meter race, finishing at 3.24.60. Tucker, who ran cross country and outdoor track for the Red Wolves, just missed qualifying for the state championships.

The Red Wolves’ Kennedy Kelsey won the 55 meters hurdles at 10.47 seconds. The state mandate is 9.1 seconds.

Orange’s Erin Mink won the high jump at East Chapel Hill with a jump of 4’8″. Mink has captured the high jump in back-to-back weekends at East.

The 3A State Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held at JDL Fast Track indoor facility in Winston-Salem on February 14 and 15.

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.

On January 24, Nick Stevens of HighSchoolOT.com released a report stating that the North Carolina High School Athletic Association has distributed ballots to all 418 member schools for two proposed changes to its by-laws.

Principals are designated voters on behalf of each member school and each school receives a singular vote. Any school who fails to submit a ballot will be counted as a “no” vote. In order to pass these amendments, each issue will require a three-fourths vote in the affirmative of the full membership to pass — 314 of the 418 member schools. 

Principals have until January 27 to submit their ballots and the results will be announced at the NCHSAA Annual Meeting at the Dean E. Smith Center on April 30. The new realignment cycle is slated to begin at the start of the 2021-2022 academic year.

Proposal #1 would allow the NCHSAA Board of Directors to change the number of classifications from four to any number of classifications, which could have many ramifications. The ballot mentions five or six classifications, with the possibility of dropping back to three or four classifications in subsequent years if the board feels it is necessary.

For voting considerations on this amendment proposal, the Association is urging schools to consider a number of factors. Among them, the Association cites a new playoff system could possibly allow all teams participating in a sport to qualify for the playoffs and be seeded based on a ranking system. If this amendment were adopted, this action would effectively eliminate the regular season from consideration when it comes to the playoffs.

The NCHSAA also infers that changing to five or six classifications could result in significant increases in travel, which could also impact the amount of missed classroom time for student-athletes.

My take on this first proposal: What is the point of a regular season and a state championship if everyone is allowed to participate? The emphasis on regular season play is to determine who the best teams are and to weed out the inferior ones. 

As I’ve stated in previous editions, no team with a sub-.500 record should be playing in a state tournament, unless they win their conference championship outright in the regular season, by regular season tiebreaker, or by tournament championship. Allowing all teams to compete for the state championship will virtually cause the state playoff system to lose meaning and purpose. The entire emphasis of regular season play is to determine who the better teams are and to separate them from those that didn’t have good seasons. 

In previous editions, I’ve made the claim that engorging the state playoff system is a ploy to allow the Association to increase revenue. If this proposal passes, this will be confirmed. More teams means more games, and more games means more money. 

The NCHSAA has needed to expand to 5A for approximately 10 to 15 years as the statewide boom of school construction continues. The expansion would allow the playoff system to return to more reasonable levels while featuring the best teams. To liberally expand or contract the classification system like an accordion, will do more damage than it will do for good.

The Association claims that an expansion to 5A (or even larger to 6A) will cause an increase in travel time, and cause student-athletes will miss additional class time. For state playoff purposes, this could be true as the number of class-specific schools will be more concentrated to certain locations. However, in normal, regular-season scenarios, not much class time will be missed or travel times will be affected, as many teams play within reasonable distances from their schools.

Another option the Association may wish to consider is staggering games in opposite locations. For example, junior varsity football is played on Thursday evenings in one location varsity football is played the next night in the opposite location. For basketball purposes, schools might wish to play girls basketball in one location while on the same night, boys will be in the opposite. The same rationale could be to play junior varsity in one location and varsity in the opposition. For spring sports, most games are in one location (Example, Cedar Ridge at Northern Durham / Orange at Vance County) for baseball, softball, and lacrosse (or women’s soccer). Under the same rationale, baseball and lacrosse could be in one location, while softball and women’s soccer could be at the opposite.

This suggestion would significantly decrease the amount of student-athletes participating in away games on school nights. Many schools in our area already do this – most notably, East Chapel Hill. I definitely see the point of the Wildcats to have only one or two games per night, and exiting the school at a reasonable hour, as opposed to playing three or four games in an evening and leaving at near midnight.

Proposal #2 would require the NCHSAA to realign on an annual basis for the state playoffs. This could result in schools having teams in different classifications in each sport, each year. It also means conferences and the regular season could be less dependent on school classification.

For this proposal, I have a mixed opinion. 

First, schools should be designated as 1A, 2A, 3A, or 4A (5A or 6A, if implemented) on the basis of average daily membership (ADM) in ALL sports. This means if a school is 3A in football, they are 3A in every other sport. To reclassify a school per sport and per playoff is completely ridiculous and has no basis for implementation as it would create an undue amount of confusion on the part of the NCHSAA and the member schools.

Second, if a school has a significant increase or decrease in its ADM and needs to be reclassified, then yes, I would support this. This season, Hillside was promoted from 3A to 4A on the basis of an increased ADM, as was Vance County, who was promoted from 2A to 3A. As I previously reported about Waynesville Tuscola, a 3A team in western North Carolina, the Mountaineers were denied an appeal to be reclassified as a 2A team citing a drastic, ten percent reduction in ADM. 17 other schools had a higher ADM including their cross-town rival, Pisgah.

Prior to my arrival in Hillsborough, I announced for Christian schools participating in the North Carolina Christian School Association. As the enrolments of these schools can fluctuate year after year, the NCCSA evaluates each school’s enrolment yearly to determine which classification they will participate in. In addition, the evaluation also determines the district (the NCCSA version of a conference) the school will play in.

In essence, if schools are going to be realigned yearly, they need to be judged on the basis of ADM and participate (season and playoffs) in the assigned class. 

While I am not Cedar Ridge principal Mitchell Stensland or Orange High principal Anne Purcell, but if I were, I would vote NO to both proposals as they are written. The first will not alleviate the bloated mess of four classifications while the second will cause an immense amount of confusion for all member schools.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore swimmer Olivia Aitkin. Last week in the Big 8 Swimming championships at Taisean Aquatics Center at Duke University, Aitkin finished 7th in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 6:14.94. Aitkin also finished 13th in the 50 yard freestyle at 27.53 seconds. Aitkin joined Sydney Reavely, Abbygale Pearce and Sydney Lanier in the 200 yard freestyle relay where they finished in the top 10. This could very well be a year where Aitkin makes All-Big 8 Conference in three different sports. Last fall, Aitkin was named to the All-Big 8 Conference in women’s golf. Now, she’s preparing for softball season, which is her top sport.Aitkin was a member of the 2019 Big 8 Champions, where she hit .462 with 15 runs scores. She also earned a win as a pitcher. In the circle, Aitkin threw 25.2 innings and struck out 24 batters.