Uncategorized

You would think that winning your first 22 games of the season and sweeping the regular season and postseason championship in the Big 8 Conference would lead to a favorable state playoff draw for the Orange girls basketball team.

Apparently, you would be wrong.

The Lady Panthers wound up with the #2 Mideast seed once the bracket was finally released on Sunday afternoon. Orange will host 10-10 West Brunswick of the Mideastern 4A/3A Conference on Tuesday night in Hillsborough. The Trojans finished fifth in the Mideastern this season with a 4-8 record. Of West Brunswick’s 10 wins, three came against teams with winning records. Their biggest win of the season was on January 9, when they defeated Topsail 34-30. Topsail would go on to finish third in the Mideastern, the highest among 3-A teams (New Hanover and Hoggard, both 4-A squads, finished first and second, respectively).

The potential 2nd round is where the rub comes in. If Orange advances, they host Havelock or Southern Guilford. Havelock is 22-3 and tied for the Coastal Conference championship with Jacksonville, the #1 seed for the East. The Rams split the season series with Jacksonville, taking the opener 66-56 on January 13. The Cardinals came back to win 60-59 on February 7, and defeated Havelock again in the Coastal Conference tournament championship game 58-53.

In other words, Havelock was one point away from earning the top seed in the east, and 2nd seed overall. Last week’s loss put them as a 12-seed.

While some projections had Orange receiving the #1 seed in the Mideast, it was Northern Guilford who took that accolade. Both Northern Guilford and the Panthers finished the season with one loss, but Northern Guilford’s loss came in a nonconference game. Orange’s only loss of the regular season was to conference rival Northwood.

The game time for Orange-West Brunswick will be announced on Monday afternoon.

The Cedar Ridge Lady Red Wolves are also headed to the state playoffs. CRHS will travel to Clayton to face the Cleveland Rams on Tuesday. Cedar Ridge (13-13) advanced to the semifinals of the Big 8 Tournament last week, beating J.F. Webb 50-43 behind 25 points from Carrie Davis. Madison Wardlow added ten.

Before Christmas, Cedar Ridge won six of seven, including conference wins over Chapel Hill and Northern Vance. A 45-43 win over Webb on February 3 proved pivotal in making the postseason.

Davis, a senior, leads the team in scoring with 16.3 points per game.

The Big 8 will be well represented when the state playoffs begin on Tuesday. Conference rivals Northwood and J.F. Webb will meet in Pittsboro. Plus, Jacksonville will host Southern Durham, which was among the final teams to make the tournament.

Sophomore Lauren Cates scored a career-high 30 points as Orange improved to 16-0 after beating Northwood 61-49 on Saturday afternoon in Pittsboro.

Orange’s Lauren Cates on Scoring 30 Points in win at Northwood.

Sophomore Lauren Cates had a career-high 30 points as Orange claimed first place in the Big 8 Conference.

Cold shooting and too much Zion Copeland led to Cedar Ridge’s seventh loss in eight games.

Northern Vance never trailed in defeating the Red Wolves 68-52 on Friday night in Henderson. Kalin Jackson scored 14 points to lead the Vikings (10-7, 3-2 in the Big 8), while Zion Copeland scored 12 points and grabbed 20 rebounds.

Dmonte Kinney led the Red Wolves with 19 points, but Khalil Barnett was the only other CRHS player in double figures (11 points). The Red Wolves shot just 23% from the field and finished 5-of-24 from 3-point range.

When Northern Vance wasn’t scoring, they were scoring on stickbacks. In the first half, the Vikings rebounded 43% of their missed shots.

The Vikings surged out to a 12-4 lead, punctuated by an ally-oop dunk on an inbounds pass from Noah Seward to Jackson, which sent the half-full gym into a frenzy.

The impact of that dunk may have impacted the young Red Wolves. Northern Vance promptly went on a 9-2 run to finish the first quarter ahead 21-9. The Vikings shot 52% in the opening eight minutes and forced five turnovers.

Trailing 48-31 going into the fourt quarter, CRHS went on a 10-1 run, spurred by consecutive 3-pointers from Kinney. With the Red Wolves trailing 49-41, freshman center B.J. Freeman tried to draw a charge on the Vikings’ Malik Glasco, but was called for a block. The Cedar Ridge bench was called for a technical foul in protest, and Glasco drained three of the four subsequent free throws that ended the Red Wolves’ last threat.

The road doesn’t get any easier for the Red Wolves. They have three conference games next week, starting at Southern Durham next week. They host J.F. Webb on Wednesday, then host Chapel Hill on Friday at 7.

CEDAR RIDGE: Dmonte Kinney 19, Khalil Barnett 11,  Terrance Crawford 3, Mekai Collins 4, Isaiah Brown 2, John Vaughn 1, Colby Cashaw 4, B.J. Freeman 8.

NORTHERN VANCE-Laquad Holden 5, Malik Glasco 13, Kaylen Jackson 14, Thomas Townes 4, Zion Copeland 12, Noah Seward 10, Kenton Pettaway 8, Tyronne Davis 2

Dynasties are more common in high school sports than at other levels of sports.

Orange wrestling is very likely to win its 15 consecutive conference championship by month’s end. Northern Durham football won 18 consecutive PAC-6 Championships from 1984-2001. East Chapel Hill boys and girls tennis won seven consecutive 3A state championships from 1998-2004 under coach Lindsey Linker, who also coached six state championship boys’ squads.

So when the apple cart gets turned over, people take notice.

Perhaps Cedar Ridge Girls Tennis Coach Lennie Corbett knew that was going to happen before anyone else did this year. Chapel Hill has ruled the Big 8 Conference in 2015, rolling to a 10-0 record. In fact, they had a combined 67-2 record against their conference rivals.

In August, Corbett said “I’m looking for big things from these girls this year.”

Did that include winning the school’s first-ever conference championship in girls tennis? Yes, it did. Corbett just didn’t say so at the time.

There was already core leadership returning in top singles player Tess Johnson, a returning All-Big 8 performer who advanced to the 2nd round of the 3-A Mideast Regionals in 2015. Johnson would remain the top singles player throughout the championship season. There was also Leah Thompson, who qualified for regionals in doubles with Maddie Allen in 2015.

But there was also the secret weapons. Freshman Olivia Ward, the daughter of Person High tennis coach Lynn Ward, went 14-4 during the season. Senior Serena Sauers finished 15-1, while Thompson registered a 14-2 mark. Senior Hanna Spear finished 8-0, while junior Kate Miller went 14-1.

Of course, every championship season has to have a defining moment. For Cedar Ridge, that came on September 7th, when they traveled to Chapel Hill and stunned the Tiers 6-3.

Milner clinched the victory with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 victory over Rachel Thomas at #6 singles. Sauers defeated Sarah Combs 6-2, 6-4 at #3 singles, while Spear grinder out possibly the most important victory of the day, beating Megan Wu 3-6, 6-2, 10-8.

Ward clinched Cedar Ridge’s opening win with another three-set affair, beating Hailey Polska 6-4, 2-6, 11-9.

Thompson captured her match at #3 singles over Lauren Bolzan 6-4, 6-4, then teamed with Lutz to defeat Polska and Wu 7-7 (7-5).

On September 28, Cedar Ridge would clinch the Big 8 Championship by beating Chapel Hill again 5-1 in Hillsborough. The highlight of that day was Ward defeating Lauren Bolzano 6-2, 4-6, 10-6 to improve to 10-3 on the season.

Things would only get better during the Big 8 Tournament at Orange High Tennis courts. The Big 8 Doubles Championship match was an all-Cedar Ridge affair. Miller and Sauers captured the conference title by beating their teammates, Thompson & Lutz, 8-2.

In the most successful season in team history, the Red Wolves won its first playoff dual team match over Swansboro 9-0, then defeated Burlington Williams 5-3 to advance to the state quarters,. Ultimately, Terry Sanford ended the Red Wolves season.

Johnson, Thompson, Miller and Ward were all named to the Big 8 All Conference Team.

Cedar Ridge finished the most successful season in school history 19-2, 12-0 in the Big 8. They won 18 matches in a row, truly overturning conventional thinking, even if Corbett seemed to know before anyone else.

The cliche “A battle of two teams moving in opposite directions” doesn’t fit Orange’s 88-57 rout of Cedar Ridge on Saturday.

Really, it was a game between two teams at different stages of their programs.

At the very least, Orange has as much talent as its 2013-14 squad, which went 26-6 and advanced to the 3A Eastern Regional Final, where they lost to Wilson Hunt 66-60 at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville. That team, featuring Tay Jones, Jawad Chambers and Keegan Crabtree, was among the best in Greg Motley’s 20 years as Panthers head coach.

On Saturday, Orange started two seniors who have anchored the program the past two seasons. Connor Crabtree put the game away early in the third quarter when he stole a pass leading to a breakaway slam dunk, then fired in a 22-foot three-pointer which PA announcer Coach Charles Walker bellowed “was from the Tennessee state line” over the PA system. Crabtree finished with 31.

On the other hand, Cedar Ridge Coach Clay Jones is balancing life without all-time leading scorer Peyton Pappas, who graduated in May and is now at Catawba. By his own admission, Jones and Pappas had their ups and downs through a four-year relationship. Jones grudgingly accepted the occasional ill-timed technical foul or one-legged off-balance jumper, just as long as Pappas showed up ready to play…which he always did.

In Pappas’ absence, Cedar Ridge doesn’t have a coach on the floor, the thing that Jones loved about Pappas.

With only two seniors on the roster, Cedar Ridge started well against Orange. Center Colby Cashaw scored eight of his ten points in the first quarter and drew two fouls on Panthers center Logan Vosburg. Crabtree was held to five points, yet Orange still led 21-13 going into the second quarter.

In the second quarter, Crabtree found room to create off the dribble, which was bad news for the Red Wolves. Crabtree stuck a three-pointer with 2:42 remaining to put Orange ahead 39-26 at the half.

It would only get worse after a lazy Cedar Ridge turnover led Crabtree to a strip steal and dunk. Seconds later, Crabtree swished a three-pointer to send Motely’s Crew into a frenzy.

Freshman Joey McMullin finished with 16 for Orange, while Vosburg added 12. Junior Mitch Portman added ten.

Freshman center B.J. Freeman led Cedar Ridge with 13 points,. Another freshman, Mekai Collins, added twelve.

Orange (12-4, 5-0) remains in first place in the Big 8 at 5-0. They’re 12-4 overall. With exams this week, they play again Saturday at home against Northwood at 3:30.

Cedar Ridge (6-9, 1-4) will host J.F. Webb Thursday at 7:30 in an effort to keep its playoff hopes alive.

CEDAR RIDGE: Khalil Barnett 4, Terrence Crawford 8, Tahjai Hill-Wells 3, Mekai Collins 12, Colby Cashaw 10, Dmonte Kinney 6, B.J. Freeman 13, Khalil Hill 2.

ORANGE: Mitch Portman 10, Connor Crabtree 31, Joey McMullin 16, Logan Vosburg 12, Marquis Phelps 5, Ryan Sellers 5, Matt Atherton 4, Treshon Richardson 5.

In an already solid year for athletics at Orange, there are some teams whose dominance isn’t the least bit surprising.

Orange football went undefeated during the regular season, which was practically a foregone conclusion after beating Southern Durham 49-7 on September 23rd, midway through the year.

Orange wrestling is now 19-0 after winning five dual matches at the Havelock Duals on Friday. All that stands between the Panthers and a 15th conference championship is a showdown with Chapel Hill later this month.

On the other side of the expectations aisle are the Orange girls basketball team, who are now 15-0 after beating Cedar Ridge 59-43.

Not only have the Lady Panthers surpassed last year’s win total, they’re one win away from doubling it (8-17 in 2015-16).

The previous three years, they won 19 games. They’ve already secured its first winning season since 2009-10, when they went 12-11 under Don Herbert.

Perhaps it’s just a team that has come of age. Starters Kaylen Campbell, Mia Davidson, Bethlyn Early, Jazlyn Watson are all seniors, as are reserves Enzyah Holt, MaryBeth Dobbins, and Adalyn Fleming.

Playing its second game in 19 hours on Saturday, the Panthers used its depth to wear down Cedar Ridge. Davidson, who never saw a rebound she couldn’t contest, led Orange with 12 pints. Campbell added eleven, while Icez Barnett came off the bench for nine.

Cedar Ridge was shackled by foul trouble in a game that had no less than four players report to the locker room for various injuries in the first half. Late in the second quarter, Red Wolves leading scorer Carrie Davis suffered a cut over her left eye after colliding with Holt for a loose ball. Miniature drops of blood were scattered across the floor, causing a five-minute delay where Orange principal Eric Yarbrough and athletic director Mark McCauley wiping up the hardwood with paper towels.

CRHS’s Yolanda Simpson suffered a bloody nose during a similar scrum in the first quarter, while Orange’s Grace Dively limped off the floor after getting tangled up going for a rebound.

Cedar Ridge opened with a 3-1 lead, but Orange used its depth to quickly take the lead for the game’s duration. Barnett, Holt and Janae Myers all came off the bench to score field goals as Orange led 12-9 at the end of the first quarter.

Leading 29-20 at the half, the Panthers kept the lead in double digits after Davidson notched eight points in the third quarter. Campbell, who averages 12.9 point per game but was held without a field goal in the first half, scored nine points in the second half. Orange’s bench out scored Cedar Ridge’s 19-9.

Madison Wardlow, who couldn’t get into the flow of the game in the first half because of foul trouble, scored 13 to lead all scorers. Davis finished with ten.

Cedar Ridge (8-6, 2-3) goes into exams with its playoff future uncertain. Currently in 4th place in the Big 8 Conference, they host J.F. Webb on Thursday at 6 PM.

Meanwhile, Orange is tied for first in the Big 8 with Northwood, who is 5-0 despite losing three starters at the beginning of the season with torn ACLs. The Panthers travel to Pittsboro to face the Chargers next Saturday.