When the state basketball playoffs start on Tuesday, the Cedar Ridge men’s and women’s teams won’t be in either bracket.
But they did end the season with pride, clutch play and wins over J.F. Webb
For the Cedar Ridge men, they pulled the upset of the Big 7 Conference season.
On Thursday, February 12, the Red Wolves stunned Webb 48-44 in overtime at Red Wolves Gymnasium.
Senior Jack Kelsey captured a pass from junior James Faubert through the lane and scored on a lay-up with six seconds remaining in regulation, the only tie of the game.
Leading 42-40 in the final minute, Webb missed four free throws in a chance to expand its lead. Webb shot 9-of-17 from the foul line.
Kelsey opened overtime by scoring off a pass from Tripp Beasley on a ally-oop on the Red Wolves opening possession. Webb, which played just seven players, got heavy legs down the stretch. They scored just five points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Though he’s lost two rotation players since the season started, Cedar Ridge coach Brian Davis still played eleven players and wore down the Warriors.
Webb led 27-12 with 5:16 remaining in the first half. Daniel Wright led Webb with 16 points, but the Warriors shot just 23% from the field.
Kelsey, who finished with 12 points, came alive late. He sank two free throws with 1:36 remaining in regulation to trim the Webb lead to 42-40, the closest Cedar Ridge got to the lead since it was 5-2. Kelsey added another field goal when he sank a short jumper off a pass from Faubert.
Wright scored off an uncontested lay-in with 30 seconds remaining, Webb’s only points of overtime. Karter Wilson drained a free throw to give Cedar Ridge a 47-44 lead. Wright missed a jumper with eight seconds remaining, and Wilson put the game away with another free throw following a foul by Mikelis Hobgood.
Faubert, a junior, led the Red Wolves with 13 points. Junior AJ. Seymore played 32 minutes as he ran the Cedar Ridge offense while reserves were in the game.
Women’s Basketball: Cedar Ridge 39, J.F. Webb 37
Playing without leading scorer Kennedi Fearrington, Cedar Ridge forward Elliott Weisenfeld delivered in the clutch for the Red Wolves first conference win of the season.
Weisenfeld hit a 3-pointer with 33 seconds remaining for the game’s final points as Cedar Ridge defeated the Warriors in Hillsborough. Weisenfeld led all scorers with 15 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter.
In a game with nine lead changes, Webb took the lead with 51 seconds remaining after A’Niyah Suluki stole the ball and found Shacarra Richardson for a lay-up to go ahead 37-36.
Weisenfeld drove the bus for the Red Wolves in the fourth quarter. Trailing 27-24 with 6:36 remaining, Weisenfeld drained her first 3-pointer of the game to tie things up with 5:48 remaining. That triggered a 7-0 Red Wolf run.Senior James Watson sank a jumper off a pass from Weisenfeld to put the Red Wolves ahead. Weisenfeld increased the Red Wolf lead to 31-27 when she scored again.
Webb’s Michelle Betts immediately hit a 3-pointer with 4:27 remaining off a pass from Jasey Lee. Weisenfeld followed with yet another 3-pointer, but the Warriors weren’t done.
Lee, who led the Warriors with 14 points, knocked down a 3-pointer off a short pass from Betts. Weisenfeld scored again to put Cedar Ridge ahead 36-33, but Webb’s Arianna Davis took a breakaway pass from Lee and scooped the ball in to cut the Red Wolf lead to 36-35.
Cedar Ridge guard Leena Frej was the main contributor in the first half, scoring seven points including two 3-pointers. The Warriors had the game’s largest lead at 16-10 early in the second quarter off a lay-up by Lee off a pass from Suluki.
Cedar Ridge ended the first half with six straight points, starting with a stickback basket by senior Hailey McLeod. McLeod hit a free throw to finish the first half to put the Red Wolves ahead 20-18 at halftime.
