Despite losing its leading scorer within 80 seconds of tipoff and playing its third game in three nights, the Spartans defeated the Panthers 80-62 to take control of the Big 8 Conference. Orange Coach Greg Motley discusses what happened.
Nothing sets off panic in the south more than snow. A little snowflake can cause a lot of headaches. Just ask local basketball coaches.
When school is cancelled, games don’t get played. That means coaches have to reschedule, which creates a frustrating cycle of phone calls, double checking with athletic directors to see when gyms are available and getting the word out to the media and fans.
Then comes the minor part of preparing for the games themselves.
On Wednesday night, Cedar Ridge had to practice for its Thursday game against Southern Durham at a nearby gym because it’s own floor was taken up by the wrestling team.
The team had barely seen each other since last Thursday, when they defeated Webb in Oxford. Four school days were cancelled. Not exactly the best circumstances going against a Spartan team that was undefeated in the Big 8.
If you wanted to bet against Southern Durham going into Thursday, obviously the odds would have been against you. If you bet on Cedar Ridge never trailing against the Spartans, you might have cleaned up for life.
But that’s what happened.
The Red Wolves jumped out to a 10-0 lead, never trailed and stunned the Spartans 70-65 on Thursday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Peyton Pappas led CRHS with 34 points, while Jacob Thomas added 17. Jonathan Hall added 14 as the Red Wolves won for the third time in four games to improve to 10-8, 3-5 in the Big 8.
“We did a much better job defensively,” said Cedar Ridge coach Clay Jones. “We didn’t a good job handling their press. These last three games we’ve played very well.”
Southern’s J’Tori Christmas, the Spartans’ leading scorer, finsihed with 13 points, but had only one field goal going into the fourth quarter. Rashad Dixon, matched up against Hall for much of the night, was held to 3, a season low.
Sophomore Antonio Daye led the Spartans with 22. The Spartans are 8-1, one-half game ahead of Orange for first place in the Big 8. Southern hosts Orange on Friday night, a game that will be broadcast here on Hillsboroughsports.com starting at 7.
Jones attributes his team’s turnaround to a change in philosophy. After going 3-for-47 from 3-point range during a 0-4 start in Big 8 play, he knew it was time to shift away from a three-guard starting lineup.
He inserted Shawn Hill and Shane Evans into the starting lineup and opted for a half-court oriented style.
“It’s helped take pressure off Peyton,” said Jones. “We’re getting the ball to Jacob and Jonathan more and playing much better.”
Now comes the headache of rescheduling. Coming off its biggest win of the season, Cedar Ridge has to turn right back around and travel to Chapel Hill tonight. The Tigers defeated
Though anyone around the program is too modest to say it, it isn’t the winning that makes Orange Wrestling such a power tradition. It’s the collecting.
There will soon be another trophy in the case outside Jim King Gymnasium after Wednesday night.
The Panthers defeated Chapel Hill 64-7 to win the Big 8 Championship. Orange finished the regular season 24-2, 6-0 in the Big 8. Over the past three seasons, Chapel Hill has been the main challenger to end the Panthers’ dominance. In retrospect, this year it was Northwood, who was one match away from the Big 8 throne. Only no one knew it at the time.
On December 16th, Northwood’s Michael Queen pinned Josiah Ramirez at 160 to vault the Chargers ahead 36-34. Only the 170-pound remained, with Panthers sophomore Jamar Davis facing Northwood’s Luke Orbich.
Not much pressure on Davis, a sophomore. Just a string of conference championships and a number one seed in the state dual tournament was all.
“I was nervous,” said Davis. “But Coach (Bobby) Shriner has taught me a lot and the partners I’ve worked out with have helped me. I’ve gotten better. All I had to do was go out there and wrestle.”
That’s what Davis did, comfortably taking a 19-4 major decision and Orange won 38-36.
Compared to that December night, Wednesday was anticlimactic. Chapel Hill did jump out to a 4-0 lead when Cam Bergey scored a 10-2 major decision. Then Orange’s Juan Torres improved to 30-12 on the season by pinning Brad Kenyon in 5:01, the first of eight Panther pins. It was Torres’ eighth fall of the year.
“Juan has been a little banged up as of late,” said Shriner, a former wrestler at UNC. “We haven’t practiced since Friday (because of snow) and when you go that long without working out, it’s hard. But Juan hung in there and he made a nice move on that double leg.”
Shannon Thompson followed with a 7-2 victory over Joe Cannon at 195, Orange’s only regular decision win of the match. Probably the biggest win of the night came at 220 when Orange sophomore Payton Wilson faced Chapel Hill’s George McBurney, who was gunning for his 100th career victory.
Not only did Wilson win, he earned an 8-0 major decision to up his record to 33-6 (McBurney got his 100th win on Thursday night over Northwood’s Wesley Roberson).
Chapel Hill’s only other victory on the evening was at heavyweight when Hudson Price edged sophomore Daylon Alston 2-1, which included a controversial penalty point against Alston for stalling that tied the match in the 2nd period.
Then Orange scored six pins in the next seven matches to put the championship on ice. It started at 106 when Mitchell Askew pinned David Cureton in 3:26. At 113, freshman Gavin Wiggins finished Zin Maung in 1:24. Then Bailey Hawkins pinned Wesley Kelley in 5:11. It was Hawkins 15th pin of the season and put Orange ahead 31-7.
Jamison Askew gained a 15-3 major decision at 126. At 132, Hakeem Jones pinned Jack Davenport in 2:22, which officially earned Orange the championship.
Gonzo Garcia (138), Charlie Fitzpatrick (145, his 18th pin of the year), and Josiah Ramirez (152, also his 18th pin) also scored falls for the Panthers.
Orange’s Joe Scott recorded a technical fall 18-3 to improve to 35-4, the most wins on the team.
The state dual team tournament field will be announced on Monday. It’s likely that Orange will be in the same quadrant as Eden Morehead, the team that eliminated the Panthers last season in the 2nd round.
The Panthers defeated Chapel Hill 64-7 on Wednesday night to earn its 14th consecutive conference title. Coach Bobby Shriner Discussed the sophomores who stepped up against the Tigers, and next week’s state dual playoffs.
The Orange Panthers earned eight pinfall victories in its 64-7 landslide against Chapel Hill on Wednesday night. Juan Torres scored the first of the bunch in 5:01, improving his record to 29-11 on the season.
Sophomore Orange wrestler Bailey Hawkins improved to 34-8 on Wednesday night after pinning Wesley Kelly in 5:11. It was his 17th pin of the season.
Hours after Cedar Ridge lost to archrival Orange on Tuesday night, Red Wolves point guard Peyton Pappas sent out the following tweet Wednesday afternoon leading up to a trip to Oxford Webb that night.
“We better have our game”
They didn’t. It was more the buzz of winter weather coming to the Triangle than actual snow that caused the postponement. In the south, where nothing creates paranoia quite like snow, that was enough.
On Thursday night, hours before bone fide snow was set to move in, Cedar Ridge made the road trip to Oxford, where Pappas showed how hungry he was to play. And he wasn’t the only one.
The Red Wolves defeated Webb 78-66. Pappas scored 31 points, while Jacob Thomas added 16. CRHS’ ongoing problem of finding a reliable third scorer was no headache against the Warriors, as senior center Jonathan Hall scored eleven points. Not only that, but the Red Wolves got a fourth scorer in double figures, as Khalil Hill also registered eleven.
Cedar Ridge led 39-36 at the half, but out scored the Warriors 18-11 in the third quarter.
The Red Wolves’ road trip against Northern Vance, slated for tonight, has already been postponed. It’s likely to be made up next week, but an date hasn’t been confirmed.
Cedar Ridge is now 9-8, 2-5 in the Big 8.
Unlike the win-now-or-else world of football, high school basketball allows teams time to grow.
Seven weeks ago, Greg Motley knew the hand his was dealt for the 2015-16 basketball season was going to be shorthanded in the beginning. He would go into the season without Eryk Brandon-Dean, the point guard who guided his transition offense carefully for two seasons. As has been well documented, Brandon-Dean suffered a torn ACL against September 24th. Backup center Jace Jordan-Cornell would also miss half the season due to a leg injury, also suffered in football.
With only one starter returning, Orange predictably started 0-3, but there was reason for optimism. Now, having had time to gell and with Motley placing the guard tandem of Cameron Cavanaugh and Reggie Bradsher as regular starters, the Panthers have won seven of its last eight.
The latest victory came on Tuesday night with a 63-43 victory over crosstown rival Cedar Ridge. Playing its 2nd game in just over 24 hours, the Panthers received 21 points each from Connor Crabtree and Logan Vosburg to improve to 10-7. Orange is also 6-1 in the Big 8 conference, a game behind Southern Durham for first place (The Spartans blew out Northwood 81-43 on Tuesday).
“There were a lot of questions coming in (this season),” said Motley. “We didn’t know how good we could be. Now they’ve figured it out and they’re doing a good job.”
The surprise of the night wasn’t that Vosburg scored 21 points. He had put up 17 points and 15 rebounds just the day before against previously undefeated Goldsboro at the Durham School of the Arts.
The fact Vosburg hit 3-pointers in the 2nd half was another matter.
“That was big,” said Motley. “Some nights he looks to shoot it, some night he doesn’t. But we allow him the freedom to shoot the ball.”
For Cedar Ridge, the loss was a far cry from the elation of last February, when they stunned Orange 69-63 after trailing by 19 points early in the 3rd quarter. Not only did that win give Cedar Ridge a season sweep of its crosstown rival, it cost Orange the Big 8 regular season championship.
Orange led 29-26 at the half after the Red Wolves held Crabtree scoreless in the first quarter. Panther forward Daniel Mulligan, who finished with 11 points, scored seven in the first quarter.
The third saw Orange out score the Red Wolves 21-6. Cedar Ridge’s offense the entire quarter consisted of two field goals by Senior Peyton Pappas and two free throws by Jonathan Hall.
The familiar problem for the Red Wolves is scoring. Pappas will get his points. He’s too talented not to. So will Chapel Hill transfer Jacob Thomas. But after that, it’s a question mark.
Pappas led the Red Wolves with 20 points on Tuesday, while Thomas was held to 9, including a lone field goal in the second half. The rest of the team had 14 points.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Orange played a heckuva game,” said Cedar Ridge coach Clay Jones. “They do a lot of things well and right now, we’re not. We’ve been looking for that third person the last two years, and we’ve yet to find it. Right now, it’s still up in the air.”
Cedar Ridge falls to 8-8, 1-5 in the Big 8. They travel to Oxford Webb tonight.
BOX SCORE: ORANGE 63, CEDAR RIDGE 43
Cedar Ridge:9 17 6 11 = 43
Orange: 10 19 21 13 = 63
Cedar Ridge: Peyton. Pappas 20, Jonathan. Hall 4, Jacob Thomas 9, Colby Cashaw 2, Shane Hill 6, Ikell Knowles 2.
Orange: Cameron Cavanaugh 3, Connor Crabtree 21, Demares Drummond 4, Daniel Mulligan 11, Alex Fish 1, Logan Vosburg 21, Jace-Jordan Cornell 2.
Coming off a 17-point, 15-rebound game on Monday against Goldsboro, Orange Center Logan Vosburg scored 21 points on Tuesday in a win over Cedar Ridge.
