Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week: Amiyah Ware
This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior basketball guard Amiyah Ware. Last month, Ware played her first games with Cedar Ridge after suffering a torn ACL on her right knee. In her second game, she scored 19 points as the Red Wolves defeated Person 50-27 in Roxboro. The win ended Cedar Ridge’s 39-game conference losing streak. It was Cedar Ridge’s first conference win since February 8, 2019. Ware scored 21 points in Tuesday’s game against Orange at Panther Gymnasium. On Thursday night, Ware had 22 points, a season-high, as Cedar Ridge earned its second win of the season, 38-30, over Franklin Academy. Amiyah grew up playing at the Orange County Parks and Recreation Department and started when she was eight years old. After two years at The Burlington School, she opted to transfer to Cedar Ridge during the summer. Before she returned to Hillsborough, she underwent grueling rehabilitation to get back into playing shape. Her addition to the Cedar Ridge lineup under head coach Megan Skouby has led to the Red Wolves being competitive against local rivals like East Chapel Hill and Orange. After its win over Franklin Academy, Cedar Ridge will continue its season tonight against Eastern Alamance in Mebane at 6 PM.
Cedar Ridge’s Harrison Perel & Hayden Kirk talk win over Franklin Academy
The Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team, fighting for a spot in the state playoffs, defeated Franklin Academy 56-42 at Red Wolves Gymnasium on Thursday night. Without forward Luke Orstad, junior Hayden Kirk earned his first start of the season and had seven points. It was a big night for junior center Harrison Perel, who had a career-high 14 points. Coming off Tuesday’s close loss to Orange, the Red Wolves opened slow from the field, scoring just one field goal in the opening 12 minutes. After Colton Taylor scored on a field goal while being fouled, the Red Wolves went on an 11-0 run down the stretch of the first half to take the lead. Perel had three field goals down the stretch of the first half. Colton Taylor finished with 12 points while Jonovan Wingate had ten points as the Red Wolves earned its first win of the calendar year 2023. Cedar Ridge went into the game ranked #33 in the MaxPreps 3A East region rankings, putting them right on the bubble for the 3A State Playoffs. Cedar Ridge, looking for its first trip to the state playoffs in six years, will continue their pursuit for the postseason when they travel to Eastern Alamance tonight. You can hear that game tonight on Hillsboroughsports.com starting with the women’s game with Jon Franklin at 6PM.
Orange’s Dillon Heffernan discusses 100th career win
Dillon Heffernan became the 49th wrestler in Orange High history to win 100 matches. On senior night, Heffernan edged Northwood’s Ronald Walker 6-5 to take his 100th win. He becomes the first Orange wrestler to win 100 career matches since Kessel Summers did it in 2021. Heffernan reached the milestone despite losing most of his sophomore season due to the pandemic. Last season, Heffernan finished second in the Mideast Regionals at 126 pounds. He was the top seed going into the tournament after finishing the regular season with a 26-9 record. Over the summer, Heffernan elected to move up three weight classes to 145 pounds, where he already has an individual championship this year. Heffernan has been a member of two conference championship teams with Orange. Next week, the Panthers will journey to Roxboro to face Person with the winner taking the Central Carolina Conference championship. This weekend, Heffernan will join the Panthers as they compete in the annual Quentin Crosby Invitational at Dudley High School in Greensboro. Orange is undefeated as a team in dual matches this year.
Orange’s Kai Wade & Xandrell Pennix discuss win over Cedar Ridge
The Orange men’s basketball team has made a habit of bing in tight games down the stretch this season. On Tuesday night agains their crosstown rival, they played in another. Facing Cedar Ridge, the Panthers ended the game on a 20-5 run to defeat the Red wolves 57-47 at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Freshman Kai Wade scored ten of his 17 points in the final quarter as the Panthers improved to 11-5, 3-1 in the Central Carolina Conference. The victory came after a fourth place finish in the Columbia Bracket of the South Granville Holiday Tournament, an event the Panthers easily could have won. South Granville defeated Orange 67-65 in the semifinals, a game Orange led 64-58 with 1:33 remaining. The following day in the 3rd place game, Sanderson defeated Orange 55-54 when Tommy Lyon hit a shot at the buzzer. Against the Spartans, Orange Sophomore Xandrell Pennix scored eleven points. Coleman Cloer scored 25 points to lead Orange against Cedar Ridge. The Panthers will continue its season against Person in Roxboro on Friday night.
Cloer scores 25 as Orange defeats Cedar Ridge 57-47; Taylor dials up 21 for Red Wolves
When a team that regularly plays three freshman loses at the buzzer against a top-10 regional opponent, chances are they’ll learn something from it.
When that same team loses again at the buzzer the very next day, then it’s a crash course.
That’s what happened to the Orange men’s basketball team last week against South Granville (ranked #7 in 2A East Region) and the next day against Sanderson (ranked #4 in 4A East). On Tuesday night, mired in a five-point hole early in the fourth quarter to its crosstown rival, the young Panthers showed they took the lessons painfully delivered to them in Creedmoor and learned them well.
Orange (11-6, 3-1 in the Central Carolina Conference) defeated Cedar Ridge 57-47 at Red Wolves Gymnasium on Tuesday night. The freshman tandem of Coleman Cloer and Kai Wade combined to score all 20 of Orange’s points in the fourth quarter. Cloer finished with 25 points. Wade finished with 17 points, ten in the fourth quarter.
“This was a tough game,” said Orange coach Derryl Britt. “It’s a conference game against a crosstown rival. That can be a tough situation when you have a lot of young players. They haven’t played in a lot of these game and learn how to block out all the noise. Facing Cedar Ridge is a lot to overcome for younger guys. Towards the end of the game, we did what we’ve been trying to get back to which is Kai and Coleman being the closers.”
Cedar Ridge (3-7, 0-3), playing for the first time since December 16, received a huge game from senior Colton Taylor, who scored 21 points.
“Captain Colt is someone everyone on the team rallies around,” said Cedar Ridge head coach Mike Jones. “I didn’t think the whistles evened out in the end, but I’m not one to make excuses. I’m proud of the way our team fought. It would have been nice to play before December 16 and it would have been nice to practice yesterday. We’ll get better with this game.”
In the final minute of the third quarter, Cedar Ridge’s Landon Dalehite drained a three-pointer from the corner to even the game. Jonovan Wingate took a skip pass from Taylor to sink another 3-pointer to give the Red Wolves a 37-34 with :05 remaining. Cloer calmly took the subsequent inbounds pass and sank a 21-footer at the buzzer to even the game going into the fourth quarter.
The Red Wolves bolted out to a 42-37 lead with 6:00 remaining in the fourth quarter. Harrison Perel took a bounce pass from Corin Wingate and laid it in. After Cloer missed a three-pointer, Taylor knocked down a three-pointer.
Orange outscored the Red Wolves 20-5 down the stretch. Freshmen Kai Wade and Coleman Cloer scored all 20 of the Panthers points in the fourth quarter. Cloer drove past Taylor under the basket for a lay-in with 4:55 remaining. After the Red Wolves missed its own lay-up, Cloer dropped in a finger roll to tie the game 42-42.
Perel took a jump pass from Jonovan Wingate and gave the Red Wolves its final lead off a lay-in. Cedar Ridge’s foul trouble caught up with them in the final minutes as Perel, Taylor and Luke Orstad all fouled out. Wade tied the game off two free throws, then the Panthers’ Darius Corbett stole the ensuing inbounds pass, which led to Orstad’s fifth foul. Cloer’s split two free throws to put the Panthers ahead 45-44 with 3:34 remaining.
Wade drew another foul and knocked down two more from the charity stripe to put Orange ahead 47-44. Perel came back with a baseline jumper with 2:27 remaining. Wade went around a screen from fellow freshman Mason Robinson to sink a 15-foot baseline jumper.
After a Cedar Ridge turnover, Wade put the dagger in when he buried a pull-up 15-footer to put Orange ahead 51-44 with 1:06 remaining.
While Cloer and Wade carried the load for Orange in the fourth quarter, the Panthers were more balanced in the first half. Five Panthers scored in the first half. Cedar Ridge’s half-court defense held Orange in check during the second quarter. The Red Wolves scored only five points in the second quarter, all from Taylor, but still trailed by only two points, 20-18, at halftime. Taylor had nine points in the first half.
At one point, Taylor scored seven consecutive Cedar Ridge points from the start of the second quarter to the middle of the third until Luke Orstad scored on a lay-in.
It was the first Orange-Cedar Ridge game for Jones, who was named head coach of the Red Wolves in November. After Britt lost four straight game to Cedar Ridge in 2019-2021, he has now beaten the Red Wolves three straight times.