Month: January 2024

The Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team is in position to reach the 3A State Playoffs for the first time since 2018. The Red Wolves are 9-6 as they prepare to face Walter Williams in Burlington on Friday night. The Red Wolves defeated crosstown rival Orange last Wednesday behind 35 points from Amiyah Ware, which was the most points any player from Orange County has scored so far this year, regardless of gender. Last Monday, the Red Wolves defeated Chatham Central 46-35 at Red Wolves Gymnasium in its final nonconfernce game of the regular season. Ware led the Red Wolves with 17 points. Freshman Calla Lundberg, who was called up from the junior varsity team last month, chipped in with nine points as the Red Wolves reached nine wins in a season for the first time in six years. Lundberg and Kate Finnegan were both moved up to varsity before Christmas and have provided an immediate contribution. Cedar Ridge is only one game behind Orange, Western Alamance and Eastern Alamance for first place in the Central Conference as the second half of the conference campaign starts next week. Ware, who signed to play with Division II North Greenville, is having another All-Conference season. She scored 24 points in a loss to Eastern Alamance on Friday.

Two prominent members of the Orange lacrosse team signed were part of a massive signing day last month. Long stick midfielder Alden Cathey signed with Division III Arcadia University in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Midfielder Josh Crabtree signed with Division III Methodist University in Fayetteville. Cathey has been a prominent part of three conference championships for Orange since he joined the lacrosse team as a freshman, which was the pandemic year of 2020. Orange won the Conference 9 Championship and reached the state quarterfinals in the 3A/2A/1A State Playoffs. Last season, Cathey was third on the team with 78 ground balls as the Panthers went undefeated in Mid-Carolina Conference play. For the second year in a row, the Panthers hosted the 3A/2A/1A Eastern Regional championship game. Cathey has also qualified for the 3A State Cross Country championship meet in men’s cross country twice and has won two Mideast Regional championships with the Panthers. Crabtree scored the first goal of the regional championship game against Northwood last season. In 2023, Crabtree scored 20 goals and 32 points. Crabtree scored five goals in the state playoffs. On March 14, Crabtree had a hat trick in a 15-0 win over Cedar Ridge. On March 17, he had another hat trick against Seaforth as the Panthers prevailed 18-5. Crabtree has been a member of the varsity team for three years. As a sophomore, Crabtree registered 18 goals. That included another hat trick against Cedar Ridge on march 15, 2022, which Orange won 11-9. Cathey and Crabtree will be in uniform again next month when Orange starts its season against Apex on February 26 at Auman Stadium in Hillsborough.

Though the Orange men’s and women’s swimming teams will celebrate its Senior Night at the Orange County Sportsplex, there won’t be much in the way of finality for the five seniors.

Next Wednesday, the Sportsplex will host the Central Conference Championship meet, which will give Katie Bells Sikes, Riley White, Harper Trost, Dylan Cowan and Ben Sirgany a chance to bid a proper farewell.

Last week, Sikes added another mark to her lengthy resume when she set the school record for the 100 meter butterfly, completing the course in 56.40 seconds. She broke the previous record that had stood since 2011. Sikes won in a meet against Chapel Hill, Jordan and Northern Durham at the Homestead Aquatic Center in Chapel Hill.

In the men’s meets, Chapel Hill edged Orange 123-118. Jordan defeated Orange 159-103. The Panthers won over Northern Durham 155-86.

In the women’s meets, Orange defeated Northern Durham 153-57. Chapel Hill held off Orange 159-98. Jordan defeated Orange 165-100.

Sikes also won the 100 yard backstroke, touching the wall at 1:00.69. For the second year in a row, Sikes has qualified for regionals in all individual events. She will be allowed to compete in only two of them, most likely the 50 yard and 100 yard freestyle. She is the defending 3A State Champion in both events, winning the 50 yard freestyle in 2022 and 2023.

In addition, sophomore Piper White set her best time of the season in the 100 yard freestyle. She qualified for regionals when she touched the wall at 58.90 seconds, good enough for a fourth place finish.

Orange’s women’s relay team of Sikes, White, Riley White and Ainsley Rasinske, who won the 3A State Championship in the 200 freestyle relay last year, finished first once again at 1:54.69. Jordan’s team came in second at 1:57.36.

Sikes, White, White and Rasinske also won the 200 yard medley relay with a time of 1:45.38.

Riley White qualified for regionals in the 500 yard freestyle with a season-best time of 5:39.76, finishing third. She also qualified for regionals in the 100 yard breaststroke at 1:13:04, just finishing behind the winner, Chapel Hill’s Alena Volpe (1:12.45).

Orange junior Alex Andre qualified for regionals in two events. In the 200 yard freestyle, Andre finished at 1:51.05, finishing third overall. Andre also registered a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly at 56.25 seconds, third overall. Northern Durham’s Chris Erickson finished first at 53.84 seconds.

Sirgany also qualified for regionals in the 200 individual medley, finishing third at 2:27.50. Orange junior Luke Roman, who has already qualified for regionals in the 200 IM, came in second.

On January 4, Orange defeated Walter Williams at New Millennium Fitness Center in Mebane. The Orange men won 123-20, while the women won over the Bulldogs 85-36.

Among the highlights for the men was Alex Andre automatically qualifying for the 200 individual medley. Andre also teamed with Roman, Nick Baczara and Noah Jones to win the 200 yard medley relay at 1:57.98, which earned them a trip to regionals at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

Roman, who finished in the top eight in the state championships in the 500 yard freestyle last year, won the 50 yard freestyle at 24.39 seconds. It was the first time that Roman earned a spot in regionals for the 50 freestyle. Roman also won the 100 yard breaststroke.

In the women’s meet, Zoe Jones won the 200 yard freestyle at 2:18.34. Jones also earned a spot in regionals in the 100 yard butterfly with a time of 1:11.66, finishing only behind Sikes.

Piper White also qualified for regionals in the 50 yard freestyle, winning the event at 27.15 seconds.

In the 500 yard freestyle, Nick Baczara won the event, touching the wall at 5:52.59. Ayden Twiddy of Orange finished second.

Following the conference championships on January 24, the Central Regional Championships will be held on February 3 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center, where Orange raced last month during the Robert Sawyer Invitational. The State Championships will be held on Thursday, February 8 at the Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary.

Last year, Sikes was named the Most Outstanding Swimmer of the 3A State Championships after winning two individual state championships, along with a relay state title with White, Rasinske and White.

Last month, Orange senior Ryan Honeycutt formally signed to play baseball at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University. Over the past two years, Honeycutt has been a steady presence for Orange’s baseball and basketball teams. Last year, Honeycutt alternated between catcher and designated hitter for an Orange team that won its third straight Central Conference championship. They reached the state quarterfinals and won 25 games, the most by any Orange team since 2013, when they won 27 games. Last season, Honeycutt hit .304 with one home run and 14 RBIs. Honeycutt hit his home run in a 12-2 win over Cedar Ridge. Honeycutt also went 3-for-4 in the Central Conference Tournament championship game against Walter Williams, which Orange won 9-4. Honeycutt also had an RBI single in the third round of the State Playoffs against Cape Fear, where the Panthers scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back en route to the state quarterfinals. Honeycutt has also been the starting center for the past two years for the Orange basketball team. He has had five double-doubles this season. In the opener against Hillside, Honeycutt had ten points and 13 rebounds as the Panthers defeated Hillside. Last week against Cedar Ridge, Honeycutt had ten points and ten rebounds in an 82-54 Orange win. In two years with the varsity baseball team, Honeycutt has won two conference championships. Now, he’s gunning for one on the hardwood. Orange men’s basketball will resume its season against Eastern Alamance on Tuesday in Hillsborough. 

There’s been plenty of milestones around the Cedar Ridge wrestling program recently.

Senior Kaden Tatro is on the verge of breaking the school’s all-time record for wins in program history.

Last week, junior Pierce Prescod won his 100th career match, becoming the seventh wrestler in school history to surpass the century mark.

Yet Prescod is the third Cedar Ridge wrestler in the past three years to win 100 matches, joining Tatro and Fernando Martinez, who is now redshirting as a freshman at Division II UNC Pembroke.

When you consider that Cedar Ridge went 16 years without a 100-win wrestler, it tells you all you need to know about how much depth has arrived within the program under the direction of head coach Scott Metcalf since the pandemic.

Last week, the surest sign came on Senior Night when the Red Wolves celebrated an undefeated Central Conference season by beating Walter Williams 69-9 on January 10 at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Cedar Ridge wrapped up its first Central Conference regular season championship.

It is Cedar Ridge’s second regular season conference championship in wrestling and its first at the 3A level. The other league title came in 2010, when the Red Wolves were a 2A team competing in the Mid-State Conference. With the title, Cedar Ridge automatically gains a spot in the State Dual Team Tournament, which was a point of emphasis for Metcalf.

Last year, Cedar Ridge won the Central Conference Tournament at Orange High School, the first sign of what was ahead in 2024. But the Red Wolves lost dual matches to Orange (the conference regular season champion) and Person, leaving them out of the field of 32.

The Red Wolves officially clinched the title with a 48-21 victory over Western Alamance on January 3 in Hillsborough. Fittingly, senior James Este-Wittinger won the match that sewed up the conference title for the Red Wolves. Este-Wittiner, who qualified for the state championships last year, earned a 6-5 decision over Cameron Pettigrew at 215 pounds to put the Red Wolves ahead 45-15, which proved insurmountable.

Earlier in the night, Prescod, Nathan Vendura, Graylon Collins and Shea Spiller all earned pinfall victories for the Red Wolves. Cedar Ridge’s Alejandro Briones defeated Jaxon Poole 8-6 at 144 pounds to improve Cedar Ridge’s lead to 21-6. Tatro held off Zeke May 6-0 at 175 pounds. Favio Jaramillo Esparza pinned Toriana Murphy at 106 pounds later in the night, while Luis DonJuan won at heavyweight over Evan Hensley of Western Alamance 8-1.

In addition to its victory over Williams on January 10, the Red Wolves defeated Southeast Alamance 71-9 and East Chapel Hill 53-27 to close out the quad meet on its senior night.

Tatro earned his 150th win with three technical fall victories. He defeated Sawyer Marshall of Williams, Holden Noble of East Chapel Hill and Nichols Saounders of Southeast Alamance. In addition, Tatro picked up two more wins during the Chapel Hill quad at Chapel Hill High School last Friday. Tatro got another technical fall win over Sergio Hewitt of Chapel Hill, then pinned Mohammed Jatta of Millbrook. Tatro is now at 152 career wins. The school record is held by Chandler Collins, who finished with 166 victories from 2003-2007.

Tatro is 43-4 with 20 pins and 15 technical falls this season.

Another emerging star is heavyweight Aaron Olivares, who has pinned his last seven opponents. Olivares earned victories over Chris Mellon of Williams, Landen Hill of Southeast Alamance and Stephen Halsey of East Chapel Hill on senior night. He is 23-16 with 18 pins this season.

Prescod, competing at 120 pounds, won all three of his matches on Senior Night. Prescod earned career win #100 with a pin of Henry Parnell of East Chapel Hill. Over the weekend, Prescod pinned Owen Rector of Chapel Hill and Kyle Amose of Millbrook to improve to 39-9 this season with 29 pins.

Junior Ryan Rakouskas has won five straight matches going into this weekend’s Central Conference Tournament. Rakouskas pinned Gabriel Waterhouse of Chapel Hill and John Burch of Millbrook to improve to 28-10 with 23 pins. Rakousaks also qualified for the state championships last year.

Orange 56, Reidsville 36: Evelyn George finished with 22 points as was named the Most Valuable Player of the Martin Luther King Invitational at Reidsville High School as Orange defeated the Rams on Saturday. George also had seven steals and five rebounds.

Orange improved to 10-5. Sophomore point guard Maura McMurtry added 15 points, five assists and five rebounds.

Shannon Murphy finished with seven points and eight rebounds as Orange won its second game in less that 24 hours.

Orange 53, Person 25: Defense led the Orange women to its fifth straight win over Person. The Lady Panthers registered 24 steals, led by McMurtry with seven thefts, while holding the Rockets to one field goal in the second quarter.

McMurtry paced Orange with eleven points and seven steals. George posted ten points, five rebounds, six steals and two blocks as Orange went into exam break tied with Western Alamance and Eastern Alamance for first place in the Central Conference with a 4-1 record.

Cassie Jay paced the Rockets with 13 points, but Person was plagued with 32 turnovers. Jay hit a jumper to put the Rockets up 7-6 with 3:21 remaining in the first quarter, but Orange went on a 7-0 run to take the lead for good. Murphy scored off a steal from center Marshea Byrd to start the spurt, which was capped by a three-pointer from George off a feed from McMurtry.

Orange guard Natalie Roberson finished with a career-high seven points, including a three-pointer off a pass from Murphy to put Orange ahead 20-9. Alexis Stephens, in her first start, scored off a stickleback basket. Jay scored Person’s only field goal of the second quarter with 41 seconds remaining, but Marshea Byrd scored off a lay-in off a pass from George to put Orange ahead 27-11 at halftime. Orange shot 7-of-12 from the field in the third quarter.

Orange sophomore Addie Atkins, who finished with seven points, scored off a three-pointer early in the third quarter off a pass from McMurtry.

Orange will return home to face Eastern Alamance on Tuesday. The Panthers defeated the Eagles in the seventh place game of the Southeast Alamance Holiday Hoops Invitational on December 30 in Haw River.

Eastern Alamance 39, Cedar Ridge 35:  In a showdown for first place in the Central Conference, the Eagles used its size to defeat Cedar Ridge in Hillsborough.

Aliya Trollinger hit a free throw with 1:34 remaining in regulation to put the Eagles ahead for good. Moments earlier, Cedar Ridge freshman Calla Lundberg tied the game with a three-pointer to tie the game with 1:39 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Cedar Ridge guard Amiyah Ware paced the Red Wolves with 24 points. The Red Wolves were fighting uphill the entire night after the Eagles stormed out to a 16-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Ayanna Garner paced the Eagles with ten points. Center Makayla Thompson finished with nine points and 16 rebounds as the Eagles maintained its share of first place in the league.

Eastern Alamance out rebounded the Red Wolves 54-45. Cedar Ridge still grabbed 16 offensive rebounds. The Eagles took an 18-8 lead after Thompson scored off a pass from Trollinger with 5:07 remaining in the first half. The Red Wolves cut its deficit to 18-16 after Ware hit consecutive 3-pointers to end the first half.

The Red Wolves built a 26-22 lead late in the third quarter after a 3-pointer from Ware off a skip pass from Utley, who finished with four assists and 14 rebounds. Freshman Kate Finnegan scored a bank shot to give the Red Wolves’ its largest advantage, but Thompson scored on an old fashioned three-point play while getting fouled by Ware.

Ware scored on a lay-in to give the Red Wolves its last lead at 28-26 with 6:19 remaining in regulation. Trollinger tied the game with a field goal off an offensive rebound, and Nicole Hester put the Eagles ahead on a transition bucket assisted by Garner.

Cedar Ridge will travel to Walter Williams on Friday night for a doubleheader.

Photo by Carly Williams 

Two minutes and ten seconds.

For the past three years, the Person Rockets have been the ones asking questions and the Orange Panthers were stuck trying to answer them. Too often, the Rockets size, speed, range and experience would riddle the Panthers into submission.

Until late on Friday night when Orange found the answer….which was two minutes and ten seconds.

A possession that Orange may have never had before and, with a shot clock inevitably on the horizon in North Carolina high school basketball, may never have again. But it led to the Panthers’ first win over Person since 2014.

Orange led 60-56 with 2:43 remaining in regulation when coach Derryl Britt called timeout. Up to that point, Orange and Person had played at a consistent pace which led to sloppiness as the stakes got higher and the minutes fading away. Orange’s Xandrell Pennix had just thrown the ball away that was stolen by Person’s DaeJon Hodge, who immediately turned it right back over when he threw a pass to Lance Clarke that went to the Orange cheerleaders instead.

Britt preached patience to his team in the huddle.

“I told them they weren’t expecting us to run clock here,” Britt said. “And we’re not going to help them by forcing our offense.”

So Kai Wade, Coleman Cloer, Freddy Sneed, Pennix and Malachi Poole (who substituted in for center Ryan Honeycutt) succeeded in gradually taking the life out of Person’s chances. When Orange started the possession, Person’s top scorer, Lance Clarke, had two fouls. Then he picked up his third and fourth fouls defending Cloer.

With 1:18 remaining, Pennix threw a pass out of the right corner to Cloer, who hit Wade on the wing. Wade found an opening in the paint, but stumbled over Clarke’s foot. The whistle and foul on Clarke was his fifth.

And with that, Britt’s plan to suck the life out of the Rockets worked to perfection.

Person simply didn’t have another offensive weapon to rely on and didn’t score in the final 3:43 aside from a meaningless field goal from Hodge in the waning seconds. Cloer drained three key free throws as Orange won 63-58.

Cloer led Orange with 27 points. But the X-factor, pardon the pun, was Xandrell Pennix, who scored 17 points off 5-of-12 shooting from 3-point range. It was the first time in five career games against Person that Pennix finished in double-figures.

Wade finished with eleven points and nine assists.

Clarke led Person with 22 points off 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. Hodge was the only other Rocket in double-figures with 12 points.

The win kept Orange tied with Eastern Alamance for first place in the loss column in the Central Conference at 5-0. Person (9-5, 0-3) dropped its fourth straight.

Any Orange win over Person comes the hard way. Friday night was no different. After Orange took home wire-to-wire wins in its opening three games of 2024, they never led in the first half. Person stormed out to a 10-3 lead, behind three-pointers from Clarke and Jordan Lunsford. Pennix drained his first three-pointer off a pass from Cloer, but the Rockets’ C.J. Hunt canceled that out with his own shot from downtown that kicked around the iron three times before dropping in, leading to plenty of rolling eyes along the Orange bench.

The Rockets extended its lead to 26-16 following a three-pointer from Quante Bowman, his only field goal, with 5;57 remaining in the second quarter. Wade started a late Orange run with his own basket from beyond the arc, then moved the Panthers to 26-23 after a lay-in. Clarke and Hodge each sank shots in the final minute of the first half to send Person to the locker room with a 35-30 lead.

Clark and Lunsford extended Person’s lead to 39-30 to open the second half, but Orange’s defense settled in for the remainder of the game. Person hit six 3-pointers in the first half, but were limited to only two in the second.

Cloer went on a personal 7-0 run to move the Panthers within 39-37. After consecutive 3-pointers from Pennix, Cloer hit a free-throw with 2:07 remaining in the third quarter to tie the game for the first time. Following a free throw by Bowman, Wade stole the ball from Hodge and fed Cloer down the floor, who flushed the ball down with one-hand to give the Panthers its first lead of the game.

The game was tied 48-48 going into the fourth quarter. Cloer opened the frame with a 20-footer where he wound up on his back. Person’s Lamont Johnson came back with a stickleback field goal, but Pennix responded with another three-pointer. Clark came back with his own trey, followed by a lay-in from Lunsford to give the Rockets the lead by one.

Pennix drained another big shot off a pass from Cloer to put Orange ahead 57-55, and the Rockets went the subsequent 5:31 without a field goal.

Orange’s last home win over Person was on December 4, 2013, though Person has played inside Panthers Gymnasium only three times since then.

Photo by Carly Williams

There’s something to be said for a grinding, proud team that plays hard for its coach regardless of the opposition. That’s what Cedar Ridge men’s basketball is right now.

If a program is lucky, once every 10-15 years it finds itself with a player or two that collects multiple Division I college offers and shows why every night they step onto the floor.

That’s Orange basketball right now.

The differences stood out on Wednesday night.

Orange led by as many as 31 points against its crosstown rival and defeated Cedar Ridge 82-53 at Panthers Gymnasium. Sophomore point guard Kai Wade and forward Coleman Cloer each finished with 18 points while junior Xandrell Pennix added 16 as the Panthers defeated the Red Wolves for the sixth straight time.

Junior Braeden Wilbourn led the Red Wolves with 15 points while senior center Harrison Perel added 13 points and nine rebounds.

Since the start of 2024, Orange has won three straight Central Conference games by an average of 34 points and haven’t trailed at any point. The Panthers (5-10, 4-0 in the Central Conference) are tied with Eastern Alamance in the loss column for first place in league play.

Through a twist of fate on scheduling, Orange is facing its crosstown rival and its Highway 57 rival in the same way. After dispatching of Cedar Ridge, the Panthers will face Person tonight in Hillsborough on two days rest.

The Rockets have beaten the Panthers five straight times, including three last year. The Panthers last win over the Rockets came on December 15, 2014.

“We’re on a mission,” said Orange coach Derryl Britt. “We’re focused on the big picture. We’re trying to win these individual games one at a time, but we’re on a team mission and a team goal. That is if we beat everybody in the conference the first time around, I believe that half of the conference is going to beat each other up. That would make it extremely difficult for anybody to catch us.”

Orange junior Xandrell Pennix opened the game with seven points in the first quarter, the hottest in a line of hot hands for the Panthers. Orange had four three-pointers in the first quarter, which included treys from Cloer, Wade and Keaton Westbrook. The Panthers shot 8-of-11 from the field in the opening stanza to take a 20-11 lead.

The Panthers had 26 points in the second quarter and built a 46-21 halftime lead. Orange center Ryan Honeycutt finished with ten points and eleven rebounds, his fifth double-double of the season.

Orange finished with 44% shooting from the field and out rebounded the Red Wolves 50-39, including 19 offensive rebounds.

Pennix opened the second half with a three-pointer, which started a highlight show that delighted the packed Orange student section, most of whom were adorned in white t-shirts. Pennix stole the subsequent inbounds pass and threw a off-the-backboard ally-oop to Cloer, which flushed it down with a reverse dunk to send the home side of the gymnasium into a frenzy.

Orange built its lead to 61-27 after another 3-pointer from Pennix with 4:10 remaining in the third quarter. Perel triggered a comeback that got the Red Wolves within 65-44 with 7:01 left in the fourth quarter. Perel scored eleven of his 13 points in the second half. Freshman Jordan Jacobson, who scored the game-winning basket against Chatham Central on Monday night in overtime, scored ten points for the Red Wolves.

Orange’s Hector Garrido came off the bench to score seven points and grab four rebounds. Michael Clark, who played as a freshman on the varsity two years ago, chipped in six points and grabbed six rebounds in garbage time.

Cedar Ridge will return home to face Eastern Alamance tonight in Hillsborough at Red Wolves Gymnasium.