Against a Chatham Central team that arrived into Hillsborough with an 8-2 record, the Cedar Ridge women’s team had young players came through in the clutch to deliver its biggest win of the season.
Junior Jamee Watson hit two free throws with 54 seconds remaining to put the Red Wolves ahead while sophomore Esther Mwirinzi added two insurance points in the final seconds to lift Cedar Ridge over Chatham Central 36-33 on Wednesday night at Red Wolf Gymnasium. In a time game where neither team led by more than six points, free throws proved to make the difference. Cedar Ridge was 6-of-9 from the stripe in the fourth quarter while the Bears were 4-of-8.
Watson led Cedar Ridge with eight points while freshman Elliott Weisenfeld added seven.
Chatham Central (8-3) was led by Karaleigh Dodson, who finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. With 2:10 remaining in regulation, Dodson hit two free throws to tie the game at 32-32. The Bears, who had 13 offensive rebounds, took the lead with 1:29 remaining after Dodson sank a free throw with 1:29 remaining to conclude a trip where Central grabbed three offensive rebounds.
With 5:54 left in regulation, Dodson tied the game off a strip and steal and scored in transition. Cedar Ridge freshman Kennedi Fearrington drained a short jumper while getting fouled by Central’s Sydney Scott. Dodson found Addison Goldston to tie the game at 30-30.
Cedar Ridge’s Kate Finnegan put the Red Wolves ahead 32-30 on a breakaway layup off a pass from Ava Smith with 3:58 remaining.
Chatham Central led 9-5, then Cedar Ridge went on an 8-0 run in the second quarter. Mwirinizi drained a 3-pointer off a pass from freshman Kassidy Tolliver. Mwirinzi threw to Watson for another 3-pointer to give the Red Wolves its first lead since its was 2-0. Tolliver scored a three-point play to conclude the first half after getting fouled to send the Red Wolves into the locker room with a 16-12 lead.
Orange 62, Person 36: The Lady Panthers outscored the Rockets 21-6 in the second quarter to beat the Rockets for the eighth straight time.
Two day after scoring her 1,000 career point, Orange forward Evelyn George led the Lady Panthers with 19 points and nine rebounds. Orange claimed its third straight win.
Orange senior Shannon Murphy added 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field. She knocked down 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
The Lady Panthers forced 35 turnovers and had 21 steals. George, McMurtry and Kyla Mehl each had four steals each. Orange improved to 8-6 overall.
Person led 14-13 at the end of the first quarter because of 7-of-15 shooting from the field. Ava Mandizha opened the game with a field goal and Nayahana Marner added all six of her points in the first quarter. The Lady Panthers took its first lead of the game when Evelyn George scored on a short jumper off a pass from Mehl.
Orange outscored Person 21-6 in the second quarter and didn’t look back. The Lady Panthers shot 9-of-11 from the field in the second quarter and forced 12 turnovers to turn the game into a rout. After Marshea Byrd’s lay-in assisted by Mehl, Orange kept its lead in double-figures for the rest of the game.
Orange’s lead grew to 31 points in the second half. Midway through the third quarter, Murphy and George combined to hit three straight 3-pointers as the lead stayed about 20 points for the rest of the game.
Bryce Jones scored a late field goal for Orange
Nayahana Marner and Destyni Harris each had seven points to lead the Rockets. Person falls to 7-7, 2-1 in the Central Conference.
Person’s last win over the Lady Panthers was on December 17, 2013.
Orange will travel to Durham Academy for a game that will tipoff at 6PM. Orange returns to Central Conference play against Southern Alamance on Tuesday night in Graham.