Cedar Ridge Men’s Basketball

Any time Cedar Ridge sweeps a season-series from Orange, it’s special. When it happens in men’s basketball, it becomes a permanent memory. This year, even though no fans were on hand to witness it, there were two classic wins for the Red Wolves over the Panthers in men’s basketball, which leads to our retro Cedar Ridge Red Wolves of the Week. The honoree for the week of January 10 is senior guard Luke Pagnanelli. And for the week of January 31, it is senior guard Luke Johnson. On January 11, Cedar Ridge fought back from an 18-point deficit with 2:34 remaining in the third quarter, finished regulation on a 24-7 run and beat the Panthers 67-66. Pagnanelli finished with 17 points and five rebounds, including the opening two field goals of overtime to put Cedar Ridge ahead to stay. On February 5 in Hillsborough, Cedar Ridge fought back from an early deficit to beat the Panthers 51-48. Both Pagnanelli and Johnson knocked down pressure free throws in the final minute. Pagnanelli hit two charity tosses to put Cedar Ridge ahead. Johnson knocked down two free throws for the final points of the game. In his final game against Orange, Johnson tied his season-high with 14 points. Next week, both Pagnanelli and Johnson will graduate. Pagnanelli will move to St. Petersburg, Florida to attend a community college. Johnson will head to N.C. State, where he plans to major in Aerospace Engineering. Away from the hardwood, Johnson was a member of Cedar Ridge’s Science Olympiad team, which would have competed in the statewide competition if it wasn’t for the pandemic. Congratulations to two seniors to completed their Cedar Ridge basketball careers with four straight wins over Orange, Luke Pagnanelli and Ian Johnson.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior sprinter A.J. Richmond. Last week during a tri-meet in Northwood last Tuesday, Richmond won the 100 and 200 meters against the Chargers and Orange. Richmond won the 100 meters with a time of 12.14 seconds. In the 200 meters, Richmond finished at 24.24 seconds. He also finished second in the high jump with a leap of 5-feet. Since 2021 started, Richmond hasn’t had very much time off. He was a forward for the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team, which swept the season-series from crosstown rival Orange. That included coming back from 19-point down on January 11 to beat the Panthers 67-66 in overtime. Richmond scored four points in that game. After basketball season ended, Richmond was a starting wide receiver and cornerback for the Cedar Ridge football team under head coach Corey Lea. Next week, Richmond will graduate. He plans to attend a community college this fall and start looking into a career with computer repair. Richmond is the son of Andre Richmond, a former Orange High football player who is now a deputy with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. Richmond will continue track and field season on Thursday with a meet at Dave Thaden Stadium at East Chapel Hill.

Another travesty in a long line of injustices created by the pandemic was that it robbed Cedar Ridge senior guard Luke Pagnanelli of his senior night.

As a sophomore, Pagnanelli endured a 1-23 season. Two years later, the Red Wolves swept crosstown rival Orange and was competitive against Northwood, who were merely go on to play in the 3A State Championship game.

Cedar Ridge was supposed to honor Pagnanelli, James Ragland, Ian Johnson, Samuel Garabee, A.J. Richmond and Grady Ray during a Senior Night game against Southern Durham on February 19. Sadly, that game never came to fruition because the Red Wolves wound up in quarantine for the final week of the season. Its final two games against Southern and Vance County were canceled.

Even with a smaller crowd, the Cedar Ridge seniors deserved their night to go out on after staying dedicated to the program for four years. On Monday, Pagnanelli got some consolation when he was named to the All-Big 8 Conference team.

Orange High junior guard Jerec Thompson and senior forward Jason Franklin were also named to the All-Big 8 team.

Pagnanelli saved his best moments in clutch wins over Orange and Northern Durham. On February 5, Pagnanelli sank two free throws with 1:09 after he stole the ball from Orange in the open court and was fouled in transition. Those were his only free throws of the game and they turned out to be the game-winning points. Pagnanelli finished with 22.

The only thing more clutch than Pagnanelli’s second game against Orange in 2021 may have been his first.

On January 11, Cedar Ridge trailed 49-31 with 2:34 remaining in the third quarter, but stormed back to win 67-66 in overtime, thanks to a 24-7 run to finish regulation. Pagnanelli scored the opening two field goals in overtime and finished with 17 points and five rebounds.

Four days later, it what turned out to be his final home game, Pagnanelli scored 22 points as the Red Wolves held on to defeat Northern Durham 55-52. Pagnanelli shot 7-of-13 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range.

Franklin was a four-year varsity player for the Panthers who played regularly as a freshmen. On February 6, Franklin led Orange with 13 points in a 35-32 overtime win over East Chapel Hill, who captured the Big 8 Conference Championship. Franklin scored on a lay-in with 2:59 remaining in overtime to put Orange ahead for good. Franklin helped Orange battle back from a 29-22 deficit with a 3-pointer late in regulation to give the Panthers the lead.

Franklin opened the season by scoring 20 points each in games against East Chapel Hill, Cedar Ridge and Northwood. He had a season-high 24 points against Vance County on February 6, which was the Panthers’ first win of the season.

Franklin, who also plays on the Orange men’s soccer team, was one of two seniors on the team, along with Kyle Stanley.

Thompson was a reliable sharp shooting guard who was capable of giving Orange big leads early if he was hot. In early February, the Panthers played three games in three days, and built double digit leads in the first half of each of them.

But his best performance came at Vance County.

In a 65-62 victory in Henderson, Thompson scored 16 points in the opening quarter, 23 in the first half and wound up with a career-high 32. He scored 16 of Orange’s first 18 points against the Vipers. Thompson also had 23 points in a 72-58 loss to Chapel Hill on January 20.

Cedar Ridge’s Neco Clark and Ian Johnson were named honorable mention All-Big 8. Clark scored 19 points in the Red Wolves victory over Orange on January 11. Johnson had a season-high 14 points against Orange in the Red Wolves’ victory at Orange.

Orange point guard J.J. Thompson was also named honorable mention. Thompson started the season by scoring a season-high 12 points at East Chapel Hill. As a point guard on a team that usually suited up just eight players, Thompson often played 30 minutes a night, at least.

East Chapel Hill’s Will Tyndall was name the Big 8 Player of the Year.

East Chapel Hill’s Ray Hartsfield, in his 24th season as head coach of the Wildcats, was named Big 8 Coach of the Year. Hartsfield led East Chapel Hill to the Big 8 title after going three consecutive seasons with a losing record.

Northwood, who was among the last teams to make the 3A State Playoffs yet won the Eastern Regional Championship, was honored with the sportsmanship award.

It was another strong game for Cedar Ridge sophomore Neco Clark in the Red Wolves’ 55-52 win over Northern Durham on Tuesday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Clark led Cedar Ridge with 19 points, which tied his career-high. Clark shot 7-of-10 from the field. On January 11, Clark also had 19 points in a win over crosstown rival Orange. It was the fourth time this year that Clark finished in double figures. Last week, Clark had 17 against Chapel Hill. The Tigers came away with a 61-47 win at Cedar Ridge, but the Red Wolves will have a rematch on Wednesday night. Cedar Ridge will face the Tigers at Smith Middle School. Cedar Ridge is 5-5, its best start in four years.

For the first time since 2016, the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team is at .500 after eight game in a season. The Red Wolves defeated Northern Durham 55-52 on Tuesday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Sophomore forward Johntez Raspberry had a strong floor game with five points, four rebounds and four assists. Cedar Ridge completed a season sweep of the Knights. On January 15, Cedar Ridge defeated Northern Durham 49-34, a game where Raspberry had a season-high seven points, along with six rebounds and three blocks. The Red Wolves carried the momentum from Friday’s win over Orange and are now 4-4 on the season, 2-3 in the Big 8 Conference. Cedar Ridge will travel to Chapel Hill on Wednesday night for a rematch against the Tigers. Last week, Chapel Hill defeated the Red Wolves in Hillsborough.

Cedar Ridge senior guard Ian Johnson knocked down four pressure free throws in the final minute against Orange. With Cedar Ridge trailing 48-47, Luke Pagnanelli stole the ball away from the Panthers, leading to Johnson getting fouled. Johnson sank the two game-winning free throws. After Orange missed a chance to take the lead, Johnson extended the Red Wolves’ lead to 51-48 with two more charity tosses. Johnson finished with 15 points as the Red Wolves defeated their crosstown rivals for the fourth straight time. Johnson scored nine points in the fourth quarter and was one of three Cedar Ridge players in double figures.

At this time two years ago, the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team was counting the days to a merciful end of an interminable 1-23 season.

The sophomores on that team included Ian Johnson, Luke Pagnanelli, Grady Ray and Sam Garbee. On February 1, 2019, they lost to Orange 74-49 inside Panther Gymnasium. It was their eighth loss to the Panthers in the last nine meetings.

If you had told any of those players it would be their last loss against Orange ever, you probably have gotten some strange looks and perhaps even laughter.

But the atmosphere around Cedar Ridge men’s basketball has changed and the balance of basketball power across Hillsborough has undeniably shifted to the west end of town.

The Red Wolves defeated the Panthers 51-48 on Friday night at Orange Gymnasium. It was Cedar Ridge’s fourth consecutive win over Orange. Pagnanelli sank two free throws with 1:09 remaining after he stole the ball from Orange in the open court and was fouled in transition.

It was Pagnanelli’s only free throws of the game.

“It was my last game against Orange,” Pagnanelli said. “We just had to come out firing early. They started falling.”

In a frantic final minute, Orange’s Jason Franklin missed a one-handed runner, which was rebounded by Johntez Raspberry. Cedar Ridge’s Neco Clark, with Cedar Ridge leading 49-48, missed a shot, which was rebounded by Devin Corbett with 15.9 seconds remaining. Orange’s Jerec Thompson missed a 3-pointer, leading to Johnson canning two free throws for the margin of victory.

“At the end of practice, Coach Brooks makes us shoot free throws,” Johnson said. “I get a little competitive with Garrett Ray because we typically compete in free throw contests at the end of practice. He usually beats me, but I got them to go in tonight.”

Orange’s final points came off a 15-footer by Thompson with 3:53 remaining.

The Panthers missed a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer. Orange, which is now 0-6, last won a game against Northern Durham on February 14, 2020.

Thompson led orange with 23 points. It was Orange’s second game in two days. On Thursday, the Panthers led by as many as 15 points against Southern Durham (and by 12 at the half) before falling 64-52. Franklin scored 24 against the Spartans, but was held to six against the Red Wolves.

Cedar Ridge (3-5) will host Northern Durham on Tuesday. With only the initial meetings between league rivals being counted as conference games this year, Cedar Ridge has two conference games remaining against Southern Durham and Vance County. They can play as many as six more games, but Friday’s game against Orange will be the last time they see their crosstown rivals this season.

Jerec Thompson flat-out shot Orange into a double-digit lead early. Thompson scored 15 of Orange’s first 19 points as the Panthers led 19-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Franklin opened the second quarter with two free throws, followed by a three-pointer by Ryan Moss, which pushed the Orange lead to 24-12.

It was reminiscent of the first matchup between the two teams on January 11, when Orange built a 19-point lead, only to have the Red Wolves charge back to win in overtime.

This time, Cedar Ridge erased the 12-point deficit before halftime. It started when Johnson sank a three-pointer, followed by another from Pagnanelli that forced an Orange time out. Pagnanelli knocked down two more field goals, and a three-pointer from Clark pushed Cedar Ridge ahead 28-27 at the half.

With the scored tied going into the fourth quarter, Jerec Thompson knocked down a three-pointer to put Orange in the lead, which was followed by another trey from J.J. Thompson.

“I was nervous, but I knew we could come back,” Pagnanelli said. “We came back on them the last time. We have a good team and I thought we were going to win it down the stretch.”

Not to be outdone, Cedar Ridge tied the game with consecutive three-pointers from Pagnanelli and Johnson to even the game at 46.

It is the longest winning streak Cedar Ridge has ever had against Orange in the history of the rivalry, which started in 2002.

Orange will play its final Big 8 Conference game against Vance County on Saturday, its third game in three days.

CEDAR RIDGE 51, ORANGE 48

CEDAR RIDGE: Ian Johnson 14, Luke Pagnanelli 22, Neco Clark 10, Garrett Ray 3, A.J. Richmond 2.

ORANGE: Jerec Thompson 23, J.J. Thompson 6, Jason Franklin 6, Kyle Stanley 2, Hunter Birch 5, Ryan Moss 5, Devin Corbett 1.

In 2019, it would be hard to imagine the Cedar Ridge Red Wolves beating crosstown rival Orange four consecutive times. But that’s exactly what’s happened since Jaison Brooks became the head coach of the Red Wolves in the summer of 2019. On Friday night, Cedar Ridge swept the season series from Orange, beating the Panthers 51-48 at Orange High Gymnasium. Senior guard Luke Pagnanelli led Cedar Ridge with 22 points, including five three-pointers. Friday’s win was especially sweet for Pagnanelli, who was a member of the 2018-2019 Cedar Ridge team that won one game the whole season. After the Red Wolves third win of the season, Cedar Ridge will host Northern Durham on Tuesday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium.