Cedar Ridge High School

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is senior basketball forward K.J. Barnes. On Tuesday night, Barnes scored eleven points as the Red Wolves defeated Orange 66-55 for its first win at Panther Gymnasium since 2015. Barnes has starred on the basketball floor and the gridiron for years. In October, he scored the game-winning 2-point conversion in Cedar Ridge’s victory over Chapel Hill in football. This season, Barnes has played an instrumental role as Cedar Ridge has surpassed its win total from all of last season. In his junior season, K.J. didn’t have a varsity football team to play on when the Red Wolves didn’t field a team, but he remained at Cedar Ridge. On Tuesday night, his wait paid off with a hard earned win over a crosstown rival. K.J. Barnes and the rest of the Red Wolves return to action on Friday night when Cedar Ridge hosts Northern Durham.

Entering Tuesday night, Cedar Ridge coaches, players and fans had done a lot of waiting.

Red Wolves Coach Jaison Brooks was just itching to play a game.

It had been 21 days since his Cedar Ridge Red Wolves had taken the floor in a 70-42 loss to Northwood in Pittsboro.

For Cedar Ridge players, they just wanted to beat an Orange team that, just three weeks ago, was 7-1.

Many of them had struggled through a 1-23 season last year. And the year before that, they were 4-20.

None of the Cedar Ridge players were in high school the last time the Red Wolves won at Orange. On January 20, 2015, Payton Pappas hit a 15-footer with one second remaining to give the Red Wolves a 63-61 victory over the Panthers.

They aren’t waiting anymore.

Cedar Ridge outscored Orange 27-10 in the fourth quarter, shooting 11-of-13 from the field in the final eight minutes, to topple Orange 66-55 at a packed Panther Gymnasium on Tuesday night. Mekai Collins, who led Orange in scoring last season, paced the Red Wolves with 29 points.

Cedar Ridge (3-8, 1-2 in the Big 8 Conference) ended a 24-game Big 8 Conference losing streak. The last time the Red Wolves won a Big 8 Conference game, it was January 26, 2017, when they defeated Orange 55-38 at Red Wolves Gymnasium. That was also Cedar Ridge’s last victory over its crosstown rivals before Tuesday.

Jerec Thompson had 13 points to lead Orange, who dropped its fifth straight game. The Panthers played without guard Jason Franklin, who missed his third straight game with a bad back. It was also their second game without senior center Machai Holt, who was dismissed from the team for disciplinary reasons on Friday.

Holt watched from Orange’s student section Tuesday night.

Orange took a 37-24 lead with 6:02 remaining in the third quarter after a 3-pointer from junior Kendrell Brooks. The Panthers, who lived by the three-pointer in the opening two months, missed their next 12 shots from beyond the arc.

Cedar Ridge ended the game on a 42-19 run in the final 14 minutes. Collins scored 21 points in the second half against his old team.

“We got down because we missed some shots,” said Cedar Ridge Coach Jaison Brooks. “We had some bad defensive possessions. We knew if we could fix those things, we could get back into the game. The crew we put it did just that. They stepped in and stepped up the defensive intensity. They were able to knock down some shots.”

After Jared Wood drained a 15-foot jumper to put Orange ahead 47-43 early in the fourth quarter, the Red Wolves went on a 6-0 run to take its first lead since it was 5-4 in the opening minutes. After senior K.J. Barnes split two free throws, Collins took a skip pass from Cameron Harper and drained a 3-pointer to tie the game.

Collins found Derrick Smith, who played the final minutes with four fouls, off a transition basket to give the Red Wolves the lead 49-47. After Kyle Stanley and Brooks notched consecutive field goals to five Orange a 51-49 lead, Harper hit a driving lay-up to tie the game, then Collins drained a 3-pointer to put Cedar Ridge ahead for good.

In the final four minutes, Orange shot 1-for-8 from the field. Smith put a cherry on top of a very tasty ice cream sundae with a 3-pointer with 1:14, naturally off an assist from Collins.

In the fourth quarter, Cedar Ridge hit all nine of its shots from 2-point range. They were 2-of-4 from behind the arc.

“We got totally out of character in the fourth quarter,” said Orange coach Derryl Britt. “It was not mature basketball. We got frantic. I think as Cedar started to run and get back in the game, we started to press. Then we got away from playing team basketball. It became ‘Let me beat my guy.’ They didn’t do very well for us.”

Orange led 31-21 at halftime after Joey McMullin banked in a 3-pointer from 25-feet at the second quarter buzzer. It was McMullin’s only 3-pointer of the game. The Panthers shot 6-of-27 from outside the arc.

Cedar Ridge will travel to Granville Central on Wednesday night, then host Northern Durham on Friday.

Orange will host Northern Durham on Thursday, then welcome Chapel Hill to Hillsborough on Friday.

CEDAR RIDGE 66, ORANGE 55

CEDAR RIDGE–K.J. Barnes 12, Chris Tinnen 3, Cameron Harper 8, Derrick Smith 9, Grayson Ramos 3, James Ragland 1, Mekai Collins 29, Grady Ray 1.

ORANGE–Jerec Thompson 13, Kendrell Brooks 8, J.J. Thompson 2, Kyle Stanley 6, Joey McMullin 11, Tucker Miller 6, Jared Wood 7, Hunter Birch 2.

3-Pointers: Cedar Ridge 5 (Collins 3, Smith, Harper) Orange 6 (Je. Thompson 3, Brooks, Woods, McMullin)

FOULED OUT: Cedar Ridge-none. Orange (Miller, McMullin).

For the first time since 2015, the Cedar Ridge men’s basketball team defeated Orange inside Panther Gym on Tuesday night. The Red Wolves fought back from 13 points down to defeat the Panthers 66-55. Mekai Collins, who played at Orange last season, led the Red Wolves with 29 points, including 20 in the second half. Collins added nine rebounds and five assists as the Red Wolves outscored the Panthers 27-10 in the fourth quarter. For Collins, it was especially sweet after he started at Cedar Ridge his first two seasons. Collins shot 10-of-17 from the field, including 3-of-5 from 3-pint range. The victory ended Cedar Ridge’s 24-game Big 8 Conference losing streak. It was its first win over a Big 8 opponent since January 26, 2018, when they defeated Orange 55-38 at Red Wolves Gymnasium.

The first thing to know is that it was ungodly hot inside Orange’s gymnasium.

The heat index on September 12 was 101 degrees. In retrospect, that shouldn’t be a surprise because it was an intense summer that lingered long afterwards to dispel any notion of a fall chill in the air for relief. Three weeks later, Cedar Ridge would face Chapel Hill on October 3–with highs of 100, nine degrees ahead of the previous record.

Even on a standard September day, the first Cedar Ridge-Orange game of the year would have felt like a pressure cooker. The respective student bodies from both schools would make sure of that.

The students walked into Orange’s gym fully understanding what was on the line. This was the biggest Orange-Cedar Ridge game in years, not just because of the cross-country rivalry.

These were two state playoff teams.

Cedar Ridge was 7-1, its best start in recorded history. This was also its third match in four days, having opened the week with a loss to Jordan in Durham. Cedar Ridge was already trying to surpass its win total from 2018, when they finished 7-15.

After Orange dropped its opening three matches, they rebounded with a six-game winning streak, including victories over Person, South Granville, and Vance County in its Big 8 Conference opener.

There was something extra on the line for Cedar Ridge. Orange had beaten them five straight times, dating back to 2016 when Jordan Lloyd led the Lady Panthers to a 3-1 win with eight kills and 25 digs.

The funny thing was the person most responsible for ending Cedar Ridge’s losing streak to Orange was Lloyd’s younger sister.

In Cedar Ridge’s 3-2 win over Orange, Cameron Lloyd had 18 kills, 12 digs and five assists. As was the case throughout the year, Cedar Ridge’s freshmen were paramount to victory. Lloyd’s classmate, Julie Altieri, had 28 assists, seven kills, eight assists, and nine digs.

Cedar Ridge won on scores of 25-23, 22-25, 25-23, 15-25 and 15-7.

In the fifth set, it was freshman Cameron Lloyd who fired the biggest shots, serving four consecutive aces as the Red Wolves bounced ahead 7-2. Lloyd had surpassed 100 kills for the season earlier in the week in the Jordan loss.

Altieri’s ace on match point led to a spirited celebration for the Red Wolves to culminate an exhausting evening for players and fans, alike.

The opening set had eight ties and four lead changes. The second set had 13 ties and four lead changes.

In the first frame, Cedar Ridge scored the final four points with Lloyd serving. She delivered an ace to tie the set 23-23. Senior Emma Downing gave Cedar Ridge the lead with an unassisted kill. The Red Wolves took the opening set when a service return by Orange went wide.

Orange evened the match in the second. A successful block by Erin Jordan-Cornell gave the Lady Panthers a 22-18 lead. Jordan-Cornell finished the set with five kills. Cedar Ridge lost junior setter Layne Foster in the 2nd set because of a left quadricep injury.

Orange appeared set to take the 3rd set, leading 20-15 after a kill by senior Emma Clements off an assist from Ella Van Time. Cedar Ridge finished the frame with a 10-3 run, which included Altieri serving up three straight aces. She also slammed home set point.

Orange sophomore Lottie Scully had 16 kills, 18 blocks, and 20 assists. Avery Miller finished with 13 kills, ten blocks, and 17 digs.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is 170-pound senior wrestler Ruffin Wyrick. So far this season, Wyrick has 14 victories, including 12 pins. On December 18, Wyrick won three matches in one night during a tri-meet at Red Wolves Gymnasium. He pinned Northwood’s Montgomery Allgoood in 3:48. During Cedar Ridge’s 72-12 victory over Bartlett Yancey, Wyrick pinned Michael English in 41 seconds. He also claimed a victory against Jordan Matthews. During the Tiger Holiday Classic at Chapel Hill High School on December 20, Wyrick opened the tournament by pinning Pinecrest’s Dane Mathews in 2:27. The following day, Wyrick pinned Middle Creek’s Willie Harris in 1:38. Ruffin takes several AP courses at Cedar Ridge. The Red Wolves return to action against on Thursday in another tri-meet at Uwharrie Charter, the defending 1A State Champions. The matches will take place at Uwharrie Carter in Asheboro.

Featuring Josh Jackson, Jimmy Rogers, Carson Bradsher, Caitlin Carden and Maddie Bartlett

Colin Guentensberger: The former Orange High linebacker celebrated his 19th birthday by suiting up for the Appalachian State football team on Saturday. Appalachian defeated UAB 31-17 to win the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. It was the Mountaineers fifth straight bowl victory since joining the Football Bowl Subdivision officially in 2015. Since becoming eligible to play in bowl games after emerging from the Football Championship Series in 2015, Appalachian is 5-0 in bowl games and has four Sun Belt Conference championships. Guentensberger spent his freshman season in Boone as a walk-on. Though he didn’t play this season, Guentensberger is the first former Orange Panther for a bowl game since Alvis Whitted, who was a kick returner for N.C. State in the 1995 Peach Bowl. The Wolfpack defeated Mississippi State 28-24 at the Georgia Dome.

ASU’s win concluded an whirlwind period for Appalachian players, fans and staff alike. The day after winning the Sun Belt Conference championship over the University of Louisiana, reports circulated that former head coach Eliah Drinkwitz would leave for Missouri. Former Appalachian player Shawn Clark was named the new head coach of the Mountaineers last week. Guentensberger was the 2018 Orange football player of the year. A starting linebacker, he was second on the team in tackles. He also was 2nd on the team in receptions.

Icez Barnett: The Division II Chowan women’s basketball team defeated Converse 64-56 at the Weisiger Center in Spartanburg, S.C. last Thursday. Barnett came off the bench for two minutes of action. The Hawks ended a five-game losing streak and improved to 2-4 in Conference Carolinas. Last Tuesday, Barton hammered the Hawks 79-56 at Wilson Gym in Wilson. Barnett played five minutes and grabbed one rebound. So far in her college career, Barnett has played nine games. She had a season-high 20 minutes against UNC Pembroke on November 30. Barnett scored four points against North Greenville on November 23. Chowan will return to action on January 2 when they host Converse.

Lauren Cates: The Wake Tech women’s basketball team has won five of its last six. The Eagles defeated Bryant & Stratton College last Wednesday in Raleigh. Cates scored eleven points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field. She was 3-of-6 from 3-point range. Cates also had five rebounds and three assists. On December 14, Wake Tech defeated Southwest Virginia 89-75. Cates scored 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field, all from 3-point range. The Eagles are 8-3 overall, 4-2 in Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association. Cates is second on the team in scoring with 10.9 points per game. She’s shooting 40% from 3-point range.

Jamar Davis: The N.C. State indoor track & field team started its season in the Gamecock Opener in Columbia, S.C. on January 17-18. Davis will start his sophomore season in Raleigh. During his freshman campaign, Davis was a second-team All-American in the triple jump for indoor track. In the outdoor season, Davis finished 2nd in the Raleigh Relays in the long jump with a distance of 23’11.75″. He qualified for the NCAA Championships after a 51’5″ leap. Davis finished sixth in the ACC Championships in the triple jump.