Cedar Ridge finished the regular season by winning 9 of its last 10 games, including Friday night’s 66-51 victory over Carrboro. They ended the regular season 16-8. Coach Clay Jones discussed preparations for the start of the Big 8 Tournament,which starts Monday when Webb visits CRHS.
Five seniors played their final regular season home game for the Cedar Ridge boys basketball team on Friday night. Among them was the school’s all-time leading scorer, Peyton Pappas, and the second-leading scorer on this year’s team, Jacob Thomas. They talked about CRHS’ 66-51 win, which improved their record to 16-8 going into the Big 8 Tournament.
There are few things for certain as the high school basketball regular season winds down.
Last year, the chase for the Big 8 Boys regular season championship came down to the final night, where Cedar Ridge rallied from 19 points down to stun favored Orange, giving Cardinal Gibbons the crown.
Any chances of the race coming down to the final night are remote, at best. Southern Durham leads Orange by a game-and-a-half with a 9-1 conference record. The Spartans also control the tiebreaker after its 80-62 victory over the Panthers on Friday night at Southern.
The Spartans have two conference games remaining, the first coming up tonight against Northern Vance. A win clinches the regular season title and the top seed from the Big 8 going into the 3-A state playoffs.
Another certainty is Chapel Hill faces a must-win at Orange tonight. The Panthers hold 2nd place in the Big 8 at 7-2, two games ahead of CHHS. After beating Cedar Ridge 75-67 on January 5th, the Tigers dropped six straight. On Friday, the Red Wolves got revenge on CHHS, winning 60-45.
The top three teams from the Big 8 will make the playoffs, and a logjam has formed in the past two weeks. Chapel Hill holds third place at 5-4, while Northern Vance is 4-4 and Cedar Ridge is 4-5.
There’s also little doubt Cedar Ridge is playing its best basketball of the season, albeit later than Coach Clay Jones would have preferred.
After stunning Southern Durham 80-75 on Thursday night, the Red Wolves turned right back around on Friday night to beat the Tigers. By now, it’s hardly news that Peyton Pappas was the Red Wolves’ leading scorer with 20 points. What is becoming a pattern is the continued improvement of center Jonathan Hall, who had 16 points. Jacob Thomas added 12.
Since Jones inserted an extra forward into the starting lineup in Shane Hill and moved away from a three-guard setup, Hall had 14 vs. Southern and 11 vs. Oxford Webb. Tonight, the Red Wolves travel to Northwood, who they defeated 68-61 on January 8th for its first conference win of the season.
As for Orange, the planets seemed aligned to finally beat Southern on Friday night. The Panthers had won eight of its last nine, including a win over previously undefeated Goldsboro on MLK Day at Durham School of the Arts.
Plus, Southern was playing its third game in three days, hours after the Cedar Ridge loss. Turns out, Southern gave new meaning to overcoming adversity both on and off the court.
The afternoon of the Cedar Ridge game, Southern coach Kendrick Hall’s wife was on her way to the chiropractor’s office when she was involved in an automobile accident. Hall rushed to her side and missed the first half of the Red Wolves game. He gave his team pre game instructions through FaceTime, and didn’t arrive until the second half.
Once Hall’s family at home was healthy, he could finally focus on his on-court family in a battle for first place against Orange the next night What he didn’t know was how suddenly fragile his team was about to become.
Just 80 seconds into the game, leading scorer J’Tori Christmas suffered an ankle injury. He left the game, didn’t return and left the game on crutches.
Still, Southern was poised enough to bolt out to a 10-2 lead, dictate the pace of the game, increase the lead to 21 points, and withstood an Orange comeback to win.
The Panthers host Chapel Hill tonight at Jim King Gymnasium at 7.
Nothing sets off panic in the south more than snow. A little snowflake can cause a lot of headaches. Just ask local basketball coaches.
When school is cancelled, games don’t get played. That means coaches have to reschedule, which creates a frustrating cycle of phone calls, double checking with athletic directors to see when gyms are available and getting the word out to the media and fans.
Then comes the minor part of preparing for the games themselves.
On Wednesday night, Cedar Ridge had to practice for its Thursday game against Southern Durham at a nearby gym because it’s own floor was taken up by the wrestling team.
The team had barely seen each other since last Thursday, when they defeated Webb in Oxford. Four school days were cancelled. Not exactly the best circumstances going against a Spartan team that was undefeated in the Big 8.
If you wanted to bet against Southern Durham going into Thursday, obviously the odds would have been against you. If you bet on Cedar Ridge never trailing against the Spartans, you might have cleaned up for life.
But that’s what happened.
The Red Wolves jumped out to a 10-0 lead, never trailed and stunned the Spartans 70-65 on Thursday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Peyton Pappas led CRHS with 34 points, while Jacob Thomas added 17. Jonathan Hall added 14 as the Red Wolves won for the third time in four games to improve to 10-8, 3-5 in the Big 8.
“We did a much better job defensively,” said Cedar Ridge coach Clay Jones. “We didn’t a good job handling their press. These last three games we’ve played very well.”
Southern’s J’Tori Christmas, the Spartans’ leading scorer, finsihed with 13 points, but had only one field goal going into the fourth quarter. Rashad Dixon, matched up against Hall for much of the night, was held to 3, a season low.
Sophomore Antonio Daye led the Spartans with 22. The Spartans are 8-1, one-half game ahead of Orange for first place in the Big 8. Southern hosts Orange on Friday night, a game that will be broadcast here on Hillsboroughsports.com starting at 7.
Jones attributes his team’s turnaround to a change in philosophy. After going 3-for-47 from 3-point range during a 0-4 start in Big 8 play, he knew it was time to shift away from a three-guard starting lineup.
He inserted Shawn Hill and Shane Evans into the starting lineup and opted for a half-court oriented style.
“It’s helped take pressure off Peyton,” said Jones. “We’re getting the ball to Jacob and Jonathan more and playing much better.”
Now comes the headache of rescheduling. Coming off its biggest win of the season, Cedar Ridge has to turn right back around and travel to Chapel Hill tonight. The Tigers defeated
Hours after Cedar Ridge lost to archrival Orange on Tuesday night, Red Wolves point guard Peyton Pappas sent out the following tweet Wednesday afternoon leading up to a trip to Oxford Webb that night.
“We better have our game”
They didn’t. It was more the buzz of winter weather coming to the Triangle than actual snow that caused the postponement. In the south, where nothing creates paranoia quite like snow, that was enough.
On Thursday night, hours before bone fide snow was set to move in, Cedar Ridge made the road trip to Oxford, where Pappas showed how hungry he was to play. And he wasn’t the only one.
The Red Wolves defeated Webb 78-66. Pappas scored 31 points, while Jacob Thomas added 16. CRHS’ ongoing problem of finding a reliable third scorer was no headache against the Warriors, as senior center Jonathan Hall scored eleven points. Not only that, but the Red Wolves got a fourth scorer in double figures, as Khalil Hill also registered eleven.
Cedar Ridge led 39-36 at the half, but out scored the Warriors 18-11 in the third quarter.
The Red Wolves’ road trip against Northern Vance, slated for tonight, has already been postponed. It’s likely to be made up next week, but an date hasn’t been confirmed.
Cedar Ridge is now 9-8, 2-5 in the Big 8.
Unlike the win-now-or-else world of football, high school basketball allows teams time to grow.
Seven weeks ago, Greg Motley knew the hand his was dealt for the 2015-16 basketball season was going to be shorthanded in the beginning. He would go into the season without Eryk Brandon-Dean, the point guard who guided his transition offense carefully for two seasons. As has been well documented, Brandon-Dean suffered a torn ACL against September 24th. Backup center Jace Jordan-Cornell would also miss half the season due to a leg injury, also suffered in football.
With only one starter returning, Orange predictably started 0-3, but there was reason for optimism. Now, having had time to gell and with Motley placing the guard tandem of Cameron Cavanaugh and Reggie Bradsher as regular starters, the Panthers have won seven of its last eight.
The latest victory came on Tuesday night with a 63-43 victory over crosstown rival Cedar Ridge. Playing its 2nd game in just over 24 hours, the Panthers received 21 points each from Connor Crabtree and Logan Vosburg to improve to 10-7. Orange is also 6-1 in the Big 8 conference, a game behind Southern Durham for first place (The Spartans blew out Northwood 81-43 on Tuesday).
“There were a lot of questions coming in (this season),” said Motley. “We didn’t know how good we could be. Now they’ve figured it out and they’re doing a good job.”
The surprise of the night wasn’t that Vosburg scored 21 points. He had put up 17 points and 15 rebounds just the day before against previously undefeated Goldsboro at the Durham School of the Arts.
The fact Vosburg hit 3-pointers in the 2nd half was another matter.
“That was big,” said Motley. “Some nights he looks to shoot it, some night he doesn’t. But we allow him the freedom to shoot the ball.”
For Cedar Ridge, the loss was a far cry from the elation of last February, when they stunned Orange 69-63 after trailing by 19 points early in the 3rd quarter. Not only did that win give Cedar Ridge a season sweep of its crosstown rival, it cost Orange the Big 8 regular season championship.
Orange led 29-26 at the half after the Red Wolves held Crabtree scoreless in the first quarter. Panther forward Daniel Mulligan, who finished with 11 points, scored seven in the first quarter.
The third saw Orange out score the Red Wolves 21-6. Cedar Ridge’s offense the entire quarter consisted of two field goals by Senior Peyton Pappas and two free throws by Jonathan Hall.
The familiar problem for the Red Wolves is scoring. Pappas will get his points. He’s too talented not to. So will Chapel Hill transfer Jacob Thomas. But after that, it’s a question mark.
Pappas led the Red Wolves with 20 points on Tuesday, while Thomas was held to 9, including a lone field goal in the second half. The rest of the team had 14 points.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Orange played a heckuva game,” said Cedar Ridge coach Clay Jones. “They do a lot of things well and right now, we’re not. We’ve been looking for that third person the last two years, and we’ve yet to find it. Right now, it’s still up in the air.”
Cedar Ridge falls to 8-8, 1-5 in the Big 8. They travel to Oxford Webb tonight.
BOX SCORE: ORANGE 63, CEDAR RIDGE 43
Cedar Ridge:9 17 6 11 = 43
Orange: 10 19 21 13 = 63
Cedar Ridge: Peyton. Pappas 20, Jonathan. Hall 4, Jacob Thomas 9, Colby Cashaw 2, Shane Hill 6, Ikell Knowles 2.
Orange: Cameron Cavanaugh 3, Connor Crabtree 21, Demares Drummond 4, Daniel Mulligan 11, Alex Fish 1, Logan Vosburg 21, Jace-Jordan Cornell 2.
After an 0-4 start in the Big 8 Conference, including losing what was deemed a “must win” against Chapel Hill, Cedar Ridge’s game against Northwood was mandatory on Friday night.
And they got it.
Peyton Pappas scored 29 points as the Red Wolves defeated the Chargers 68-61 in Red Wolves Gymnasium. Jacob Thomas added 19 points as the Red Wolves earned its first league win. Cedar Ridge is now 7-7.
Northwood, which loss to Orange on Thursday, led 47-45 going into the fourth quarter before the Red Wolves out scored them 23-14 in the fourth quarter.
Cedar Ridge will take next week off for exam break. They return to action on Tuesday, January 19th with a home game against archrival Orange.
There have been two disturbing patterns so far this season for Hillsborough’s basketball teams.
For Cedar Ridge, it’s been an inability to push out to big leads when they have an opponent on the ropes.
For Orange, it’s been faltering down the stretch.
Both teams fell victim to those patterns again on Tuesday night.
For Cedar Ridge, it may cost them a chance to make the state playoffs. Chapel Hill defeated the Red Wolves 75-67 in Hillsborough, sending the Red Wolves to 0-4 in the Big 8. Peyton Pappas led Cedar Ridge with 30 points. Forward Jacob Thomas, who transferred from Chapel Hill, added 20 points.
CHHS has a guard-oriented lineup, but still found a way to get to the foul line 27 times. Elijah Haynes scored 19 points to lead the Tigers, who improved to 5-7, 3-0 in the Big 8. Freshmen Ben Gaynes and A.J. Thompson added 16.
Cedar Ridge is now 7-7 with a home game coming up Friday against Northwood.
Southern Durham, now 4-0 in the Big 8, defeated Orange 85-77.
The Panthers led 57-55 going into the fourth quarter, but Southern out scored Orange 30-20 in the final frame.
Connor Crabtree led the Panthers with 28 points and seven rebounds. Coaches from High Point and Appalachian State were in the gym to watch Crabtree, who received a scholarship offer from Lehigh last month.
The Panthers ( turn right back around to face Northwood on Thursday night, then travel to Chapel Hill on Friday. Orange is now 5-7, 2-1 in the Big 8.
As the Christmas trees and decorations come down, Orange and Cedar Ridge will pick up action tonight in the Big 8 Conference.
For the Red Wolves, tonight’s home game against Chapel Hill is simply a must-win.
Cedar Ridge is 0-3 in league play, which isn’t how Coach Clay Jones expected to start. With Chapel Hill transfer Jacob Thomas providing a low-post scoring punch with Jonathan Hall, along with the backcourt play of Peyton Pappas, the Red Wolves figured to be fighting with Southern Durham and Northwood for the Big 8 lead.
Instead, Cedar Ridge (7-6) lost its conference opener to Orange on December 11th 71-67 behind 32 points from Connor Crabtree. Pappas missed the subsequent game against Northern Vance, a home loss where the Red Wolves were sluggish without its leading scorer.
After a 2nd-place finish in the Clinton Christmas Tournament, Jones immediately started scouting the Tigers. Chapel Hill (4-7) lost all three of its games in the South Granville holiday tournament, but is 2-0 in the Big 8.
This is the roller coaster part of the season for both teams. After a week off for Christmas, CRHS played two games in two days in Clinton. They have home games against Chapel Hill and Northwood this week, then don’t play again until January 19 against Orange.
“I think our guys are focused,” said Jones. “It’s all hands on deck. Chapel Hill is a must-win because we can’t expect to be at the top of this conference and be 0-4.”
Orange faces three games in four days. Tonight, it’s Southern Durham in Hillsborough. On Thursday, consecutive road trips to Northwood, followed by Chapel Hill the following night.
The Panthers (5-6, 2-0) is coming off a 5th place finish in the Holiday in the Pines tournament, where they defeated New Life Christian Academy and Charlotte Olympic in the final two days. Orange opened with a 105-96 loss to Richmond County on the first day, where Connor Crabtree scored 43 points.
Southern Durham (3-0), Orange and Chapel Hill (2-0) are tied for first place in the loss column in the Big 8. The Spartans wasted little time in becoming the front runners in the league by claiming road wins over Northwood (85-55) and Oxford Webb (71-54). The Spartans are led by guard J’Tori Christmas, who averages 15.1 points per game. Antonio Daye averages 13.4 points per game.
Tonight’s game will be a test for the Panther backcourt. The Spartans have multiple 3-point options, and Orange has struggled to find consistent guard scoring with the absence of Eryk Brandon-Dean. Orange will likely opt for a slower pace of play with Crabtree and center Logan Vosburg.
Hillsboroughsports.com will broadcast Friday’s game between Orange and Chapel Hill starting at 7 from Tiger Gymansium.
