Cedar Ridge High School

Thanks in part to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association expanding the state basketball playoffs to 64 teams in each classification, the term “bubble teams” is now coined freely in prep basketball.

HighSchoolOT.com editors now work well into the early morning hours to determine the “last four in” and “first four out,” just as Joe Lunardi does. Only for a much bigger paycheck on a network with far less integrity.

The Cedar Ridge boys squad is a bubble team which helped its cause on Friday night by beating Roxboro Community 51-48 in Person County. In among his final games in a Red Wolves uniform, center Colby Cashaw was the most steady player on the floor.

Cashaw finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds as Cedar Ridge improved to 9-15. Coincidentally, that was also Cashaw’s stat line in Thursday 66-55 loss at Burlington Cummings.

“He finished his regular season career on a good note,” said Cedar Ridge Coach Clay Jo

With the NCHSAA allowing teams to subtract four nonconference losses because of Hurricane Matthew (which caused teams in eastern North Carolina to push football season one week back, leading to basketball teams playing shorthanded to open the season because the football playoffs ran long), Cedar Ridge has a 9-11 record. Projections by HighSchoolOT.com currently have the Red Wolves as among the last four out of the state playoffs, along with Concord, North Gaston and St. Stephens (all of whom have 9-11 records).

For Cedar Ridge, that makes Monday’s Big 8 Quarterfinal matchup against Northern Vance of paramount importance.

Unfortunately, Red Wolves coach Clay Jones had had to work hard just to put a complete team on the floor. Freshman B.J. Freeman missed Friday’s game because of a disciplinary measure. Freshman Mekai Collins missed Thursday’s game against Cummings, but he made up for it by hitting possibly the biggest shot of the game on Friday.

Moments after Roxboro’s Dylan Jones put the Bulldogs ahead 45-42 with a  three-pointer, Collins tied the game with his own trey with 3:37 remaining. Cashaw drained two free throws to give Cedar Ridge the lead for good 47-45. After Khalil Hill drained a jumper to extend CRHS’ lead to 49-45, Collins sank two free throws with :19 remaining. Roxboro’s last-ditch three-pointer from C.J. Rios was an airball as time expired.

Collins finished with eleven points, seven steals and three assists.

“He’s similar to the give-and-take relationships I’ve had with other players before,” said Jones. “He makes you want to pull your hair out sometimes, but he’s a gamer.”

Dylan Jones was the only Roxboro player in double figures with 14 points.

Coach Clay Jones earned a victory in his return to his hometown. Jones grew up in Roxboro and played basketball at nearby Person High School.

“I had a lot of family, friends and classmates in the house tonight,” said Jones. “I’ve known (Roxboro Community Coach Justin) Bettendorf for a long time. We’re very good friends. He’s done a really good job with those guys.”

The winner of Northern Vance-Cedar Ridge on Monday night advances to face Orange in the Big 8 Conference semifinals on Wednesday night in Hillsborugh.

CEDAR RIDGE 51, ROXBORO COMMUNITY 48

CEDAR RIDGE–Dmonte Kinney 2, Khalil Barnett 7, Terrence Crawford 7, Khalil Hill 4, Colby Cashaw 18, Mekai Collins 11, John Vaughn 2.

ROXBORO COMMUNITY–Tajarrell Wright-Young 8, Te’Shon Clayton 7, Dylan Jones 14, Spencer Blalock 8, J.R. Paylor 4,

Most years, high school basketball nerds sit around on the final night of the regular season trying to figure out tiebreakers, wait for Maxpreps to update scores from around the state, and wonder if coaches will ever return text messages in order to get that darned final score from Oxford that will determine 4th place from 5th in the Big 8 Conference.

This year, the nerds slept easy.

By the end of Tuesday night, the field for the Big 8 Boys and Girls Basketball Tournament had already been set.

In both the boys and girls ranks, Orange captured the regular season championship. Thus, both teams will get a bye into the semifinals.

The respective tournaments begin Monday night. The only change this year is for Championship Friday. The past two tournaments, Chapel Hill High has hosted the boys and girls championship games. This year, the higher seed will host the tournament championship game.

In the boys tournament, second-seeded Southern Durham (10-2) hosts seventh-seeded Northwood (2-10) at 7:30. The winner faces the matchup between #3 Chapel Hill (8-3, with one game against Northern Vance set for Saturday) vs. sixth-seeded J.F. Webb (2-10, earned the tiebreaker by sweeping Northwood) on Wednesday night.

Also on Monday night, fifth-seeded Cedar Ridge (3-9) travels to Northern Vance (5-6) on Monday. The winner goes to Orange on Wednesday night.

In the girls tournament, second-seeded Northwood (10-2) hosts Northern Vance (0-10) on Monday night at 7. The winner of that game will face the winner of the second quarterfinal between third-seeded Southern Durham (7-4) and sixth-seeded Chapel Hill (1-10) at 6 PM.

The other quarterfinal features J.F. Webb (6-6) hosting Cedar Ridge (5-7). The victor travels to Orange for Monday night’s semifinal at 6 PM.

The Chapel Hill-Southern Durham game may be a milestone. There’s been speculation that Chapel Hill coach Sherry Norris, who has led the Tigers girls squad for 40 years, may retire at year’s end. Norris has yet to make an official announcement.

Northern Vance may be fatigued against Cedar Ridge by the time Monday rolls around. The Vikings have a Saturday game at Chapel Hill, which was postponed from last week because of the water main break in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area. That will conclude a stretch of four games in five days. NVHS defeated Northwood 68-55 in Pittsboro on Tuesday, knocked off J.F. Webb 64-55 on Thursday and lost to Southern Durham 82-59 on Friday night.

Cedar Ridge and Northern Vance split the season series. The Red Wolves defeated the Vikings 39-36 on December 13. The Vikings routed CRHS 68-52 on January 20.

The Cedar Ridge girls team defeated J.F. Webb 45-43 on February 3 in Hillsborough behind 22 points from Carrie Davis. Webb captured the first matchup against CRHS 32-23 on January 25.

You can hear Cedar Ridge vs. Northern Vance boys on Monday night here on HillsboroughSports.com.

Cedar Ridge has ended its Big 8 regular season slate, and while much of the season has been disappointing, its future was on full display in Oxford on Friday night.

Freshman Mekai Collins scored 14 points while junior Dmonte Kinney added 12 as the Red Wolves ended a three-game losing streak, beating J.F. Webb 65-55.

Another freshman, B.J. Freeman, added 10 points and grabbed crucial rebounds as the Red Wolves pulled away late for its first and only conference win of the season.

Cedar Ridge will finish the regular season next Friday at Roxboro Community School. Then they will venture into the Big 8 Tournament against an opponent to be determined on February 13.

Leading 42-41, Webb (4-16, 2-8) opened the fourth quarter with a 5-0 run. Kendall Baskett three-point play with 7:13 remaining gave Webb a 47-41 lead, their largest of the game.

Battling against the Warriors’ 2-3 zone, Khalil Crawford started the comeback with a three-pointer. After Collins split a pair from the foul line to narrow the Webb lead to 47-45, B.J. Freeman found Khalil Barnett for a lay-up to tie the game.

On the subsequent possession, Collins stole the ball from Warriors center Shemar Coachman and scored on a breakaway with 4:15 remaining.

Collins rebounded an miss by Kenneth Veney and found Barnett on a no-look pass to extend the Red Wolves lead to 49-45.

After a field goal by Webb’s Serba Davis, Cedar Ridge’s B.J. Freeman scored on a lay-in. Freeman rebounded the subsequent missed free-throw, then found Tahjai Hill-Wells for another layup. Freeman then put the game on ice after Barnett found him on an inbounds pass wide open at the other end of the floor, beating the Warriors press.

Cedar Ridge completed a season-sweep of the Warriors. The Red Wolves prevailed 69-52 on January 25.

CEDAR RIDGE: Dmonte Kinney 12, Khalil Barnett 8, Terrence Crawford 5, Tahjai Hill-Wells 4, Mekai Collins 14, Khalil Hill 8, Colby Cashaw 4, B.J. Freeman 10.

J.F. WEBB: Unique Heggie 4, Shurone Harris 9, Kendell Baskett 16, Serba Davis 7, Kenneth Veney 6, Shaddarius Wilkerson 13.

For a fleeting moment, the Orange Panthers appeared to have the Big 8 regular season championship all but sewn up.

Trailing 55-54 to Chapel Hill at Tiger Gymnasium, Orange’s Mitch Portman hit a shot at the buzzer. It would have put Orange 9-0 in league play, needing only two more wins to clinch the regular season title.

But did it beat the buzzer?

After a huddle, the referees ruled the answer was no. Chapel Hill, which was pounded 74-46 by Southern Durham just 24 hours earlier, edged the Panthers 55-54.

The loss snapped the Panthers eleven-game winning streak and makes the race for the Big 8 championship much more interesting in the final ten days of the regular season.

Orange remains in first place at 8-1, while Chapel Hill is in second at 8-2, tied in the loss column with Southern Durham at 7-2. The Spartans travel to Cedar Ridge on Wednesday night. Orange has swept the season series from the Spartans, but split against CHHS.

On Tuesday night, the Tigers took the air out of the ball against the Panthers. Orange’s 54 points was a season-low. More importantly, the Tigers double-teamed leading scorer Connor Crabtree before he even got the ball on several occasions. The strategy worked as Chapel Hill led 36-31 going into the fourth quarter.

Elijah Haynes, who hit the game-winning shot against Cedar Ridge at the buzzer on Friday night in Hillsborough, paced the Tigers with 31 points. Ben Gaynes added eleven.

Orange will play its sixth game in 12 days on Wednesday night in Hillsborough when they host Northern Vance. The Orange girls will look to go to 21-0 when they face the Vikings at 6, while the boys will follow at 7:30.

Orange defeated Northern Vance 64-57 last Tuesday in Henderson.

In Pittsboro, Cedar Ridge’s playoff hopes to a major hit as Northwood rallied to defeat the Red Wolves 65-57. Cedar Ridge led 42-38 going into the fourth quarter, but Northwood piled up 27 points in the fourth quarter to earn its 2nd Big 8 win this season, both against Cedar Ridge.

The Red Wolves were led by Colby Cashaw’s 14 points while Mekai Collins added ten.

Northwood’s (8-13, 2-8 in the Big 8) Cameron Goins led all scorers with 16 points.

Cedar Ridge is now 7-13, 2-10 in the Big 8. They host Southern Durham tonight for Senior Night at Red Wolves Gymnasium.

For the second time this month, Cedar Ridge has lost a home conference game at the buzzer.

The first time it was Northwood’s Abe Omar who scored on a stickback with :03 remaining on January 5th to seal the Chargers’ 83-82 overtime victory at CRHS. On Friday night, it was even more painful for the Red Wolves.

Elijah Haynes scored on a scoop shot with :01 remaining to give Chapel Hill a 55-53 victory over the Red Wolves on Saturday night at Red Wolves Gymnasium. Haynes, who didn’t start the game due to disciplinary reasons, finished with 16. Chapel Hill’s Kai White led all scorers with 19, while Ben Gaynes added 15.

Once again, it was underclassmen who paced Cedar Ridge. Sophomore Terrence Crawford scored 16 points, while freshmen Mekai Collins and B.J. Freeman each scored 13.

Chapel Hill (11-8, 7-1) will host Orange on Tuesday night in a meeting for first place in the Big 8 Conference. The Tigers are one game back of the Panthers.

The Red Wolves, trailing 45-28 with 7:32 remaining, made a furious rally to tie the game at 53-53. After Gaynes’ three-pointer with 5:23 remaining put Chapel Hill ahead 48-34, the Red Wolves went on a 10-0 run, punctuated by consecutive treys by Crawford.

Trailing 53-48, Cedar Ridge reeled off five consecutive points in the final minute to tie the game. Freeman hit two free throws, then drew a charge on Haynes on the subsequent Tiger possession.  Crawford sank a three-pointer, his third of the fourth quarter, to even the game with :7.3 seconds remaining.

Coming off a win over J.F. Webb on Wednesday, the Red Wolves (7-12, 2-7) missed a chance to win consecutive conference games for the first time this season.

White started the third quarter with a personal 5-0 run, including a running one-handed to push Chapel Hill’s lead to 31-21 with 4:21 remaining in the 3rd quarter. Haynes closed the third quarter with back-to-back three pointers, then continued a running dialogue with the Cedar Ridge student section.

After Collins scored the game’s first five points, Chapel Hill reeled off 13 consecutive points. Kai White scored seven points in that span, and Haynes drained a 30-footer at the first quarter buzzer to send Chapel Hill to a 16-7 lead.

In the second quarter, CHHS extended its lead to 20-10 after Haynes and Cook scored consecutive field goals. Then the Red Wolves went on a 7-0 run behind a 3-pointer from Khalil Barnett and a lay-up from Collins. The Tigers followed with six straight, including a three pointer from White, to take a 26-19 advantage into the locker room.

Cedar Ridge will play three games in five days next week. They travel to Northwood on Tuesday, followed by a home game against Southern Durham on Wednesday and a road trip to J.F. Webb in Oxford on Saturday.

CHAPEL HILL 55, CEDAR RIDGE 53

CHAPEL HILL: Elijay Haynes 16, Ben Gaynes 15, Kai White 19, Andrew Cook 4, Darius Burnette 1.

CEDAR RIDGE: Dmonte Kinney 2, Khalil Barnett 7, Terrence Crawford 18, Mekai Collins 13, B.J. Freeman 13.

Even without its top two players, the Cedar Ridge girls basketball team found a way to earn its first win of 2017.

Taylin Jean scored a career-high 16 points while Miracle Page added 12 to help Cedar Ridge (9-6, 3-3) defeat Northern Vance 49-33 on Friday night at Vikings Gymnasium.

Cedar Ridge played without Carrie Davis and Madison Wardlow, who were both injured in last Saturday’s game against Orange. Davis injured her knee in the waning seconds trying to get her feet set for a jumper. Earlier, she suffered a cut above her left eye after colliding with Orange’s Enzyah Holt for a loose ball, but that’s not believed to be the reason why she missed Friday’s game.

Wardlow suffered a leg injury against the Panthers in the second quarter, but returned to finish the game.

That left Red Wolves’ coach Felton Page without his top two scorers, forcing him to insert several players into unfamiliar positions. Playing on the road following exam break, Cedar Ridge opened lethargic, trailing 10-8 at the end of the first quarter to the Vikings (0-5, 0-14).

Cedar Ridge’s defense held the Vikings to three points in the second quarter, while Jean and Page carried the offensive load to give the Red Wolves an 18-13 halftime lead.

Page scored six points in the third quarter to open up a 22-15 lead. After the Vikings’ Kayleigh Spencer canned a three-pointer with 5:13 remaining in the frame, Yolanda Simpson scored consecutive field goals to extend the Red Wolves’ lead to 28-19.

Jean, who had three of Cedar Ridge’s ten steals, scored six points in the fourth quarter as the Vikings never got the deficit below double figures in the fourth quarter.

Simpson finished with six points, while Natalia Garay had four points and seven rebounds. The Red Wolves beat the Vikings on the boards 32-16.

On Tuesday, Cedar Ridge travels to Southern Durham at 7, starting a span of six games in ten days. The Red Wolves are now in fourth place in the Big 8, one-half game behind J.F. Webb. Cedar Ridge will host Webb on Wednesday night at 6, followed by a Friday date at Chapel Hill.