Cedar Ridge High School

Orange 7, Roxboro Community School 6: In her first year as a starter, Addison Guentensberger came up with the biggest hit of her career in Orange’s first win of the season.

With the Lady Panthers trailing 6-5 going into the seventh inning against Roxboro Community School on Monday night, Guentensberger grounded a single up the middle to score Katie Carden to put the Lady Panthers past the Bulldogs. Earlier in the frame, Carden tied the game with a double to centerfield that plated junior Allie Carden.

Katie Carden, a sophomore third baseman, finished 2-for-4 with a double. Hayleigh Hammond finished with a triple. Guentensberger, in her second career start, came away 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI.

Senior pitcher Caden Robinson earned her first win of the season, striking out seven in a complete game.

Orange (1-1) has had both of its games thus far come down to the final frame. Last week, Wakefield and Orange were tied 3-3, but the Wolverines scored four runs to win 7-3.

On Monday night, there were four lead changes. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning following Emma Brandon drove in Zoe Godard with a groundout to Mia Leathers at first base. Karrie Obie grounded out to shortstop Delanie Shaffer to bring in Katie Mann

Guentensberger led off the third inning with a screamer to right field. Sadie Cecil followed with a single that dropped into left field. After Hammond walked to load the bases, Robinson drew a walk to put Orange on the board. Allie Carden also earned a free pass to plate Cecil. Katie Carden put Orange ahead with an RBI groundout to RCS second baseman Molly Davis, which brought in Hammond.

Davis tied it up with a solo homer to leadoff the fifth. Orange jumped back ahead with a two-out rally in the fifth. Allie Carden and Katie Carden reached on back-to-back singles. Shaffer lined to right to bring in Allie Carden and put Orange ahead 4-3.

Davis responded with her second homer, a two-run blast after Presley Leonard walked in the top of the sixth to put the Bulldogs ahead 5-4. In the bottom of the sixth, Cecil drove a two-out double to left field. Hammond sent a fly ball off the wall in left field for a triple, scoring Cecil to tie the game.

Mann led off the seventh with a single, stole second base and went to third after Emma Brandon grounded out. Obie double on a line drive to centerfield to put the Bulldogs ahead.

Orange is scheduled to face the Morehead Panthers on Wednesday night in Hillsborough.

Cedar Ridge 4, Northern Durham 0: Charlotte Lowry did a little bit of everything as the Red Wolves improved to 2-0 on Monday night.

Lowry drove in the game-winning home run, struck out eleven batters and threw her second career shutout as the Red Wolves won in its first trip to the new Northern Durham High School. Lowry threw a six-hitter to improve to 2-0.

Mia Best finished 3-for-4 with a double for Cedar Ridge.

Lowry broke open a scoreless game with a solo blast to centerfield in the top of the fourth inning. Northern’s Annaclaire Spell led off the bottom of the fourth with a double, but Cedar Ridge’s Brittani Goddard forced a double play when Mason Browning lined to second. Goddard made the catch and threw to Laci Sykes to double up Spell.

Madeline Galindo-Woodirng walked to open the fifth inning, then stole second. Best scored Galindo-Woodring with a line drive to centerfield.

Cedar Ridge pulled away in the seventh inning when Galindon-Woodring opened with an infield single. Galindo-Woodring stole second again, leading to Best sending a double to left field to widen Cedar Ridge’s lead to 3-0. Goddard laid down a bunt and reached when the ball was thrown away. Best scored off the error.

Cedar Ridge will host Northern Durham on Monday in Hillsborough.

While the Orange and Cedar Ridge women’s basketball teams were several counties apart in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs on Tuesday night, they both had their chances to win.

And both fell short in frustrating fashion.

Cedar Ridge, making the 3A State Playoffs for the first time since 2018, fell to Scotland County 56-42 in Laurinburg. The Red Wolves end the year 13-13, its best season since the 2017-2018 campaign when they were coached by Felton Page.

The Red Wolves led by four at halftime. Amiyah Ware, in her final game at Cedar Ridge, scored 18 points. Junior point guard Sarah Utley finished with 16 points and ten rebounds.

Fighting Scots junior Morgan Thompson finished with 25 points as Scotland County, the 9th-seed out of the Sandhills Conference, advanced to face Fike in the round of 32 in Wilson on Friday night.

Cedar Ridge led 37-33 at the end of the third quarter following a running-one hander from Utley. But Scotland opened up the 4th quarter with a 14-2 run to take control of the game. The Red Wolves shot just 24%.

The loss ended the careers of Ware, Cameron Copeland, Cierra Copeland, Addie Reid and Jordyan Delph. Reid has been a three-sport athlete at Cedar Ridge and won the 2021 3A State Championship in volleyball. Ware’s legacy will be remembered in the record books as she set the Orange County record for most points scored in a game when she registered 54 against Western Alamance last year. She is the only player in the history of Orange County to score 50 points twice in a season. She scored 51 against Durham School of the Arts just two weeks after the game against the Warriors.

Meanwhile in Rocky Mount, Orange struggled in the second half and fell 43-26. The Gyphons never trailed and advanced to the second round to face Big East Conference rival Franklinton on Friday night.

Rocky Mount’s Keysha Mizzell led all scorers with 15 points.  She opened the game by scoring the opening five points, including a three-pointer. Orange’s Evelyn George countered with a 3-pointer, but the Lady Panthers would never get that close again. The Gryphons went on a 9-2 run, which Kaitlin White capped off with a 3-pointer to increase the lead to 14-5.

Orange closed the first half with a 7-0 run. Shannon Murphy started with a 3-pointer off a feed from George. In the final minute of the second quarter, George drained two free throws, then scored off a lay-in while getting fouled by Candrice Davis. Orange trailed 22-18 at the half.

Rocky Mount (19-6) shut out the Lady Panthers in the third quarter 19-0 using a full-court press that resulted in ten Orange turnovers. Not only was Orange unable to score. They barely got off any shots. Orange was only 0-for-3 in the third quarter and just 3-of-8 from the field in the entire second half. In all, the Lady Panthers committed 12 turnovers in the second half.

Rocky Mount’s Candrice Davis, who came out for White after she picked up her third foul, sparked the Gryphons with six points and three steals in the second half. In all, Rocky Mount had 17 steals compare to just eight for Orange.

26 points is a season-low for Orange.

George and Murphy led the Lady Panthers with seven points. Natalie Roberson had six points as Orange ended the year 13-13 under first-year head coach Lamont Jones. After Orange defeated Western Alamance and Walter Williams to open 2024, they were tied for first place in the Central Conference. But Cedar Ridge swept the season series from the Lady Panthers for the first time since the 2013-2014 season and was unable to regain the momentum to catch up with Western Alamance in the race for the conference championship.

It was the final game for Orange senior Lily Crayton.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is sophomore runner Naomi Dyreng. Last fall, Dyreng won the individual championship of the Central Conference women’s cross country meet at Lake Cammack Cross Country Course in Burlington. It was a Cedar Ridge finish in the top two. Abigail Klaitman finished second. Dyreng would go on to finish third in the Mideast Regional. For the second year in a row, Dyreng qualified for the 3A State Championships, where she finished 17th. This winter, Dyreng qualified for the 3A State Indoor Track & Field Championships. She finished 7th in the 1,600 meters in the 3A State Championships at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem. Dyreng qualified for the state championships when she finished with a time of 5:32.95 in the 1,600 meters at the East Chapel Hill Polar Bear at Dave Thaden Stadium on January 27. Last fall, Dyreng helped the Cedar Ridge women finish 2nd in the Central Conference championship meet. Now, she’s gearing up for the outdoor track and field season, which will begin next week. Last year, Dyreng won three Mideast Regional Championships at Franklinton High School. She won the 1,600 and 3,200 meters championships, as well as a relay championship. She ran in the state championships at North Carolina A&T University inside Truist Field in Greensboro. 

For all the the things that Amiyah Ware has accomplished for the Cedar Ridge women’s basketball team the past two years, the only thing missing was winning a tournament game.

Until Monday night.

In her final game inside Red Wolves Gymnasium, Ware scored 17 points as Cedar Ridge committed only four turnovers to defeat Southern Alamance 35-28 in the opening round of the Central Conference Tournament. The Red Wolves advance to face Eastern Alamance at Person High School in the semifinals on Wednesday night at 6PM.

It is the first postseason tournament win for the Red Wolves women’s basketball team since February 21, 2017, when they defeated Cleveland in the opening round of the 3A State Playoffs in Clayton.

Cedar Ridge trailed 16-15 at halftime, but the Red Wolves held the Patriots to three points in the third quarter. The sequence that changed the game came when Red Wolf freshman center Kate Finnegan blocked a shot off a drive from Madison Brouillard, which was captured by Hailey McCloud. In a rare transition attempt against the Patriots, Ware threw a diagonal pass to Jamee Watson, who scored off a lay-in as she was hacked on the arm by Morgan Edmunds to even the game at 19-19.

Ware grabbed a rebound following a Patriots miss and was fouled by Sarah Kathryn Maness, which led to two Red Wolf free throws to put Cedar Ridge ahead 21-19 with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter.

Cedar Ridge point guard Sarah Utley opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer off a drop off from Ware. Following a three-pointer from Brouillard, Watson grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Ware for a lay-in. Ware scored six points in the fourth quarter.

Finnegan and Hailey McCloud kept the Patriots from scoring in the paint. Southern Alamance’s Sunny Yarnell, the team’s leading scorer, was limited to just two points with no field goals.

Finnegan finished with seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals.

It was the final game at home for Ware, Cameron Copeland, Cierra Copeland and Jordyan Delph.

Orange 62, Walter Williams 39: Just in time for the postseason, the Orange women’s team played its best half of the season against Walter Williams.

After getting blown out by 59-39 by the Bulldogs in Burlington on January 31, the Lady Panthers led wire-to-wire in an 62-39 victory in Hillsborough on Monday night. The Panthers advance to the Central Conference Tournament semifinals, where they will face top-seeded Western Alamance at Person High School on Tuesday night (tonight) at 6 PM.

Junior Evelyn George finished with 22 points and seven rebounds, while Shannon Murphy added ten points with eight rebounds.

In the first half, Orange (13-11) shot a torrid 15-of-18 of the field. Of the Lady Panthers 15 field goals in the first half, 13 were assisted.

Williams (15-10) Reagan Averett paced the Bulldogs with 13 points, but Williams shot just 26% from the field. Orange out rebounded the Bulldogs 43-34, with 17 offensive rebounds. Orange built its lead to as big as 27 points.

Orange point guard Maura McMurtry finished with nine assists.

It seemed destined to be a long night for Williams during pregame warmups when they were assessed a technical foul for leaving players out of their scorebook. Instead of a jump ball, the game started with George making two technical free throws and it didn’t get any better for the Bulldogs from there.

Murphy drained a short jumper off a pass from Marshea Byrd, who finished with ten points, four rebounds and three assists. George scored consecutive field goals, each one assisted by Byrd, and then Byrd scored off a pass from McMurtry to build a 10-3 lead, leading to a Williams timeout.

After Adkins cored a three-pointer with 3:21 remaining in the first quarter, Orange led 16-5. The lead stayed at double-digits for the remainder of the game after George added another shot from downtown.

For the first time since the formation of the Central Conference in 2022, there will be a neutral site for the league tournament’s semifinals and championship games.

Well, at least in theory.

The conference semifinals will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday night at Person High School, The men’s and women’s championship games will also be in Roxboro on Friday night, starting with the women’s game at 6PM.

The last two years, the tournament championship games were held at Northwood High School in Pittsboro, which won the men’s and women’s tournament titles each of the first two years of the league. The event is being held in Roxboro based on proximity with Southern Alamance being added to the Central Conference this year after Northwood moved back down to 2A.

In the men’s tournament, Orange is the regular season champion and will receive a bye into the semifinals. The Panthers will face either Walter Williams or Person in the semifinals on Tuesday night at 7:30 in Roxboro. The Rockets and the Bulldogs will play in Burlington tonight.

In the bottom half of the bracket, second-seeded Eastern Alamance hosts Cedar Ridge at Tal Jobe Gymnasium in Mebane. The third-seed, Southern Alamance, hosts Western Alamance in Graham. The winners will meet on Wednesday night at 7:30 in Roxboro.

Two of the three first-round meetings will be rematches from Friday night, the final night of the regular season. Williams upset Person 63-62 in Burlington, which put the Bulldogs in the top half of the league. In Graham, Western Alamance upset Southern Alamance 46-42 in Graham. The Warriors beat the Patriots on its senior night.

In the women’s bracket, Western Alamance has earned a bye after winning the regular season title. They will await the winner of Orange vs. Walter Williams, who will meet in Hillsborough tonight. Western Alamance will play on Tuesday night at 6PM in Roxboro against either Orange or Williams.

Eastern Alamance will host Person at Tal Jobs Gymnasium in Mebane. Also tonight at 6:30, 3rd-seeded Cedar Ridge will host Southern Alamance. The winners of EA/Person & Cedar Ridge/SAHS will meet on Wednesday night at Person at 6PM.

Cedar Ridge’s women’s game will almost certainly be the final home game for senior Amiyah Ware, Cameron Copeland, Cierra Copeland, Addie Reid and Jordyan Delph. The Red Wolves defeated Walter Williams 53-38 last Tuesday on Senior Night to sew up a spot in the top half of the conference.

Cedar Ridge will tip off at 6:30 tonight at Red Wolves Gymnasium.

Orange split the season-series with Williams, beating the Bulldogs in Hillsborough. They lost to Williams in Burlington.

Cedar Ridge also split the season series with Southern Alamance. The Red Wolves won against the Patriots in Hillsborough.

This week’s Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week is junior swimmer Sophia Stinnett. Last week at the 3A State Swimming Championships, Stinnett finished third in the state in the 100 yard backstroke. It was her first medal in the State Championships. At the Greensboro Aquatic Center on February 3rd, Stinnett won two Central Regional championships. She claimed the gold medal in the 500 yard freestyle and the 100 yard backstroke. It was the third time that Stinnett qualified for the state championships. Stinnett first reached the state championships as a freshman. In her sophomore season, she finished 6th in the 500 yard freestyle at the state championships. She finished 11th in the state in the 200 yard freestyle. This season, Stinnett won an individual Central Conference championship for the third time in her career. Stinnett captured the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:31.96. In 2022 and 2023, Stinnett won the conference title in the 200 yard freestyle. Stinnett was also part of the relay team for Cedar Ridge that won the 400 yard freestyle conference championship. Stinnett, Quinn McCrimmon, Hala Zafar and Sierra Godfrey captured the championship at 1:47.82. High school swimming season is over for Stinnett, but her club season continues this month and into the spring. This is the third time that Stinnett has earned Cedar Ridge Red Wolf of the Week.