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There were signs of progress for the Cedar Ridge boys basketball team against Word of God Christian Academy.

Facing one of the top freelance teams in the Triangle, the Red Wolves trailed 32-28 at the half behind another strong performance by guard Mekai Collins, who finished with 21 points.

The lack of size for the Red Wolves caught up with them in the second half as the Holy Rams outscored the Red Wolves 49-18 in the second half, winning 81-46 in Raleigh. Word of God put four players in double figures, led by Zach Newkirk’s 18 points.

Collins was the only player in double figures for the Red Wolves, who suffered its third straight loss and fell to 1-5.

In the girls game, Word of God held off Cedar Ridge 44-38. Statistics were not provided from the game.

Cedar Ridge returns to action on Wednesday night at Carrboro for a tripleheader. The girls will tipoff at 6, with the boys starting at 7:30. The Red Wolves boys team have dominated the Jaguars in recent years,  winning the last seven matchups. The last Carrboro win over Cedar Ridge was on February 20, 2013 in the Mid State 2A Tournament.

WORD OF GOD 81, CEDAR RIDGE 46

CEDAR RIDGE-Eddie Altieri 7, Khalil Barnett 8, Terrence Crawford 5, Chris Tinnen 2, Mekai Collins 21, Chris Tinnen 3.

WORD OF GOD-Anthony 3, Burt 4, Newkirk 18, Cooper 10, Spencer 9, Furtrell 5, King 18, Forte 4, Cash 10.

After being led by the same head coach for 29 years, one would think a change in command would bring a change in philosophies or atmosphere.

Spenser Poteat is now the head coach of the Orange wrestling team, replacing his longtime mentor Bobby Shriner, who retired in May. Yet ask any Orange wrestler if there’s a difference in attitude around the famed Panther Wrestling room, and they’ll say the same thing: no.

So far, certainly the success hasn’t changed.

For the 3rd year in a row, Orange captured the Jim King Invitational Wrestling Tournament on Saturday at Jim King Gymnasium. The Panthers captured 259 points to win the two-day event for the eighth time in its 37-year history Cary, who has won the JKO 22 times, finished second with 239 points. Leesville Road finsihed third with 144 points. Northern Durham, which figures to be Orange’s biggest challenger in the Big 8 Conference, came in fourth with 138 points.

Cedar Ridge, behind a strong 4th place finish by Darius McLeod at 126 pounds, came in 18th with 39 points.

Four Panthers won individual championships. Senior Bailey Hawkins captured his first JKO Championship with a 4-0 decision over Cary’s Cymek Shaw. Hawkins, who finished 2nd in the JKO at 132 last year, scored two pins in route to the semifinals, where he defeated McKray Monday of Southern Alamance.

After coming in third last year, Orange senior heavyweight (and Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion) Daylan Alston scored four pins to win his first JKO Championship. In the first of what will likely be several meetings this year, Alston pinned Northern Durham’s Tyric Swennie in 5:33 for the championship. That was the only match where Alston was stretched beyond the first period. On Friday, he pinned Burlington Williams Bryce Stewart in 1:49, then finished off Bartlett Yancey’s Josh Stewart in :19. On Saturday morning. Alston pinned Person’s Noah Harris in :34 to advance to the finals.

Alston is 9-0 so far this season.

One week after capturing his 100th career victory, Josiah Ramirez won his 2nd consecutive JKO Championship, this time at 182 (last year, Ramirez wrestled at 170). Ramirez scored a major decision over Cary’s Nick Straight 14-4 in the finals. In the semifinals, Ramirez grinded out a 3-1 decision over Cedar Ridge’s Colin Davis. Ramirez started the tournament with consecutive pins over Northwood’s William Lake (in :15) and Corinth Holders Cameron Carroll (:27).

Cedar Ridge’s Davis advanced to the semifinals by pinning Middle Creek’s Jaxson Chopp in :31. He started by pinning Southern Durham’s Jamar Blank in 2:24. Davis finished 6th at 182.

Braden Homsey won his first JKO Championship at 195. Homsey, who lost in the opening round last year to Northwood’s Hunter Queen, scored a technical fall on Millbrook’s Ben Williard 20-5 in the finals. Homsey was dominant throughout the tournament, getting a major decision in the semifnals over Cary’s Dontay Turner 12-2. Homsey pinned Northwood’s Hsernay Day in :46 and opened the tournament with a pin of Person’s Zakery Lieske in :30.

Two other Panther grapplers finished 2nd. At 113, Mitchell Askew lost in the championship match to Cary’s Kobe Early 13-2. Askes, who also had a runner-up finish at 106 in 2016, defeated Bartlett Yancey’s Jacob Wright 8-6 in the semifinals.

In the 160 Championship match, Donald Cates of Northern Durham defeated Orange’s Avery Jenkins 10-3.

Gavin Wiggins finished 3rd for Orange at 126 with a 7-2 victory over McLeod. Orange’s Trey Jones came in 3rd at 170 with a pinfall of Person’s Genuine Morris in :55.

At 220, Jake McBrook came in 5th after a 4-2 decision over Southern Durham’s Xavier McGhee. Orange’s Luke Riley, in his first JKO, placed sixth at 132.

After the first two weeks of the season, there was a sense of optimism around the Cedar Ridge girls basketball team.

They started the season with three straight wins over Durham School of the Arts, Jordan-Matthews and Person. However, Coach Felton Page knew the toughest was yet to come the week after Thanksgiving, when his team would face Rockingham County, Goldsboro and Riverside in a span of four days.

Rockingham County advanced to the 3A state quarterfinals last season. Goldsboro is a stingy defensive team and Riverside is 4-1 that’s already defeated Chapel Hill, Northern Durham and Sanderson by lopsided margins.

Sure enough, the reason for concern was validated.

On Friday night, Riverside’s full-court press caused 26 Cedar Ridge turnovers in a 59-21 Pirates’ victory. The game was even 8-8 after the first quarter, but the Pirates used its pressure defense to hold the Red Wolves to only four field goals the rest of the game.

Earlier in the week, Rockingham County handed the Red Wolves a 57-26 loss. The Cougars’ Madeline Hardy, a 6-6 center who has committed to Lenoir-Rhyne, finished wth 19 points.

On Wednesday, Goldsboro held off the Red Wolves 43-49 in Hillsborough. Wardlow led Cedar Ridge with nine points while Yolanda Simpson had 8.

Against Riverside, Aijah Perry finished with 23 points to lead the Pirates. Ashauntee Nelson added twelve while Ladasia Jones had nine.

Cedar Ridge will return to action on Monday night in Hillsborough to host Raleigh Word of God at 6. They travel to Carrboro on Wednesday night at 6.

RIVERSIDE 59, CEDAR RIDGE 21

CEDAR RIDGE: Yolanda Simpson 2, Natalia Garay 2, Logan Woody 6, Madison Wardlow 4, Grace Davies 1, Tori Dalehite 4, Caitlyn Lloyd 2.

RIVERSIDE: Nakaya Crowley 4, Aijah Perry 23, Ashauntee Nelson 12, Ladasia Jones 9, Eliza Dukes 2, Allison Nichting 2, Jaela Self 3, Deborah Easley 4.

For the first time in three years, Cedar Ridge boys basketball coach Clay Jones didn’t serve as an assistant coach for football.

Instead, he helped coach girls golf, which allowed more time to focus on his basketball team.

Through summer workouts, Jones has made no bones about where his teams stands in the new look Big 8.

“We’re looking up at everyone else right now,” said Jones before Thanksgiving.

So far, that’s been prescient.

On Friday night, Riverside used a 19-4 run in the second quarter to blow past the Pirates 64-35 at Margartha Chambers Court. Treyvon Byrd paced the Pirates (2-3) with ten points. Nine Pirates scored.

Cedar Ridge’s Mekai Collins led the Red Wolves with 13, but Cedar Ridge was held to just 14 points in the 2nd quarter against the taller and faster Pirates.

“Right now, we just have a problem getting the ball in the basket,” said Jones. “It’s not just with one team, it’s a program problem. We struggle against taller teams and that’s what we ran into tonight.”

Cedar Ridge’s only lead of the game came after a pair of free throws by Collins, after Chris Tinnen opened the scoring with a 12-foot jumper on the baseline.

Riverside, coming off a win over Sanderson, got consecutive 3-pointers from Kenny Massey and Micah Jones to push the lead to 16-7 at the end of the first quarter.

“We need to find a bench and we need players who can step up for us,” said Jones. “That’s what we need right now.”

The Red Wolves (1-4) host Word of God on Monday at 7. They travel to Carrboro on Wednesday before hosting Sanderson on Friday.

RIVERSIDE 64, CEDAR RIDGE 35

CEDAR RIDGE-Khalil Barnett 5, Terrance Crawford 7, Chris Tinnen 7, Mekai Collins 13, John Vaughn, Eddie Altieri 2.

RIVERSIDE-Christian Johnson 7, Kenny Massey 9, Treyvon Barnes 10, Jevon Johnson 5, Micah Jones 5, Ben Amstead 5, Trey Goldsmith 6, Josh Alston 3, Myles Sanford 5, Jordann Baker 5.

In the endless amount of box scores that flow through a high school basketball season, Cedar Ridge’s line score against Rockingham County stands out.

The Red Wolves scored 8 in the first quarter, ten in the second…and was held to a single bucket in the third.

Then they scored 28 in the fourth.

It was almost enough for its second win of the season on Tuesday night in Wentworth, but the Cougars held on for a 52-48 victory. Rockingham County is now 3-1. Jake Miller paced all scorers with 22, the only Cougar in double figures.

Khalil Barnett triggered the run by scoring all 16 of his points in the fourth quarter. Terrence Crawford had 13.

As Coach Clay Jones searches for scorers on his young team, he may have found one with sophomore Chris Tinnen, who came off the bench to hit a key 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, which put Cedar Ridge within three points after trailing 33-18 at halftime.

Tinnen’s three-pointer aided a cold shooting night for the Red Wolves, who finished 3-of-18 behind the arc. Cedar Ridge was 41% from the field.

“We didn’t play well for three quarters,” said Cedar Ridge Coach Clay Jones.”

Crawford added seven rebounds for Cedar Ridge, who falls to 1-3 on the season. Cedar Ridge travels to Magratha Chambers Court in Durham on Friday night to face Riverside.

After becoming the first freshman to qualify for the state tournament, Cedar Ridge freshman Ivy Garner has been named to the All-Big 8 team for girls tennis.

Garner was the number one singles player for a Cedar Ridge team that finished third in the Big 8 Conference. In a stacked Big 8 conference which featured 3A Eastern Regional Champion East Chapel Hill and perennial power Chapel Hill, Garner provided a steady presence for the Red Wolves, who finished 13-6, 11-4 in the Big 8. Garner was at her best during the 3A Mideast Regionals, where she advanced to the championship match.

Garner won her opening singles match over April Harrington of Grays Creek 6-1, 6-0. In the quarterfinals, Garner knocked off Emma Hilburn of Northern Guilford 6-1, 6-0. In the semfinals, Garner won a the only three-set match of the championship round, beating Northern Guilford’s Emily Callahan 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

In the 3A state tournament, Garner was the #2 seed from the Big 8. Garner was also a member of Cedar Ridge’s top doubles team with Olivia Ward.

Joining Garner on the All-Big 8 team from Cedar Ridge was senior Kate Milner, who was the #3 singles player. Milner was also a force in doubles with partner Brianna Celine. Milner and Celine qualified for the 3A Mideast Regionals. This is the 2nd time that Milner has made all-conference. As a junior, Milner helped Cedar Ridge win its first Big 8 Championship in school history and advanced to the 3rd round of the 3A State Dual Team playoffs.

Cedar Ridge senior Maddie Warner and sophomore Olivia Ward were named as Honorable Mention performers.

The Orange Panthers had two players make the All-Big 8 team. Senior Caroline Branan spent the season as the #1 singles player for the Panthers. Emma Williamson was the #2 singles player.

Orange’s Payton Clayton was named Honorable Mention.

After advancing the Big 8 Championship and advancing to the state championship match, East Chapel Hill swept the individual awards. The Wildcats’ Savannah Bright was named Big 8 Player of the Year. Wildcats coach Nick Walker, a native of Caldwell who previously coached at Orange and Stanford Middle School, was named Big 8 Coach of the Year.

You would think that a team that loses 57% of its scoring from last season would struggle come out of the gates.

And, for at least one night, you would be wrong.

Sophomore Joey McMullin struck for a career-high 37 points as Orange easily put away the North Carolina School of Science and Math 85-70 in the season-opener at Jim King Gymnasium on Monday night.

McMullin wasted no time is letting everyone know what type of night it would be when he scored 18 points in the first quarter, including four 3-pointers as Orange jumped out to a 26-16 lead.

Senior Mitch Portman added twelve. Morgan Paschall, trying to regain his basketball legs 17 days after football season ended, finished with ten, including 7-of-9 shooting from the foul line in the fourth quarter alone.

Orange had to replace arguably the greatest player in school history in Connor Crabtree, who initially signed with UNC Asheville but is now playing at Hargrove Military Institute. Paired with Logan Vosburg, the 2016-17 Panthers won the first conference regular sesaon championship in 16 years and advanced to the fourth round of the 3A state playoffs before Crabtree broke his right ankle against Triton.

That wasn’t a problem against the Unicorns, who fell to 2-3.

Orange Coach Greg Motley scheduled his team’s first game several weeks later than other teams around the state. The reasoning behind that decision was Orange has made deep football playoff runs in recent years. Last season, while Orange made the 2nd round of the state playoffs, Motley had ten players available for the season opener against Leesville Road, and four of those were JV callups.

This year, Orange football was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Motley played no less than six players who were 17 days removed from the gridiron.

Orange hosts Lee County in Hillsborough on Thursday night at 7:30.

NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND MATH: Caleb Pigues 26, Robert Landry 12, Andrew Rust 5, Moeshe Ikechukwu 6, William Leary 11, Geoffrey Fylak 5, Lucas Embry 6.

ORANGE: Machai Holt 7, Mitch Portman 12, Eli Haithcock 2, Morgan Paschall 12, Joey McMullin 35, Jason Franklin 2, Matt Atherton 3, Kendall Whitted 8, Zyon Pettiford 1, Ryan Sellers 1.

Last season, the Orange women’s basketball team opened 21-0 en route to the Big 8 Regular Season championship, followed by the Big 8 Tournament championship.

With the loss of seven seniors who are scattered everywhere from Starkville, Mississippi to Raleigh to Hartford, Connecticut, it’s too early to say if a similar fate awaits the 2017-18 edition of the Lady Panthers. All that’s certain right now is Orange is 1-0 and junior Lauren Cates is a big reason why.

Cates scored 17 points as the Panthers defeated the North Carolina School of Science and Math 55–44 in the season opener at Jim King Gymnasium in Hillsborough on Tuesday night. Janea Myers added 13 while Icez Barnett scored twelve.

Orange outrebounded the Unicorns 19-10 and created 13 turnovers. Junior point guard Grave Dively and Namron Chapman each corralled four rebounds.

The Panthers roared out to a 20-11 lead and led 41-20 at the half. Shannon Hunter led the Unicorns with 16 points.

Despite workouts throughout the summer to prepare for the loses of top scorer Kaylen Campbell (now at Trinity College in Hartford), leading rebounder Mia Davidson (now a catcher at Mississippi State) and center Bethlyn Early, plus the leadership of Adalyn Fleming, Jazlyn Watson and Mary Beth Dobbins, there was only so much practices could do to prepare Orange for an actual game.

“We definitely played with some nervousness early,” said Orange Coach B.J. Condron. “We got into a little foul trouble, but some reserves stepped up and gave us some valuable minutes. We got to see a lot that we need to work on moving forward.”

Orange hosts Lee County Thursday night at 6.

NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND MATH—Faith Merrit 3, Kaylah Davis 3, Aneesha Manocha 10, Christina Alperi 3, Laila Barnes 6, Shannon Hunter 16.

ORANGE—Janea Myers 13, Icez Barnett 12, Lauren Cates 17, Grace Dively 9, Nashyra Wilkins 8, Jala Rainey 1, Grace Andrews 6.