Basketball: Lady Wildcats win third straight district championship

 

Note: This story was updated at 10 a.m. Feb. 25.

HALLS—Oak Ridge pulled away from Campbell County in the second half to win its third straight district championship in the girls’ basketball tournament at Halls on Saturday.

The Lady Wildcats led by just six points, 25-19, at halftime in the District 3-AAA tournament championship. But they outscored the Lady Cougars 35-19 in the second half to beat Campbell County 60-38.

Oak Ridge junior Jada Guinn, who was named most valuable player of the tournament, led in scoring with 23 points. Twelve of those were in the fourth quarter.

Oak Ridge senior Mykia Dowdell added 17.

Campbell County junior Skylar Boshears, who scored 11 points for the Lady Cougars, was hurt less than a minute into the second half and had to be helped off the floor and into the locker room. But she was back in the game a few minutes later.

In the meantime, the Lady Wildcats, who led the entire game, opened up a 10-point lead, 32-22, by 5:17 in the third quarter. They outscored the Lady Cougars 22-12 in the final quarter to pad their lead.

Campbell County Coach Brad Honeycutt said Oak Ridge dominated in offensive rebounding, and the Lady Wildcats scored on second-chance shots and Lady Cougar turnovers. Guinn scored her first four points on back-to-back steals 10 seconds apart early in the first quarter. She scored four more early in the third quarter on Campbell County turnovers.

Every time Campbell County went on a run, Oak Ridge responded, Honeycutt said. The Lady Cougars were going to have to make shots, he said.

Oak Ridge was 21-of-39 from two-point range and 25-of-48 total, while Campbell County was 10-of-26 from two-point range and 13-of-36 total, according to game statistics by Mark Haste.

The Lady Cougars were led by sophomore Madison Brady, who scored 13 points.

It was the second time Oak Ridge, the number two seed in the district tournament, beat Campbell County, the number one seed, this season. The Lady Wildcats’ one district loss this season was to Campbell County, a 56-54 defeat at home on January 30. The two teams shared the regular-season district championship.

Oak Ridge advanced to the district championship by beating Powell, the number three seed, 62-38 in a semifinal game at Halls on Friday.

Campbell County advanced to the title game with a 59-39 win over Clinton, the number five seed, in the other semifinal game on Friday.

Oak Ridge will host the fourth-place team from District 4 in a first-round Region 2-AAA tournament game at home on Friday, and Campbell County will host the third-place team. Hardin Valley and William Blount are playing for third and fourth place in the District 4 consolation game in Lenoir City at 6 p.m. today (Monday, February 19).

In District 3, Clinton upset Powell 51-42 to claim third place in the district tournament in the girls’ consolation game at Halls on Saturday.

Clinton and Powell will travel to play the top two teams in District 4, where Bearden and Maryville are playing for the district championship at 7 p.m. today.

Oak Ridge and Campbell County also played for the district title in 2016. Oak Ridge won 52-34 in that game, which was played at Anderson County High School, and Guinn, who was then a freshman, was named district tournament MVP after scoring 21 points. That was the first district championship for the Lady Wildcats since 2010.

Dowdell was named MVP last year after a 59-34 victory over Powell in the district championship game at Clinton.

Besides Guinn, Dowdell was named to the District Tournament All-Tournament Team on Saturday. So were Oak Ridge seniors Jaymi Golden (seven points) and Desiree Bates (five points), who spent much of the championship game guarding Boshears.

Other All-Tournament players were Boshears, Brady, and Haley Comer of Campbell County; Danyel Joy and Nikki Jones of Clinton; Haley Schubert of Powell; and Brooklin McCoy of Anderson County.

Three of the top four seeds in the District 3-AAA tournament—Campbell County, Oak Ridge, and Powell—advanced to the Region 2-AAA tournament. Halls, the number four seed did not, falling to Clinton 53-41 on Wednesday, February 14.

Clinton was the one seed in the bottom four to advance.

Besides Halls, Anderson County, Central, and Karns were also eliminated, and their season is over.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

You can see the 2018 District 3-AAA girls’ district tournament bracket here.

 

 

 

 

See more photos here.

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