Oak Ridge Today

Clinton boys advance, girls lose; Oak Ridge girls play tonight

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Logo

WYSH Radio/Oak Ridge Today

The Clinton boys’ basketball team advanced to the second round of the District 3-AAA tournament in a 67-58 first-round win over the Gibbs Eagles at Central High School in Knoxville on Wednesday.

J’Quan Thomas led three double-digit scorers for the seventh-seeded Dragons, who will take on third-seeded Halls at 7:30 tonight (Thursday, February 12). The winner of tonight’s tilt will move on to the district semifinals Saturday at 6 p.m. against Karns and earn a berth in next week’s region tournament, while the loser’s season will be finished, WYSH Radio reported.

In the first game on Wednesday night, Gibbs’ girls closed out the Karns Lady Beavers, blowing open a close game in the third quarter on their way to a 50-37 win and a second-round matchup with the Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats that will tip off at 6 p.m. Thursday at Central.

Meanwhile, the Clinton girls’ basketball season ended in a Tuesday loss to Campbell County at Central. [Read more…]

TSSAA approves football regional realignments for 2015, 2016

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Information from WYSH Radio

On Thursday, the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Board of Control finalized its realignment of the state’s high school football teams, and there are plenty of changes affecting local teams.

The state’s new Class 6A will be made up of the 31 largest schools in the state by enrollment, except for Maryville, which successfully petitioned the state to move from 5A to 6A. All 32 6A teams will qualify for the postseason, while the remaining Division I classifications will send the top four finishers in each region to the postseason.

The realignment will remain in effect for at least the next two academic years, beginning in 2015.

Locally, the Clinton Dragons are in the new Region 3-5A with Campbell County, Oak Ridge, Farragut, Karns and Lenoir City. Anderson County has moved to Class 4A and will play in Region 2 with Fulton, Carter, Catholic, Central, and Union County. The list of regions served by this radio station is below, with local teams in italics. [Read more…]

VolleyCats sweep Halls, 3-0 in district; play Powell, Clinton this week

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Oak Ridge High School 2014 Volleyball Closeup

The 2014-2015 Oak Ridge Wildcats Volleyball Team—front row (left to right): Samantha Mabry, Rachel Loeffler, Emily Lawless, J-J Valencia, Allison Jones; middle row (left to right): Beth Wyatt, Olivia Milloway, Reagan Dickens, Sami Viau, Mattie Livengood, Rachel Clement, Sarah Roth, Carolyn Pelfrey, and Devyn Bonds; back row (left to right): Greg Livengood (assistant coach), Emily Campbell, Rachel Card, Alex Sherles, Emma Milloway, Molly McDonough, Stella Powell, Mollie Turner, Kasey Smith, and Carmen Foster (head coach).

 

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On Tuesday, in the first district match of the season, the Oak Ridge VolleyCats clawed their way to a huge district win over Anderson County after five sets: 25-12, 18-25, 25-21, 24-26, and 15-10.

On Thursday, Oak Ridge defeated Karns in four sets: 25-20, 25-21, 21-25, and 25-16.

Then, on Monday, September 8, Oak Ridge swept Halls 25-15, 25-23, and 25-12.

The volleyball team’s district record is now 3-0, and its overall record is 14-6. [Read more…]

Several hundred compete in Ben Martin Middle School track meet

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Ben Martin Invitational

Several hundred students from five regional middle schools, including Jefferson and Robertsville, competed in the Ben Martin Middle School Invitational track meet in Oak Ridge on Thursday.

Several hundred students from five middle schools competed in the first-ever Ben Martin Middle School Invitational track meet in Oak Ridge on Thursday.

The meet was named after Ben Martin, a legendary Sports Hall of Fame coach who won seven state championships as track coach at Oak Ridge High School. Thursday’s meet was at Ben Martin Track at the high school.

Martin was the first ORHS track and football coach, and he won championships in both sports and began the entire athletic program at the high school, ORHS Cross Country Coach Allen Etheridge said.

“I talked with longtime Oak Ridge coach Winston Russell today, who told me that he remembered coach Martin as the guy who was always there, the guy who would coach anyone at any time,” Etheridge said Monday. “(Martin) was an assistant football coach and was head basketball coach.”

Athletes from Cherokee, Jefferson, Karns, Rhea County, and Robertsville middle schools competed in Thursday’s meet, which included events ranging from relays and hurdles to long jumps and high jumps. [Read more…]

Mixed bag for District 3 in Region 2 tourneys

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Information from WYSH Radio

Regional basketball tournaments began Friday for the girls of East Tennessee high school basketball, and Saturday for the boys.

On the girls’ side, the Region 2-AAA tournament ended quickly for all four District 3 teams as Heritage eliminated Anderson County, Bearden took out Halls, Farragut routed Campbell County, and Maryville blew out Powell.

Conversely, Saturday night’s Region 2-AAA boys’ first round saw District 3 go 4-0 on the night, with Oak Ridge beating Farragut, Karns handling Hardin Valley, Halls eliminating Bearden, and Powell taking out Maryville. [Read more…]

Three-point-shooting freshman helps lead Wildcats to tournament win

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DeAndre Gibson Oak Ridge Wildcats

Freshman DeAndre Gibson, right, hit four three-point shots against the Farragut Admirals in the third quarter of a first-round regional basketball tournament game on Saturday, giving the Wildcats the lead and shifting momentum.

A three-point-shooting freshman came off the bench Saturday and gave the Oak Ridge Wildcats the big momentum-shifting boost they needed against Farragut in the first round of the Region 2 basketball tournament.

Freshman DeAndre Gibson knocked down four three-point shots in the third quarter, first giving Oak Ridge a 34-33 lead and then—a few minutes later—widening it to 45-38, the largest lead of the first three quarters. Wildcats fans exploded with excitement after Gibson’s second series of back-to-back three-point shots.

“It was probably the difference in the ball game,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said after the 59-48 victory over the Admirals. [Read more…]

Wildcats advance to district championship with 69-67 comeback in semifinals OT

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Jaylin Henderson and Oak Ridge Wildcats

Senior guard Jaylin Henderson, left, leads the Oak Ridge Wildcats to a 69-67 come-from-behind overtime win over the Powell Panthers in a semifinal tournament game on Monday.

Note: This story was updated at 8:50 a.m.

POWELL—The Oak Ridge Wildcats erased a 17-point Powell lead in a semifinal tournament game on Monday and advanced to the district championship with a buzzer-beating 69-67 come-from-behind overtime win.

The Wildcats, who struggled on defense and with rebounding for much of the game, trailed the Panthers throughout the first three quarters, often by more than 10 points.

But a fired-up Jaylin Henderson came alive in the fourth quarter for the Wildcats, stealing balls on one end and scoring baskets on the other. He tied the game at 63-63 with about 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Senior forward Isaac Merian, who had been relatively quiet for much of the night, scored the winning basket in overtime, picking up a loose ball and banking in an off-the-backboard shot as time expired, giving the Wildcats their 69-67 victory.

Oak Ridge fans exploded with excitement, and Panthers fans left in stunned silence. [Read more…]

Wildcats on eight-game win streak, three regular-season games remain

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Isaac Merian of the Oak Ridge Wildcats

Isaac Merian of the Oak Ridge Wildcats scores two against Campbell County on Thursday. (Photo courtesy Bruce Phillips)

The Oak Ridge Wildcats have won eight in a row, and the boys’ team will finish the regular season this week with three games against Gibbs, Karns, and Fulton.

The Wildcats (23-5, 13-1 in District 3) beat Campbell County 80-41 in a rescheduled game at home on Thursday, and they won at Knox Central 79-62 on Friday.

They play at Gibbs, a district opponent, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. That’s followed by games at home this weekend—against Karns on Friday and Fulton on Saturday. Oak Ridge beat Karns 70-64 on Jan. 11. [Read more…]

Wildcats take 66-37 win over Gibbs; Lady Wildcats fall 49-39

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Oak Ridge Wildcats and Gibbs Eagles Basketball

The Oak Ridge Wildcats beat the Gibbs Eagles 66-37 at Wildcat Arena on Friday night.

They played without 6-foot-6 senior Isaac Merian on Friday, but the Oak Ridge Wildcats built a 30-13 scoring cushion in the first half and kept it in the second, taking a 66-37 win over the Gibbs Eagles at home.

The Wildcats (16-5, 6-1 in District 3) took advantage of a series of deflections and steals, especially in the first half, used an effective press, and stayed aggressive throughout the game, Oak Ridge coach Aaron Green said. Keeping the Eagles (0-12, 0-7) to 13 points in the first half was also important, Green said.

Merian injured his shoulder during a Tuesday night third-place game in the 2013 Arby’s Classic in Bristol, when the Wildcats lost 67-40 to the Christ Presbyterian Academy Lions. Merian is a scorer, protector, rebounder, and leader, and the team should know more about his shoulder injury after an MRI on Monday, Green said. [Read more…]