Fourth-quarter comeback not enough as Wildcats fall to Mustangs in state quarterfinal

Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m.

After falling behind by 12 points, Oak Ridge narrowed the Memphis East lead to two in a fourth-quarter comeback sparked by junior Darel Middleton, but it wasn’t enough as the Wildcats lost to the Mustangs in a state quarterfinal game in Murfreesboro on Wednesday.

It’s the end of the season for the Wildcats (29-4), who played their last game with senior Ted Mitchell.

Sophomore Tajion Jones hit four three-pointers for Oak Ridge in the BlueCross Basketball Championship game at Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State University. Three of those were in the first two quarters, and they helped give the Wildcats a 30-28 lead at halftime.

But Memphis East outscored Oak Ridge 22-9 in the third quarter to take a 50-39 lead.

The Wildcats went on a 10-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to narrow the gap to two before the Mustangs pulled away again.

Memphis East was led by two freshman guards: Alex Lomax (5-foot-10), who had 25 points and four rebounds, and T.J. Moss (6-foot-4), who had 18 points, six rebounds, and three assists.

The 6-foot-6 Middleton came off the bench to score 14 points, including six in the fourth quarter, and pull down 10 rebounds for Oak Ridge. Sophomore Tee Higgins (6-foot-4) also had 14 points, and he picked up nine rebounds for the Wildcats.

Memphis East moves on to play Brentwood (29-6) in a Division I Class AAA semifinal game on Friday morning.

In another quarterfinal game at Murphy Center on Wednesday, Maryville (26-7) fell in a 65-45 loss to Blackman (25-6), last year’s Class AAA champion.

Oak Ridge was state runner-up last year, and this was the Wildcats’ third straight trip to the state tournament.

The Wednesday quarterfinal loss to Memphis East was only the second in-state loss of the season for the Wildcats. The other loss was to Maryville in the Region 2-AAA Championship.

See the final team stats from the Oak Ridge-Memphis East quarterfinal game here.

See the final team box stats here.

See the BlueCross Basketball Championship Division I Class AAA bracket here.

More information will be added as it becomes available.