• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds

 

Oak Ridge beats Brentwood to advance to state semifinal

Posted at 11:38 pm March 15, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge senior Tee Higgins (5) had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats during a 53-45 win over Brentwood in a Class AAA state quarterfinal game at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro on Wednesday, March 15, 2017. (Photo by Kindell Moore)

Oak Ridge senior Tee Higgins (5), shown going for a dunk here, had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats during a 53-45 win over Brentwood in a Class AAA state quarterfinal game at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro on Wednesday, March 15, 2017. (Photo by Kindell Moore)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 6:35 p.m. March 16.

MURFREESBORO—Oak Ridge beat Brentwood 53-45 in a state quarterfinal basketball game on Wednesday to advance to a semifinal game against Memphis East on Friday.

It’s the farthest the Wildcats have made it in the Class AAA state tournament since 2014, when they finished as state runner-up, losing 60-58 to Blackman.

Oak Ridge and Brentwood hadn’t played before. The Wednesday afternoon quarterfinal game in Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro was the last of the four Class AAA games. It was the closest of those four games in the BlueCross Basketball Championships. Oak Ridge led by one point, 20-19, at halftime.

The Wildcats (31-2) were led by senior Tyshawn Young with 18 points and nine rebounds. Young was 6-of-6 from the free throw line.

Oak Ridge senior Tee Higgins, who has signed to play football at Clemson, had 16 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two spectacular blocks, and a dunk on a lob pass, as well as another one after driving up the lane.

Brentwood (26-9) was led by seniors Kellen King and Reed Smith with 15 points each. Smith had six rebounds, and King had five.

Advertisement

They were the only four players on either team in double digits. Brentwood slowed down the pace against Oak Ridge, which is more accustomed to scoring 60, 70, or 80 points—or even more. The Wildcats, who have won 19 straight games, have scored more than 100 points four times this season.

The Wildcats started off shooting a low 23.1 percent from the field on 3-of-13 shooting on Wednesday, but they shot better in the next three quarters (40 percent, 77.8 percent, and 55.6 percent). They finished at 46.3 percent from the field, while Brentwood was held to 37 percent.

Neither team made many three-point shots. Oak Ridge had one, and the Bruins had two.

The Wildcats had a 29-25 rebounding advantage.

The Friday semifinal game between Oak Ridge and Memphis East starts at 11:30 a.m. Central time (12:30 p.m. Eastern) in Murphy Center at MTSU. The championship game is on Saturday.

Independence (24-10) of Thompson’s Station and Southwind (31-6) of Memphis will play in the other semifinal game on Friday.

Independence beat Bearden (22-10) of Knoxville, 63-48, in the first quarterfinal game on Wednesday to advance to the semifinal against Southwind on Friday.

Southwind eliminated Oakland (24-8) of Murfreesboro, 59-40, in the second quarterfinal game on Wednesday.

Advertisement

The Independence-Southwind semifinal game starts at 10 a.m. Central Friday.

Memphis East (31-3) beat East Hamilton (25-11) of Chattanooga in the third quarterfinal game on Wednesday to advance to the semifinal against Oak Ridge on Friday.

The Wildcats and Memphis East last met two years ago, when the Mustangs eliminated Oak Ridge 68-57 in a state quarterfinal game. Memphis East was the Class AAA state champion last year.

Oak Ridge has seniors Tajion Jones, a Mr. Basketball finalist this year, and Tee Higgins, a Mr. Basketball finalist last year.

Memphis East has Alex Lomax, the Mr. Basketball winner this year.

In Class AA, Knoxville Catholic also advanced to a state semifinal game on Friday. Catholic will play Whites Creek at 1:15 p.m. Friday in Murphy Center.

You can see the Class AAA tournament bracket here.

You can see final game statistics here.

You can see more detailed stats here.

You can see the Class AA tournament bracket here.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Oak Ridge senior Tajion Jones (3) dribbles the basketball in transition during a 53-45 win over Brentwood in a Class AAA boys' state quarterfinal game at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro on Wednesday, March 15, 2017. (Photo by Kindell Moore)

Oak Ridge senior Tajion Jones (3), center, dribbles the basketball in transition during a 53-45 win over Brentwood in a Class AAA boys’ state quarterfinal game at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro on Wednesday, March 15, 2017. (Photo by Kindell Moore)

 

Oak Ridge senior E.J. Bush (2), who is playing again after a knee injury sidelined him for several months, drives against Brentwood during a 53-45 win for the Wildcats in a Class AAA boys' state quarterfinal game at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro on Wednesday, March 15, 2017. (Photo by Kindell Moore)

Oak Ridge senior E.J. Bush (2), center, who is playing again after a knee injury sidelined him for several months, drives against Brentwood during a 53-45 win for the Wildcats in a Class AAA boys’ state quarterfinal game at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro on Wednesday, March 15, 2017. (Photo by Kindell Moore)

 

See more photos here and here.


Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Filed Under: Front Page News, High School, Slider, Sports, Sports Tagged With: Alex Lomax, boys state quarterfinal, Brentwood, Bruins, Class AAA, Class AAA state champion, E.J. Bush, East Hamilton, in the BlueCross Basketball Championship, Independence, Kellen king, Kindell Moore, Memphis East, Middle Tennessee State University, Murphy Center, Oak Ridge, Reed Smith, Southwind, Tajion Jones, Tee Higgins, Tyshawn Young, Wildcats

Advertisements

 


Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Some of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require significant time to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More Sports News

Wildcats name new football coach

Oak Ridge football has a new coach, Derek Rang. Rang has an overall head coaching record of 86-29 at Powell, Dresden, Gatlinburg-Pittman, and Lewis County High Schools, and he coached the Dresden Lions when they won … [Read More...]

ORHS swim team undefeated in regular season

By Oak Ridge High School Swim Coach Chad Hodge From Oak Ridge Wildcats Athletics The Oak Ridge High School swim team finished the regular season undefeated by beating Lenoir City 199-120, Halls 165-90, Catholic … [Read More...]

Centennial Golf professional named PGA teacher, coach of year

Des Mahoney, the teaching professional at Centennial Golf Academy at the Centennial Golf Club in Oak Ridge, was awarded the 2022 PGA Teacher and Coach of the Year by the Knoxville Chapter of the Professional Golfers … [Read More...]

Early Oak Ridge to be discussed during NPS hike

Early Oak Ridge, including its school system, shopping centers, and housing, will be discussed during a hike with National Park Service rangers on Saturday, December 10. The hike is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. … [Read More...]

Indoor pool to close temporarily for resurfacing

The Oak Ridge Indoor Swimming Pool will close on Monday, December 12, and will remain closed through at least January 2023 for resurfacing. An exact re-opening date has not been set because of the uncertainty that … [Read More...]

More Sports

Recent Posts

  • Y-12 celebrates new fire station, emergency operations center
  • One person seriously injured in Wednesday crash
  • Oak Ridge EM prepared for cold weather to prevent failures
  • Covenant Health donating land for Roane State health science center
  • School board approves aviation career path
  • Wildcats name new football coach
  • Free dental, vision, medical services in February
  • Junior Playhouse performs ‘Gingerbread: Hansel & Gretel’ in February
  • Extreme Classroom Makeover applications due Jan. 31
  • Obituaries: Jan. 20-Jan. 22, 2023

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2023 Oak Ridge Today