The Oak Ridge boys and girls basketball teams will play for district championships on Monday and Tuesday. It’s the sixth consecutive trip to the district championship game for the girls and the ninth for the boys.
The Lady Wildcats (19-4) will play Powell (15-3) for the District 3-AAA girls championship at 7 p.m. Monday, February 22, in Wildcat Arena. The two teams also played for the district championship last year. Oak Ridge won that game 64-53.
Coached by Paige Taylor, Oak Ridge won district championships in each of the past five seasons, including two victories over Powell.
In the boys tournament, the Wildcats (23-4) will play Clinton (16-4) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, also in Wildcat Arena. The two teams also played for the district championship last year. Oak Ridge won that game 73-69.
The Wildcats have won the past two district championships. They are coached by Aaron Green, who recently achieved his 300th victory in 11 years.
The winners and losers of the district championship games this week will advance to the Region 2-AAA tournaments.
The Oak Ridge girls finished first in the district during the regular season this year with a 14-0 district record. Powell was second in the district, with a 12-2 district record. The Lady Panther’s only two district losses were to Oak Ridge.
The Lady Wildcats advanced to the district championship by defeating Clinton 64-42 in a District 3 semifinal game at Wildcat Arena on Friday. Senior Khamari Mitchell-Steen led Oak Ridge in scoring with 25 points during that game, according to Wildcats broadcaster David Clary. Gracie Hearon added 18 points, Semaj Clark scored 8, and Hope Holt had 7.
The Lady Wildcats have won 20 district games since losing to Powell in January 2020.
The Wildcats also finished the regular season undefeated in District 3-AAA with a 14-0 record. They were first in the district.
Second in the district, Clinton had only three regular-season district losses. Two were to Oak Ridge; the other was to Halls.
The Oak Ridge boys beat the Dragons 85-65 in Oak Ridge in December and 69-56 in January.
The Wildcats advanced to the district championship by beating Karns (8-14) 59-49 in a district semifinal game in Wildcat Arena on Saturday. The Wildcats were led by senior Jeremy Miller with 16 points, Jonathan Milloway (co-MVP (most valuable player) of District 3) with 15, Kell Slater with 12, and Stafford Shanklin with 7, according to Clary.
The Wildcats had eight non-district wins this year against Morristown East, Pigeon Forge, Stone Memorial, Concord Christian, Alcoa, Fulton, and Cleveland twice.
The four losses for the Wildcats this year were all in non-district games against Kingston, Greeneville, Webb, and Knoxville Catholic.
The Oak Ridge Wildcats have won 43 district games since losing to Anderson County in December 2018.
See the Oak Ridge boys season record on CoachT.com.
See the Oak Ridge girls season record on CoachT.com.
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