The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the District 3-AAA championship with a 52-43 win over Powell on Monday. They advanced to a Region 2-AAA semifinal game with a 67-58 quarterfinal win over Farragut on Friday.
It was the sixth consecutive district championship win for the Lady Wildcats.
Oak Ridge (21-4), which is coached by Paige Taylor, will host Maryville (23-5) in the semifinal game at Wildcat Arena on Monday.
With their district championship win on Monday, the Lady Wildcats finished first in the District 3-AAA tournament. That meant they played the fourth-place team in District 4, Farragut, in the Region 2 quarterfinal on Friday.
The Lady Rebels finished second in the District 4-AAA tournament, losing the championship game 57-46 to Bearden on Monday. Maryville advanced to Monday’s semifinal game at Oak Ridge with a 65-33 quarterfinal win over Halls (third in District 3) on Friday.
Oak Ridge and Maryville also met in a Region 2 semifinal game last year. The Lady Wildcats lost that one 71-67.
The Lady Rebels are led by 5-foot-11 guard Denae Fritz, a back-to-back Class AAA Miss Basketball finalist who has committed to play at Iowa State.
The Lady Wildcats are led by 5-foot-7 guard Khamari Mitchell-Steen who is fifth on the all-time scoring list for Oak Ridge (1,883 career points), according to broadcaster David Clary. Mitchell-Steen has announced that she will play at Northern Kentucky University. Among other game highlights from her and her team on Friday, Mitchell-Steen had a steal, basket, and free throw that gave Oak Ridge a three-point lead to break a 54-54 tie with Farragut.
Before Friday, Oak Ridge and Farragut had last played in a regional game in 2015.
Mitchell-Steen led all players on Friday with 25 points against Farragut, according to Clary. Junior post Gracie Hearon added 16 points, senior guard Hope Holt scored 13, and junior Semaj Clark had nine.
The Lady Admirals were led by Macy Barnes with 22 points, Keeleigh Rogers with 12, and McCall Willis with 10.
Mitchell-Steen, named the most valuable player in the District 3 tournament, led Oak Ridge with 18 points against Powell on Monday. Clark scored 13 points in that district championship game, and Hearon added 11.
In the other two quarterfinal games on Friday, Powell (second in District 3) lost to Heritage (third in District 4) 44-33, and Clinton (fourth in District 3) lost to Bearden (first in District 4) 76-37. Bearden and Heritage will play in the other Region 2 semifinal game on Monday.
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