In their last two games, the Oak Ridge Wildcats have held opposing teams to less than 25 percent shooting from field goal range, Coach Aaron Green said after a 79-31 win over Anderson County on Tuesday.
If a team can hold an opponent to 35 to 38 percent shooting or less, it is defending well, Green said.
He praised the Oak Ridge defense and said the team’s practice habits have been good the past few weeks.
The Wildcats (23-2, 11-0 District 3-AAA) applied a lot of defensive pressure to the Mavericks in the first half, especially in the Anderson County end of the court. Green said Oak Ridge learned a lesson from the previous meeting between the two teams, which Oak Ridge won 78-44 on December 11. The Wildcats’ lead was much smaller in the first half of that game, Green said.
He said the Wildcats have to be “ready to go” when they play Powell tonight. He said Panthers senior post Conley Hamilton “had his way” in the second half the last time the two teams played.
Against Anderson County on Tuesday, Oak Ridge was led by junior Anthony Gibson, who scored 14 points, and senior point guard Geevantay Gee, who had 12.
Green put in reserves late in the game, and 11 players scored for Oak Ridge.
Anderson County (11-13, 0-11) had no players in double digits. Their top scorer, senior Grant Holt, had seven points.
Oak Ridge led Powell by as many as 19 points in the second quarter of their first meeting, but Powell narrowed the lead to seven with about four minutes left in the game. Wildcats junior guard Tajion Jones had five three-point shots and 22 points total in that game, and Hamilton also scored 22.
Tonight’s game against Powell (13-7, 7-4) starts at 7:30 p.m. (Thursday, January 28) at Wildcat Arena.
The Wildcats have six games left in the regular season and four at home. They will play Gibbs at home on Friday.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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