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Wildcats win Region 2 championship two years in a row

Posted at 10:07 am March 3, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge beat a young, talented Bearden team 86-73 in the Region 2-AAA basketball championship at Wildcat Arena on Thursday, March 2, 2017. The team is pictured above with coaches, cheerleaders, and the student section. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Oak Ridge senior Tajion Jones bounced back with 24 points and the Wildcats beat a young, talented Bearden team 86-73 in the Region 2-AAA championship at home on Thursday.

It’s the second consecutive regional championship for the Wildcats and their third in the past five years.

Oak Ridge (29-2) will now play David Crockett, the Region 1-AAA runner-up, in a sectional at Wildcat Arena at 7 p.m. Monday.

Bearden (21-9) will play at Science Hill, the Region 1 champion, in another sectional at 7 p.m. Monday.

The eight sectionals will determine which teams get to play in the Class AAA state basketball tournament from March 15-18 at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said the Thursday night win over Bearden, which started four sophomores, was a collective effort. [Read more…]

Playing their best game, Lady Wildcats win Region 2 championship

Posted at 8:17 am March 2, 2017
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Playing their best game, the Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the Region 2-AAA championship for the second year in a row, crushing Hardin Valley 71-42 at Wildcat Arena on Wednesday, March 1, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Note: This story was updated at 10:15 a.m.

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the Region 2-AAA championship for the second year in a row on Wednesday, crushing Hardin Valley 71-42. Oak Ridge Coach Paige Redman said it was the best overall game she’s seen the girls play.

“This game showed me a lot about them from start to finish on both ends of the court,” Redman said. “We played really, really well.”

The Lady Wildcats (29-3) had at least 15 steals, and they scored on eight of those. Oak Ridge had 25 points off of turnovers, including steals. Some of those turnovers led to three-point shots, some to layups, and still others to two-point plays converted into three-point plays because of Hardin Valley fouls.

Oak Ridge also had at least a half-dozen feeds in the paint for a basket, sometimes from one player standing near the free throw line to another cutting inside toward the basket when Hardin Valley guards came out too far.

“Tonight they played basketball,” Redman said of her team. “It was the best overall game I’ve seen them play.” [Read more…]

Upchurch scores 25, but Maryville can’t stop Oak Ridge

Posted at 3:52 am March 1, 2017
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Oak Ridge senior Anthony Gibson (23) led the Wildcats with 13 points during a 46-43 win against Maryville in a Region 2-AAA semifinal elimination game at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Oak Ridge senior Anthony Gibson (23) led the Wildcats with 13 points during a 46-43 win over Maryville in a Region 2-AAA semifinal elimination game at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Maryville senior guard Easton Upchurch scored 25 points and made seven three-point shots on Tuesday, but it wasn’t enough to keep Oak Ridge from advancing to its fifth straight regional championship.

The Wildcats were held to their lowest offensive output of the season in the 46-43 Region 2-AAA semifinal win over the Rebels at Wildcat Arena. No Oak Ridge player scored more than 13, which is unusual.

Maryville Coach Mark Eldridge said Oak Ridge has better players than the Rebels, so his team tried to limit the number of possessions. More possessions mean the better team wins, Eldridge said.

The Wildcats probably had about half as many possessions as they normally do, Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said. Maryville has guards who are good enough that the Rebels could run time off the clock—and they did.

“Sometimes you have to find ways to grind them out,” Green said. “Our guys haven’t had a lot of close games, and our guys kept their composure.”

Oak Ridge (28-2) advances to play Bearden (21-8) in the Region 2-AAA championship at Wildcat Arena at 7 p.m. Thursday. The season is over for Maryville (24-6). [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats win close game to advance to Region 2 championship

Posted at 1:06 pm February 28, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Two steals, a layup, and a free throw in the final minute helped Oak Ridge beat William Blount by one point, 48-47, in a Region 2-AAA semifinal game that came down to the final few seconds on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. Pictured above are Oak Ridge juniors Jaymi Golden (32) and Destiny Kassner (30). (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Two steals, a layup, and a free throw in the final minute helped Oak Ridge beat William Blount by one point, 48-47, in a regional semifinal game that came down to the final few seconds on Monday.

The Lady Governors led by two points late in the Region 2-AAA semifinal elimination game, Oak Ridge Coach Paige Redman said. But a steal by Lady Wildcats senior Courtney Ellison led to a tying layup by junior Mykia Dowdell.

Then, another Oak Ridge steal led to a William Blount foul and two free throws by Lady Wildcats sophomore Jada Guinn. She missed the first one but hit the second, Redman said. That gave the Lady Wildcats (28-3) a one-point lead with about half a minute remaining.

With just over two seconds to go, Oak Ridge got the basketball. But the Lady Wildcats turned it over with about 1.3 seconds remaining. When the Lady Governors threw it in, Dowdell knocked it out of bounds. The clock ticked down to 0.3 seconds. That wasn’t enough time for William Blount (21-11) to get the ball in bounds and possibly make a game-winning basket. After being nervous—the Lady Governors led 47-45 with 2:14 remaining—Oak Ridge fans were jubilant.

“Wow!” said Stephanie Thompson, Oak Ridge High School assistant principal. “What a win for the Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats!” [Read more…]

School board picks Scarboro Park for new preschool

Posted at 10:27 pm February 27, 2017
By John Huotari 4 Comments

The new preschool could be located at Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge or Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge, pictured above on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, and the city's school board expects to recommend one of the two sites on Monday, Feb. 27, a school official said Friday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The new preschool should be built at Scarboro Park, the Oak Ridge Board of Education said in a unanimous vote on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The new preschool should be built at Scarboro Park, the Oak Ridge Board of Education said in a unanimous vote on Monday.

The site selection in a 5-0 voice vote came after about 15 minutes of discussion during a school board meeting on Monday.

The other option was Elm Grove Park. That park on East Tennessee Avenue in east Oak Ridge had been identified as the preferred site after a preschool report was published in October 2015.

With one exception, school board members said the two sites are relatively equal as measured by a number of factors outlined by BOE Vice Chair Bob Eby, including learning environment, building and transportation costs, safety and security, expandability and impact on parks, and community and City Council support. The one significant difference: There has been opposition to building the new preschool at Elm Grove Park, while the Scarboro community has welcomed the idea of building the new preschool at Scarboro Park.

“The difference is very stark,” Oak Ridge Board of Education member Angi Agle said. “The community support from Scarboro does make a huge difference.” [Read more…]

Gibson again leads Wildcats, this time in quarterfinal win over West

Posted at 5:47 pm February 27, 2017
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Oak Ridge senior Anthony Gibson (23) again led the Wildcats in a playoff win, this time in a 68-38 Region 2-AAA quarterfinal win against West at home on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Note: This story was updated at 9 a.m. Feb. 28.

Oak Ridge senior Anthony Gibson again led the Wildcats in a playoff win, this time in a Region 2-AAA quarterfinal win against West at home on Saturday.

Gibson, a 6-foot-1 guard, scored a game-high 18 points in the elimination game at Wildcat Arena on Saturday. He had four three-points shots for 12 of those points.

Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, Gibson led Oak Ridge with 24 points as the Wildcats won their fifth straight District 3-AAA championship with an 86-58 defeat of Powell.

With the Region 2 quarterfinal win on Saturday, Oak Ridge advanced to play Maryville at Wildcat Arena at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in a semifinal elimination game. The winner of the Tuesday night Oak Ridge-Maryville game will move on to play in the Region 2-AAA championship. The season will be over for the loser.

“This is the toughest game of the year,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said. “There’s a lot on the line across the state.” [Read more…]

Elm Grove Park, Scarboro Park now being considered for new preschool

Posted at 3:50 pm February 25, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The new preschool could be located at Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge or Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge, pictured above on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, and the city’s school board expects to recommend one of the two sites on Monday, Feb. 27, a school official said Friday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The new preschool could be located at Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge or Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge, and the city’s school board expects to recommend one of the two sites on Monday, a school official said Friday.

Recent discussion had focused on Elm Grove Park and the Scarboro Community Center, where a day care center closed last fall.

But on Friday, Oak Ridge Board of Education Chair Keys Fillauer said expanding the city-owned Scarboro Community Center would require “stair stepping and filling,” essentially work to move dirt and level the site. That’s not cost-effective and not great for the preschool, Fillauer said. Also, the administrative area and gymnasium at Scarboro Community Center would still be used during the day, and the preschool couldn’t be attached to those areas, Fillauer said.

The school board had a non-voting work session Friday morning, and Fillauer said members were shown a very impressive design for a preschool at Scarboro Park, which is across the street from Scarboro Community Center on Carver Avenue. Soil testing has shown that the site is acceptable for building, Fillauer said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge eliminates Bearden, despite second-half rally by Lady Bulldogs

Posted at 1:59 pm February 25, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge juniors Jaymi Golden (32), left, and Desiree Bates (20), center, play defense against Bearden junior Trinity Lee (2), who led the Lady Bulldogs with 25 points in a 62-56 loss to the Lady Wildcats in a Region 2-AAA quarterfinal game at Wildcat Arena on Friday, Feb. 24, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats eliminated Bearden 62-56 in a Region 2-AAA quarterfinal game at home on Friday, despite a high-scoring second-half rally by the Lady Bulldogs.

After scoring only 15 points in the first half, the Bearden girls scored 41 in the second, narrowing an Oak Ridge lead of 24 points in the third quarter to three points late in the fourth.

“It was a fun ball game,” Oak Ridge Coach Paige Redman said. “They did not back down. They did not quit…They went on a great run. We managed to contain it.”

Bearden (24-4) struggled to make three-point shots in the first three quarters. They made only two, both by junior Trinity Lee. That changed in the fourth quarter, when Lee hit four. She led the Lady Bulldogs with 25 points and had 17 of Bearden’s 27 points in the final quarter. She had all six of Bearden’s three-point shots.

Oak Ridge (27-3) was led by sophomore guard Jada Guinn with 32 points, a game high and career high. Like Lee, Guinn also made six three-point shots. She knocked down four in the second quarter alone. [Read more…]

Charges pending in drug investigation

Posted at 11:28 am February 24, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Police officers from the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force and Oak Ridge Police Department serve a search warrant at 306 Vermont Avenue as part of an investigation into illegal drug activity on Friday morning, Feb. 24, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 4:40 p.m.

Charges are pending after a search warrant was served as part of an investigation into illegal drug activity on Vermont Avenue on Friday morning, authorities said.

The search warrant was served by members of the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force and the Oak Ridge Police Department SWAT and patrol staff.

Police were at the home at 306 Vermont Avenue, which is across from St. Mary’s Catholic Church in central Oak Ridge, for several hours Friday morning. The Oak Ridge Codes Enforcement Department was also there.

The Task Force is currently processing the house and conducting interviews, a City of Oak Ridge press release said late Friday morning.

“Charges are pending,” the press release said. “No further details regarding the investigation will be released by ORPD at this time.” [Read more…]

Mason leaving ORNL for Battelle

Posted at 10:58 am February 24, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason is pictured above on Monday, May 23, 2016, in Chattanooga. (File photo by ORNL)

Note: This story was last updated at 3:05 p.m.

Thom Mason, the director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory since 2007, is leaving the lab for a job at Battelle.

Mason announced the move in an email to employees on Friday morning.

He will become senior vice president for laboratory operations at Battelle in Columbus, Ohio. Battelle, in partnership with the University of Tennessee, has managed and operated ORNL for the U.S. Department of Energy since April 2000.

“I’m privileged to take on the challenges that lie ahead,” Mason said. [Read more…]

Dowdell named MVP, leads girls in District 3 championship

Posted at 9:33 pm February 22, 2017
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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the District 3-AAA girls' basketball championship in 59-34 victory over Powell at Clinton High School on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the District 3-AAA girls’ basketball championship in a 59-34 victory over Powell at Clinton High School on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

CLINTON—Oak Ridge junior Mykia Dowdell was named most valuable player and the Lady Wildcats won their second straight District 3-AAA championship with a 59-34 victory over Powell at Clinton on Tuesday.

Oak Ridge (26-3) will play Bearden in a first-round Region 2-AAA tournament game at Wildcat Arena at 7 p.m. Friday. The Lady Bulldogs (24-3) lost to Hardin Valley 58-50 in a third-place District 4-AAA game at Hardin Valley Academy on Monday.

Dowdell led the Lady Wildcats with 21 points in the District 3 championship game against Powell on Tuesday, and she had at least six rebounds. She had eight points in the first quarter alone, and another six in the second.

While Dowdell was named MVP, three other Oak Ridge players were also named to the District 3-AAA All Tournament Team on Tuesday: senior Courtney Ellison, junior Jaymi Golden, and sophomore Jada Guinn. [Read more…]

Photos: Main Street Oak Ridge construction

Posted at 9:12 am February 21, 2017
By John Huotari 5 Comments

Construction work continues for new stores at Main Street Oak Ridge, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall. This work on Friday, Feb. 10, 2017, is in the area that will house Dick’s Sporting Goods and T.J. Maxx, roughly in the area of the former Sears department store between Walmart and the U.S. Post Office. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Construction work continues for eight new stores at Main Street Oak Ridge, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall.

Here are photos from the 58-acre project on Friday, February 10.

With the exception of Belk and JCPenney, the former mall has been demolished, and there has been significant progress on the sites where the new stores are being built.

RealtyLink, the development company, has previously said the eight new stores at Main Street Oak Ridge could be ready by late spring or summer. [Read more…]

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