Oak Ridge senior guard Khamari Mitchell-Steen (2) drives against Powell during the District 3-AAA championship game at Wildcat Arena on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. (Photo by Zack James/used with permission)
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.
The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the District 3-AAA championship with a 52-43 win over the Powell Lady Panthers at Wildcat Arena on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. (Photo by Luther Simmons/used with permission)
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.
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 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 Lady Wildcats finished the regular season undefeated in the district, 14-0. It was their first undefeated regular season in the district since the 2016-2017 season. However, they only had one district loss in each of the past three seasons, including both the regular season and playoffs, defeated by Powell once and Campbell County twice.
The Oak Ridge Wildcats finished second in Class 5A in Tennessee this season, losing to Summit of Spring Hill 28-7 in the state football championship on Friday.
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The Oak Ridge Wildcats finished second in Class 5A in Tennessee this season, losing to Summit of Spring Hill 28-7 in the state football championship on Friday.
It was Oak Ridge’s first trip to the state championship since 2005.
The Oak Ridge Wildcats finished second in Class 5A in Tennessee this season, losing to Summit of Spring Hill 28-7 in the state football championship on Friday.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member: an advertiser or subscriber to Oak Ridge Today.
The Oak Ridge Wildcats beat the South Doyle Cherokees 14-0 on Blankenship Field this past Friday, Nov. 27, 2020, in a semifinal game to advance to the state final for the first time since 2005. (Photo by Barry Houchin, used with permission)
Oak Ridge will play for a state football championship this Friday.
The Wildcats (11-3) beat South Doyle 14-0 this past Friday in a semifinal game to advance to the state final for the first time since 2005.
Oak Ridge will now play Summit (13-1) of Spring Hill in the Blue Cross Bowl Class 5A state championship at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville at 7 p.m. Friday.
The Wildcats scored early in the first quarter against South Doyle (10-4) on Blankenship Field last Friday after a fumble recovery by Jacob Berven. Oak Ridge senior quarterback Mitchell Gibbons rolled right and threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Cole Adams, who was able to push past two South Doyle defenders and reach his right arm into the end zone near the right pylon.
The Oak Ridge Wildcats advanced to a Class 5A football semifinal game after a 31-28 quarterfinal win at West on Friday, Nov. 20, 2020. (Photo by Barry Houchin used with permission)
The Oak Ridge Wildcats advanced to a Class 5A football semifinal game after a 31-28 quarterfinal win at West on Friday.
Here are photos by Barry Houchin, used with permission.
The Oak Ridge Wildcats advanced to a Class 5A football semifinal game after a 31-28 quarterfinal win at West on Friday, Nov. 20, 2020. Above, Oak Ridge senior quarterback Mitchell Gibbons (14) runs with the football as Preston Turner (22) blocks. (Photo by Barry Houchin used with permission)
The Oak Ridge Wildcats advanced to a Class 5A football semifinal game after a 31-28 quarterfinal win at West on Friday.
The semifinal game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, November 27, against South Doyle (10-3) on Blankenship Field in Oak Ridge.
Before Friday, the Wildcats (10-3) had lost to the Rebels 22-7 during the regular season in September. A year ago, their season ended at West (12-2) in a 34-14 second-round loss.
The Wildcats led early in the Friday night game, but West took the lead late in the second quarter and held it into the fourth quarter. Then, the two teams traded leads three times in the fourth quarter. Oak Ridge senior quarterback Mitchell Gibbons threw the winning touchdown to senior wide receiver Jonathan Stewart with 2:33 remaining in the game.
Blankenship Field—the city’s football field—is pictured above in August 2019. (File photo by James Mitchell via City of Oak Ridge)
The extension of the COVID-19 emergency in Tennessee has delayed the start of the high school football and girls soccer seasons.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has extended the COVID-19 state of emergency until August 29. A prior order by the governor includes limitations and restrictions on contact sporting events and activities.
In an update sent to member schools on Tuesday, Bernard Childress, executive director of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, said member schools cannot have any competition or scrimmage with other schools while the governor’s order is in place. The schools cannot have close contact activities during practice for football, 7-on-7 football, girls soccer, wrestling, and basketball. Football and girls soccer cannot begin their seasons as originally scheduled, Childress said.
The Oak Ridge football season opener had been scheduled for August 21.
The TSSAA Board of Control had a special meeting Wednesday and voted unanimously to require that member schools follow the governor’s executive order for sports activities.
The board discussed the effect that the extended COVID-19 state of emergency will have on contact sports in the fall. Football, girls soccer, and competitive cheer are considered contact sports.
Tee Higgins, who was then a junior at Oak Ridge, makes a catch during a 26-17 loss at Ooltewah in a second-round Class 5A playoff game on Friday, Nov. 13, 2015. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
The Cincinnati Bengals picked former Oak Ridge wide receiver Tee Higgins in the second round of the NFL draft on Friday.
Higgins, a star football and basketball player at Oak Ridge High School, played three years at Clemson University in South Carolina before being drafted into the National Football League in the 33rd pick, the first pick of the second round on Friday.
Higgins, 21, joins Joe Burrow, the number one pick and a quarterback from Louisiana State University, at Cincinnati. Higgins was the second pick for the Bengals.
Higgins (6-4, 215) is tied with NFL stars Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins for the all-time touchdown record for a Clemson receiver (27). He caught 135 passes for 2,448 yards and 27 touchdowns during his three-year career, according to the Clemson Tigers. He played in two national championship games, winning one, the national championship game against Alabama in 2019. Higgins had three catches for 81 yards and a touchdown in that game.
The BlueCross Basketball Championships, the state tournament games that were scheduled to include the Oak Ridge boys team, have been suspended because of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus.
It’s not clear yet if the games will be rescheduled.
The state basketball tournaments were suspended after quarterfinal games in the girls tournament on Thursday.
The Oak Ridge Wildcats had been scheduled to play in a quarterfinal game of the Class AAA boys tournament on Wednesday of next week.
“Whether we will be able to reschedule these events will depend on the length of the suspension and the availability of facilities,” the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association said.
Attendance will be limited at the boys and girls state basketball tournaments starting Friday, and that will affect an Oak Ridge team and its fans and cheerleaders.
The Oak Ridge Wildcats are one of the eight teams playing in the Class AAA boys basketball tournament, which starts Wednesday, March 18.
The attendance limits are because of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus. The limits were announced Thursday by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association.
“Like many other athletic associations and leagues throughout the country, TSSAA has decided that the health and safety of our student-athletes and spectators alike require that we limit fan attendance at our girls’ and boys’ state basketball championships,” the organization said.
