The Oak Ridge Wildcats Basketball Camp starts with a Shooting Camp on Tuesday. Basketball Camp also features a Skills Camp in July.
The Shooting Camp is June 7-8. The Skills Camp is July 11-13.
All camps are scheduled from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Learn more about the camps and registration here:Â Oak Ridge Basketball Camp 2016. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior point guard Geevantay Gee (12), playing in his last game at Wildcat Arena, goes for a layup during a 73-70 overtime loss to David Crockett in a Class AAA sectional on Monday, March 7, 2016. Gee is guarded here by Pioneer Patrick Good (12), who had a game-high 29 points, including six three-pointers. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 8:15 a.m.
David Crockett denied Oak Ridge a fourth consecutive trip to the state basketball tournament on Monday with 11 three-point shots, including a winning three-pointer by senior Patrick Good with 3.5 seconds left in overtime, and the 17 second-half points of senior Dustin Day.
It was the second time the two teams have met this year. Both games went into overtime and were decided on less than three points, and David Crockett won both. The first game was during the regular season, when the two teams combined to make 30 three-point shots, and the second was during a Class AAA sectional at Wildcat Arena on Monday. Good scored the winning baskets in both games.
After their 73-70 overtime win in the sectional game on Monday, the Pioneers (30-5) advance to the state tournament for the first time in the 44-year history of the program.
“They don’t get much tougher than that,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said after the three-point overtime loss.
[Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior point guard Geevantay Gee (12) led the Wildcats with a game-high 15 points, including three three-point shots, during a 70-40 win over Karns in the Region 2-AAA championship on Thursday, March 3, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 5:15 p.m.
Continuing a string of successes on the basketball court, the Oak Ridge Wildcats won the Region 2 championship in a 70-40 victory over Karns on Thursday. The boys’ regional win at home came one day after the girls won a Region 2 championship at Bearden.
This year, the two teams both won the District 3-AAA championships and the Region 2-AAA championships. It’s the first time that’s happened since 2008.
The Wildcats (34-2), the Region 2 champion, now move on to play David Crockett, the Region 1 runner-up, in a Class AAA sectional game on Monday. The winner advances to the state tournament. David Crockett (29-5) is one of only two teams that beat Oak Ridge this year.
“They are one of the better teams we’ve played all year,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said. “It’s going to be a tough game. It should be a tremendous basketball game. There’s a lot on the line.”
The Pioneers eked out a two-point 89-87 win over the Wildcats on two free throws in double overtime in the Arby’s Classic on December 29. [Read more…]
Powell had nine more rebounds than Oak Ridge and Coach Aaron Green wasn’t pleased with the defense, but the Wildcats battled to beat the Panthers for the fourth time this season, this time during a Region 2-AAA semifinal game at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, March 1, 2016. Pictured above are Oak Ridge junior Tajion Jones (3) and Powell senior Conley Hamilton (34). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Powell had more rebounds and Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green wasn’t pleased with the defense, but the Wildcats prevailed over the Panthers in a Region 2-AAA semifinal game with help from the 32 points of juniors E.J. Bush and Tee Higgins.
The 53-48 win in a playoff elimination game at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday sends Oak Ridge (33-2) to the Region 2-AAA championship game on Thursday. Oak Ridge will face Karns (22-7) for the fourth time this season. The Wildcats have won the previous three contests.
Tuesday’s game was the fourth time that Oak Ridge battled Powell (22-11) this season. The Wildcats won all four matches, a difficult feat, Green said. Two of the wins were in the regular season, one was in the District 3-AAA tournament, and the last was in the Region 2-AAA tournament on Tuesday.
It’s hard to beat a team four straight times, Green said. The Tuesday night game was the closest of the four this year.
“I told the guys the last two days this is going to be a dog fight,” Green said. “This is the toughest game of the year.” [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior forward Javien Johnson (11) celebrates during a 39-30 Region 2-AAA quarterfinal win over Farragut at Wildcat Arena on Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 12 p.m.
Farragut had this strategy coming into a Region 2-AAA quarterfinal game against Oak Ridge on Saturday: Limit the number of possessions, shorten the game, keep the score low, and play as little defense as possible.
The goal: Hold the ball for two minutes at a time, or about one-fourth of an eight-minute quarter.
For a while, it worked. Oak Ridge (32-2) found itself in the unusual position of being down two points at halftime, 17-15. But the Wildcats, the District 3 champion, found a way to win in the second half and they eked out a 39-30 victory to advance to a Region 2-AAA semifinal against Powell at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday.
“I’m just proud of our guys for getting it done,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said.
The Farragut strategy bewildered, frustrated, and irritated Oak Ridge fans. Fans and players called it “keep away” or “stall ball.” It’s a strategy often used near the end of a half or quarter, maybe when there is a minute or so remaining and a team wants the last shot, but it’s generally not used throughout a game. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Wildcats won the District 3-AAA championship in an 88-62 victory over Karns on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016. (Photo by Luther Simmons)
CLINTON—Oak Ridge junior Tee Higgins scored a game-high 20 points and senior Javien Johnson was named MVP as the Wildcats won the District 3-AAA championship in an 88-62 victory over Karns on Tuesday.
Coach Aaron Green said the Wildcats (31-2) had 13 offensive rebounds in just the first half. Junior E.J. Bush had a career-high 14 rebounds through both halves. Higgins had 12, including nine at the half, and Johnson pulled down eight.
“Rebounding was phenomenal,” Green said. “I thought we played really well, especially on defense in the first half.”
Johnson and junior Tajion Jones each scored 18 points for Oak Ridge. Bush added 10. Jones scored 13 of his 18 points in the third quarter.
Johnson, who has been playing with more intensity recently, said he knew he was capable of being named the most valuable player of the District 3-AAA tournament, which was played at Anderson County High School. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior forward Javien Johnson (11) scored a game-high 25 points during a 72-46 win over Powell in a District 3-AAA semifinal at Anderson County High School on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 7:45 p.m.
CLINTON—Oak Ridge senior forward Javien Johnson scored a game-high 25 points in a 72-46 district tournament semifinal win over Powell on Saturday. The Wildcats advance to play Karns in the District 3-AAA championship on Tuesday.
The Wildcats (30-2) held the Panthers to six points in the first quarter and three points in the third on Saturday. But they allowed 21 points in the second.
“We quit guarding them in the second,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said.
But the Wildcats responded well in the second half and played better defense, Green said.
The District 3-AAA semifinal at Anderson County High School on Saturday was the third meeting this year between Oak Ridge and Powell (20-10). The Wildcats have won all three games. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior point guard Geevantay Gee (12) drives for a basket in his last regular-season game at Wildcat Arena, an 81-31 drubbing of Fulton on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m.
It wasn’t the game anyone expected. In a battle of two top-ranked teams, Oak Ridge beat Fulton 81-31 at Wildcat Arena on Saturday.
The basketball game, the last in the regular season, was never really close. The Wildcats (29-2) were up by 16 points less than five minutes into the game, led 27-8 at the end of the first quarter, and went into halftime ahead 50-13. Junior guards Tee Higgins and Tajion Jones both had early dunks that fired up the loud, raucous standing-room-only crowd.
The Falcons (22-2), ranked number two in Class AA, shot 15 percent in the first half and probably didn’t do any better in the second, Coach Jody Wright said.
Meanwhile, Oak Ridge, ranked number eight in Class AAA, had 20 assists in the first half alone, a sign that the Wildcats were sharing the ball well, and they played their best game of the year, Coach Aaron Green said. Senior point guard Geevantay Gee had five of those first-half assists, and junior guard E.J. Bush had four. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior forward Javien Johnson (11) is pictured above during a 78-61 win at Powell on Dec. 8, 2015. Johnson led the Wildcats with 18 points during a 71-43 win at Campbell County on Friday, Feb. 12, 2016, in the last regular-season district game. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
For the first time, the Oak Ridge Wildcats and Lady Wildcats basketball teams have both finished the regular season undefeated in the district.
The closest the two teams have ever come to that feat was in 1999-2000, when the girls went undefeated but the boys lost to Campbell County in the Cougars’ last win over Oak Ridge, said broadcaster David Clary of Prepradio.com.
Clary said the Oak Ridge girls went five straight seasons without losing a regular-season district game between 1985-1990.
This year’s two Oak Ridge teams ended their regular-season district games on Friday at Campbell County.
The girls (22-3, 16-0 District 3-AAA) won the regular-season district championship with a come-from-behind 47-32 win over the Lady Cougars. The only two district losses for the Lady Cougars (23-5, 14-2) this year have been to Oak Ridge.
The boys (28-2, 16-0) finished with a 71-43 blowout at Campbell County (14-14, 5-11). [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior point guard Geevantay Gee (12) scored 10 points for the Wildcats during an 86-60 win over Karns on Friday, Feb. 5, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge Wildcats, who are undefeated in their district, won the regular-season district championship on Friday and will enter the basketball playoffs as the top seed.
The Wildcats (26-2, 14-0 District 3-AAA) will also automatically get a spot in the Region 2 tournament, Coach Aaron Green said.
Oak Ridge played Karns again on Friday. That game was not as close as the last meeting between the two teams, when the Wildcats escaped with a 72-68 win. In that January 5 game, the Beavers whittled the lead down to two points, 70-68, with 1:04 remaining, and they had a chance to tie the game or even take the lead with about 35 seconds left.
The second game, at Wildcat Arena on Friday, February 5, was competitive, but Oak Ridge maintained a healthy lead through most of it, often leading by 10 points or more. They were up by 13 points, 43-30, at halftime, and widened the lead in the fourth quarter to finish with an 86-60 win.
Oak Ridge has two district games remaining. The first had been scheduled for Tuesday, January 9, at Halls (6-19, 2-12), but it has been postponed to Wednesday. The second is at Campbell County (14-12, 5-9) on Friday. [Read more…]
University of Tennessee Coach Butch Jones, left, watches the Oak Ridge Wildcats play basketball at home on Friday, Jan. 29, 2015. Tee Higgins, a junior guard, has committed to play football at UT. Higgins is a wide receiver. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 12:25 a.m.
The Oak Ridge Wildcats swept Gibbs at home on Friday, but University of Tennessee football coach Butch Jones stole the show.
Although they couldn’t discuss why they were there, Jones and Zach Azzanni, UT wide receivers coach, were at Wildcat Arena on Friday to watch 6-foot-5 junior Tee Higgins. Besides playing basketball well, Higgins is also a wide receiver, defensive back, and kick returner who has committed to play football for the UT Volunteers. He was named Tennessee Titans Mr. Football in November, recognized as Back of the Year in Class 5A.
Jones and Azzanni also attended a Wildcats football game in the fall, when Oak Ridge beat Lenoir City 55-15 on September 18.
When Jones arrived at the basketball game on Friday, the excited student section—many of them dressed in Volunteer orange—began singing “It’s great to be a Tennessee Vol, I said, it’s great to be a Tennessee Vol!” [Read more…]
Junior guard Tajion Jones (3) led Oak Ridge with a game-high 22 points in an 85-51 win over Powell at Wildcat Arena on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was updated at 3 p.m.
The first half was competitive. The second half wasn’t.
Oak Ridge led Powell by only seven points, 40-33, at halftime at Wildcat Arena on Thursday.
But Oak Ridge (24-2, 12-0 District 3-AAA) quickly opened up a large lead early in the third quarter. Junior guard Tajion Jones knocked down three consecutive three-point shots in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter. Then, about a minute later, he scored a field goal to widen the Oak Ridge lead to 52-33. That was 11 points for Jones in the first 2.5 minutes of the second half.
The Wildcats, undefeated in the district, ended up outscoring the Panthers 28-6 in the third quarter. Powell (13-8, 7-5) never recovered. [Read more…]
