The Oak Ridge Wildcats beat the Central Bobcats 94-66 at Wildcat Arena on Friday. The Wildcats are now 9-0 and will play at Powell on Tuesday.
Here are photos from the Friday night game by Julio Culiat.
Posted at
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment
The Oak Ridge Wildcats beat the Central Bobcats 94-66 at Wildcat Arena on Friday. The Wildcats are now 9-0 and will play at Powell on Tuesday.
Here are photos from the Friday night game by Julio Culiat.
Posted at
By John Huotari Leave a Comment
Note: This story was last updated at 11:30 p.m.
Playing for his team, senior Darel Middleton had one of his best games as an Oak Ridge Wildcat, scoring 18 points and picking up 15 rebounds during a 94-66 win over Central on Friday.
It was the most memorable performance by Middleton, a 6-foot-6 post, since he scored 14 points and pulled down 10 rebounds against Memphis East in the state quarterfinal game in March.
“I just felt like I owed my team,” said Middleton, who said he’s gotten into a little trouble this year. “I gave them my all tonight and from now on.”
Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said Middleton is playing a lot harder this year than he did last year.
“He played well,” Green said. “He’s been playing well.” [Read more…]
Posted at
By John Huotari Leave a Comment
Five Wildcats scored 10 points or more as Oak Ridge beat Clinton 85-51 in the first district game of the basketball season on Tuesday.
The Wildcats (8-0, 1-0 District 3-AAA) were led by junior Tajion Jones, who scored 22 points, including on four three-pointers. Jones also had three rebounds.
Junior Tee Higgins, who was named most valuable player in a basketball tournament in the Bahamas on Thanksgiving weekend and was named Mr. Football in Class 5A in Tennessee two days later, on Monday, finished with 16 points. Higgins knocked down three three-pointers in the third quarter, and he also had five rebounds and six assists.
Oak Ridge hit nine three-point shots, compared to one for Clinton. That’s a difference of 24 points. [Read more…]
Posted at
By John Huotari Leave a Comment
Note: This story was last updated at 11:55 p.m.
Junior Tee Higgins hit four three-point shots on Thursday as the Oak Ridge Wildcats—both the boys and girls teams—started the regular season 2-0 with wins over Grace Christian on Tuesday and Christian Academy of Knoxville on Thursday.
The girls beat CAK 64-42 at home on Thursday, and the boys won 93-61.
The boys had 12 players scoring on Tuesday. They had 10 scoring on Wednesday.
They hit 10 three-point shots on Tuesday. They had nine more on Thursday.
“That’s not a fluke,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said. Four different players hit three-point shots: Higgins had four, all in the first half; juniors Tajion Jones and Deandre Gibson each had two; and senior Javien Johnson had one. [Read more…]
Posted at
By John Huotari Leave a Comment
Note: This story was last updated at 12:54 a.m. March 1.
A steal by senior Ted Mitchell late in the game helped save an overtime win for the Oak Ridge Wildcats in a regional tournament semifinal game against Heritage on Saturday.
The Wildcats (28-2) were also helped by a big basket by sophomore Tee Higgins late in overtime, when Oak Ridge was down by one. Higgins’ shot off the glass gave the Wildcats a one-point 44-43 lead with about 1:10 to play. A free throw by junior Geevantay Gee after Mitchell’s steal widened the margin to two.
Heritage (23-12) missed their final two back-to-back shots with about seven seconds left, and the final score at Wildcat Arena was 45-43.
Oak Ridge moves on to play Maryville (24-6) in the Region 2-AAA championship at home at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. [Read more…]
Posted at
By John Huotari Leave a Comment
Note: This story was last updated at 1:30 a.m. Feb. 15
KNOXVILLE—Oak Ridge opened up a large 80-49 lead over Central in the second half of a district semifinal game in Knoxville on Saturday, and the Wildcats will move on to play Karns in the district championship at Central on Tuesday.
The game had been closer at halftime, with Oak Ridge (25-2) ahead 35-27.
But the Wildcats’ defense improved in the third quarter, and Oak Ridge outscored Central 27-12. Sophomore shooting guard Tajion Jones came off the bench to knock down three three-pointers within about one minute in the third quarter to give Oak Ridge a 20-point lead at 56-36. [Read more…]
Posted at
By John Huotari Leave a Comment
KNOXVILLE—The Wildcats needed a big basket late in the game, and Tee Higgins hit one. With his team down by two, the sophomore stayed cool under pressure and hit a three-point shot with 3.1 seconds left to give Oak Ridge a one-point victory over Fulton in front of a raucous sold-out crowd at Jody Wright Arena in Knoxville on Saturday.
The dramatic all-out battle was the last regular-season game for the two top-five teams.
The Falcons dominated early, applying pressure that hurt Oak Ridge, and they led by as much as nine points through much of the fast and furious first half. The Wildcats were “out of whack†offensively, Coach Aaron Green said.
But Oak Ridge got back into the game behind sophomore Anthony Gibson, who came off the bench to score 10 points in the first half and 13 on the night. [Read more…]
Posted at
By Trenton Duffer Leave a Comment
All year, fans have been asking Ted Mitchell to dunk it. On Tuesday, the senior gave the fans what they wanted—and more. He dunked the ball twice in his last regular-season home game at Wildcat Arena.
It was a dramatic finish in a high school career that included trips last year to the state championship game in basketball and the state quarterfinal game in football. The Wildcats’ basketball team finished first in District 3-AAA this year and will advance to the playoffs.
Mitchell, who has plans to play football in college, was the only senior to play for the Wildcats on either the boys’ or girls’ team at home on Senior Night against the Gibbs Eagles on Tuesday.
Here’s more on those games from freelance contributor Trenton Duffer:
Tuesday night, the Oak Ridge Wildcats and Lady Wildcats celebrated Senior Night in the home finale at Wildcat Arena. However, only one senior would be playing his last game in the arena: Ted Mitchell. In some ways, it seemed like “Ted Mitchell Night,†as both sets of Wildcats rolled to easy victories over the Gibbs Eagles and Lady Eagles. Neither set of Eagles had the lead the entire night.
The Lady Wildcats (17-9, 12-3 District 3-AAA) were the first up to play, and they did not disappoint. The Lady Wildcats would go on to crush the Gibbs Lady Eagles (6-18, 5-10) by a score of 65-29. A one-two punch of offense and defense helped the Lady Wildcats walk away with this victory unscathed.
The first quarter was actually very close. Within the first 1:30, Oak Ridge jumped out to an 11-2 lead before the Lady Eagles came storming back, making it 18-14 after one quarter. [Read more…]
Posted at
By Trenton Duffer Leave a Comment
JACKSBORO—The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats and Wildcats made the long trip to Campbell County Tuesday night for their matchup against the Lady Cougars and Cougars. While the boys rolled to an easy 78-47 victory, the girls came up just short of beating the Lady Cougars, losing 47-46 in a nail-biter.
The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats (15-9, 10-3 District 3-AAA) were beaten last night by the Campbell County Lady Cougars 47-46 in a game that had the entire crowd on edge. The Oak Ridge crowd really seemed to be after the officials all night, as they made many questionable calls in the game.
“Those refs were brutal,†said one fan. “It seemed they were out to get us.â€
Controversial calls aside, the Lady Wildcats just couldn’t muster up enough at the end to come back for the victory. The loss marks the 16th time in the schools’ series history that Campbell County has been victorious over the Lady Wildcats. [Read more…]
Posted at
By John Huotari Leave a Comment
On Monday, Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said the football players who have started playing basketball showed a “little bit of rust” in a 75-36 drubbing of Clinton. By Tuesday, it appeared that those players had shaken off some of that rust in a more competitive 77-65 win over Powell.
The biggest improvement, at least in terms of scoring, came from 6-foot-6 junior center Darel Middleton, who was playing against his former team on Tuesday. On Monday at Clinton, Middleton had six points total, or less than one basket per quarter. On Tuesday at home against the Panthers, he had 18 points, a team high.
Middleton, who missed the opening games this season because of the football playoffs, also picked up six rebounds on Tuesday. Green said Middleton, who plays defensive end and wide receiver in football, is very athletic, can score inside, and is a great passer.
“His presence in there is a factor,†Green said. [Read more…]