Oak Ridge Today

Good, Day, three-pointers deny Wildcats fourth consecutive trip to state

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Wildcats-Gee-David-Crockett-March-7-2016

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.
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Lady Wildcats to play Dyer County in state basketball tournament Wednesday

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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats and cheerleaders celebrate a 39-32 sectional win over Dobyns-Bennett at Wildcat Arena on Saturday, March 5, 2016. The win sends the Lady Wildcats to the state tournament for the first time since 2010. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats will play Dyer County in the quarterfinals of the state girls basketball tournament on Wednesday.

The 2016 BlueCross Basketball Championship is scheduled on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday for the Division I Class AAA girls teams. It’s at the Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

The game between Oak Ridge and Dyer County on Wednesday is the first Class AAA quarterfinal game of the day. It starts at 10 a.m. Central time.

Oak Ridge, the number one seed in District 3, has a 27-4 record. The Lady Wildcats beat Dobyns-Bennett, the number one seed in District 1, 39-32 in a Class AAA sectional game on Saturday to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 2010. [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats upset Bearden in Region 2 championship; Guinn named MVP

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Oak Ridge freshman Jada Guinn (24) led the Lady Wildcats with a game-high 17 points during a 49-35 upset over Bearden in the Region 2-AAA championship at Bearden on Wednesday, March 2, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 3:15 p.m. March 3.

KNOXVILLE—The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats upset Bearden and won their first Region 2-AAA championship since 2010 on Wednesday, and freshman Jada Guinn was named most valuable player in the regional tournament—one week after being named most valuable player in the district tournament.

The 49-35 win for Oak Ridge, the Region 2 champion, means the Lady Wildcats (27-4) will have home-court advantage when they play Dobyns-Bennett in a Class AAA sectional at Wildcat Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday. Dobyns-Bennett (25-10) is the Region 1 runner-up.

Bearden (27-6), the Region 2 runner-up, will also play in a Class AAA sectional, but the Lady Bulldogs will have to travel to Morristown West (30-3), the Region 1 champion.

Sectional winners advance to the state tournament. [Read more…]

Wildcats advance to state tournament on late free throws by Higgins, block by Johnson

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Javien Johnson Geevantay Gee and Science Hill

Juniors Javien Johnson (11) and Geevantay Gee (12) of the Oak Ridge Wildcats defend against the Science Hill Hilltoppers during a 55-53 win in a Class AAA sectional game in Johnson City on Tuesday. Johnson blocked a shot by Malik McGue, who scored five of his eight points in the fourth quarter of his final game for Science Hill, with 0.8 seconds to play to help win the game. (Photo courtesy Trey Williams/Johnson City Press)

 

JOHNSON CITY—The Oak Ridge Wildcats are heading back to the state tournament in Murfreesboro next week after their comeback 55-53 win against a hungry Science Hill group at Tuesday night’s Class AAA Sectional game. Two free throws by sophomore Tee Higgins with 5.1 seconds left and a defensive block by junior Javien Johnson with 0.8 seconds left helped the Wildcats pull away with the victory.

It seemed that Science Hill (23-15) couldn’t miss from the floor in the first half. The Hilltoppers hit six three-pointers in the first half—four in the first quarter alone. One of those four included a buzzer-beating three at the end of the first quarter. With the buzzer-beater, the Hilltoppers had a 16-12 lead on the Wildcats.

In the second quarter, Oak Ridge (29-3) fell behind quickly. At one point, the Wildcats were down 24-14. However, thanks to two three-pointers by sophomore DeAndre Gibson, the Wildcats were able to gather themselves and go on a 13-6 run to end the quarter. With one half in the books, Oak Ridge was trailing 30-27.

The second quarter was the only quarter of the game that didn’t have a tie or a lead change. Oak Ridge had three three-pointers in the first half, all of them courtesy of Gibson (2) and sophomore Tajion Jones (1).

The Hilltoppers battled back in the second half. After Oak Ridge jumped out to a 34-30 lead, the Hilltoppers rattled off seven straight points to take the 37-34 lead. Oak Ridge pulled within a point of taking the lead back, and Science Hill drained a three. There actually was a span of 30 seconds in the third that had four consecutive combined threes hit by both teams. However, the Wildcats scored late in the third to give themselves a 44-43 lead with one quarter left to decide who went to the state tournament and who stayed home. [Read more…]