Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge plays Memphis Central in girls’ basketball tournament Wednesday

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2017 Class AAA State Girls' Basketball Tournament Bracket

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats (30-3) will play Memphis Central (28-6) in the first game of the Class AAA State Girls’ Basketball Tournament on Wednesday.

The state quarterfinal game starts at 10 a.m. Central (11 a.m. Eastern) Wednesday in the Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

The other six teams in the girls’ Class AAA tournament are Morristown West of East Tennessee, Clarksville (northwest of Nashville on the Kentucky border), Stewarts Creek of Smyrna, Dickson County in the Nashville area, Riverdale of Murfreesboro, and Houston of Germantown in the Memphis area.

Riverdale, last year’s Class AAA state girls champion, is back in the state tournament. At 31-0, they are the only undefeated team. Riverdale is the number one-ranked team in the nation by USA Today and MaxPreps, according to the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal.

But Riverdale senior All-American Anastasia Hayes went down with an ankle injury late in a Class AAA sectional against Cumberland County on Saturday. Riverdale Coach Randy Coffman said Hayes has a “few days to nurse it,” according to the Daily News Journal. Hayes is a 5-foot-7 point guard and University of Tennessee signee who was named a Miss Basketball finalist again this year and was named most valuable player of last year’s state tournament. [Read more…]

Wildcats’ lead slips away in fourth quarter of state championship

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Oak Ridge Wildcats 2014 State Runner Up

The Oak Ridge Wildcats were named Class AAA State Runner-Up after a 60-58 loss to the Blackman Blaze in Murfreesboro on Saturday.

MURFREESBORO—The Oak Ridge Wildcats gave up an 11-point lead in a series of turnovers in the fourth quarter before losing to the Blackman Blaze 60-58 in a state championship game in Murfreesboro on Saturday.

Wildcats senior Jaylin Henderson had a game-high 24 points in the Class AAA final, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the combined scoring of four Blaze players who scored 10 or more each. The Wildcats were named 2014 State Runner-Up.

Oak Ridge (32-8) looked like it was headed to victory in the third quarter and early in the fourth, but the Blaze (28-6) stepped up the pressure and the Wildcats weren’t able to protect the ball.

Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said a series of five fourth-quarter turnovers, including back-to-back steals, shifted the momentum. Many of the Wildcats’ turnovers led to easy layups, and the Blaze went on a 14-0 scoring run at the Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. [Read more…]