Oak Ridge Today

Wildcats advance to district championship with 69-67 comeback in semifinals OT

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Jaylin Henderson and Oak Ridge Wildcats

Senior guard Jaylin Henderson, left, leads the Oak Ridge Wildcats to a 69-67 come-from-behind overtime win over the Powell Panthers in a semifinal tournament game on Monday.

Note: This story was updated at 8:50 a.m.

POWELL—The Oak Ridge Wildcats erased a 17-point Powell lead in a semifinal tournament game on Monday and advanced to the district championship with a buzzer-beating 69-67 come-from-behind overtime win.

The Wildcats, who struggled on defense and with rebounding for much of the game, trailed the Panthers throughout the first three quarters, often by more than 10 points.

But a fired-up Jaylin Henderson came alive in the fourth quarter for the Wildcats, stealing balls on one end and scoring baskets on the other. He tied the game at 63-63 with about 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Senior forward Isaac Merian, who had been relatively quiet for much of the night, scored the winning basket in overtime, picking up a loose ball and banking in an off-the-backboard shot as time expired, giving the Wildcats their 69-67 victory.

Oak Ridge fans exploded with excitement, and Panthers fans left in stunned silence. [Read more…]

Wildcats win regular season district championship 87-69 over Karns

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Jaylin Henderson Dunk

Senior guard Jaylin Henderson dunks in the fourth quarter on Friday, giving the Oak Ridge Wildcats a 60-45 lead over the Karns Beavers. (Photo courtesy Bruce Phillips)

Note: This story was last updated at 11:55 p.m.

The Oak Ridge Wildcats won the regular season district championship in a 87-69 win over the Karns Beavers on Friday.

It was the second time this season the Beavers were able to chip away at a large Oak Ridge lead, again narrowing the deficit to one point, but the Wildcats used zone play and defensive stops to help maintain and then stretch out their lead.

The game featured 17 three-point baskets between the two teams—Karns had 11 of them—and three crowd-pleasing dunks by Wildcats, with one by senior guard Jaylin Henderson and two by senior forward Isaac Merian. Oak Ridge (25-5, 15-1 in District 3) led the entire game.

Both teams started the game 14-1 in the district. [Read more…]

Mavericks win district title 19-6 as Wildcats struggle on offense

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Mavericks Tyler Hicks and Wildcats Harry Boston

Harry Boston, senior defensive end for the Oak Ridge Wildcats, pursues Tyler Hicks, senior quarterback for the Anderson County Mavericks. The Mavericks won the district championship at Blankenship Field on Thursday. (Photos by Julio Culiat)

With a chance at a district championship hanging in the balance, the Oak Ridge Wildcats fell to the Anderson County Mavericks 19-6 on Blankenship Field on Thursday.

The Wildcats (7-3, 6-2 District 3) struggled offensively throughout the night, recording only 239 yards of total offense, 58 of which came from a single deep ball from Jaylin Henderson to Jiminquas Johnson late in the fourth quarter.

The offensive woes, however, did more than just keep Oak Ridge—who also saw their three-game district winning streak come to an end with the loss—off the scoreboard as they kept the defense out on the field and in tough situations for most of the game.

“We just didn’t get it done on the offensive side. If we do anything offensively, they probably don’t score 19 points, but we kept giving back to them over and over,” Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis said. “Our defense played pretty well, giving up 19 points while having to play defense all night long. I think their defense and our offense was the biggest key of the ball game.” [Read more…]