Oak Ridge Today

Basketball: Bench provides lift in Wildcats’ win over Clinton

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Oak Ridge trailed by seven points early in a Thursday night game against Clinton, but three Wildcats came off the bench and helped flip the lead.

Clinton had taken an early lead and widened it to 15-8 halfway through the first quarter in a district game at Wildcat Arena.

But Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green put in three bench players: senior forward Shemar Smith, junior guard Jack Replogle, and sophomore guard/forward Jonathan Stewart.

The Wildcats then went on a 13-0 scoring run in the next 3.5 minutes to take a 21-15 lead at the end of the first quarter.

They never trailed after that. [Read more…]

Gaddis gets 300th coaching win

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Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis talks to the Wildcats football team after a 42-6 win over Clinton on Blankenship Field on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. It was Gaddis' 300th coaching win. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis talks to the Wildcats football team after a 42-6 win over Clinton on Blankenship Field on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. It was Gaddis’ 300th coaching win. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11 a.m.

Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis got his 300th win as a football coach during a 42-6 win over Clinton on Friday.

Gaddis is only the seventh football coach in Tennessee to get 300 career wins, and he is one of only two active coaches with 300 wins, Oak Ridge school officials said. Gary Rankin of Alcoa is the other. Rankin was the first in Tennessee to win 400 games, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported in September.

Fans and players, parents and coaches, and students and school officials celebrated Gaddis’ milestone 300th win with a brief ceremony on Blankenship Field on Friday that included fireworks and photos, and signs and a football painted with the number 300 that was presented to Gaddis.

More than half of Gaddis’ wins have been at Oak Ridge, where he is 162-36. Gaddis first coached at Oak Ridge for 11 seasons, from 1988 to 1998, and he is in his fifth season back, after returning in 2013.

“I’m coaching at the best place there is to coach,” Gaddis said. “This is just a special place.” [Read more…]

Baseball: Wildcats play Halls again in district tournament at Karns

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Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today

Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today

 

KARNS—Oak Ridge stayed alive in the District 3-AAA baseball tournament with a 7-5 win over Clinton at Karns on Monday, and the Wildcats advanced to play Halls in a losers bracket today (Tuesday, May 9).

It’s the second time in three days that Oak Ridge will play Halls. The Wildcats lost to the Red Devils 8-0 in a first-round game on Sunday.

Halls (17-12) was bumped into the losers bracket of the double-elimination tournament with a 2-1 loss to Karns on Monday.

Today’s game starts at 5:30 p.m. on Coach Dwight Smith Field at Karns High School. The season is over for the loser. The winner advances to play Karns (25-8) at 8 p.m. today.

The Monday night game between Oak Ridge and Clinton was scoreless until the third inning, when the Wildcats opened up a 5-0 lead.

Two innings later, the Dragons responded with five runs of their own, tying the game at 5-5 in the top of the fifth inning. [Read more…]

Soccer: Wildcats win second district game of season

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats traveled to Anderson County on Tuesday evening to play their second district match of the season and came away with a 7-3 victory over the Mavericks.

First half goals for the Wildcats came from juniors Casey Nigh and Carson McGhee as well as senior Austin Vinyard.

Seniors Matt Friedman and Matt Malagon, with one goal each, and Jonas Grayson, with two goals, finished the scoring in the second half for Oak Ridge.

The Wildcats travel to Clinton on Friday for a 6 p.m. kick off against the Dragons.

Tuesday scoring against Anderson County
[Read more…]

Jones named MVP as Wildcats win fifth straight district championship

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats won their fifth straight District 3-AAA championship with an 86-58 victory over Powell at Clinton on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

The Oak Ridge Wildcats won their fifth straight District 3-AAA championship with an 86-58 victory over Powell at Clinton on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

 

CLINTON—Oak Ridge senior Tajion Jones was named most valuable player as the Wildcats won their fifth straight District 3-AAA championship with an 86-58 victory over Powell at Clinton on Tuesday.

Oak Ridge (26-2) will play West, which finished fourth in District 4-AAA, in a first-round Region 2-AAA game at Wildcat Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday. West (15-17) lost to Hardin Valley 64-58 in the third-place District 4 game on Tuesday.

The Wildcats, the top seed in the District 3-AAA basketball tournament, advanced to the district championship at Clinton High School on Tuesday by beating Clinton, which had been the number five seed, 111-77 in a semifinal game on Saturday.

Oak Ridge was led against Powell on Tuesday by senior Anthony Gibson. He scored a game-high 24 points, with 22 of those in the first half. Gibson knocked down three three-point shots.

Jones scored 21, with 12 of those on four three-point shots. Jones, a Mr. Basketball finalist in Class AAA, also had a baseline drive for a dunk. [Read more…]

Basketball: Wildcats, Lady Wildcats to play for district championships today

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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats will play for the District 3-AAA basketball championship against Powell at 6 p.m. Tuesday, February 21, at Clinton High School. The Lady Wildcats are pictured above with Coach Paige Green in the championship game of the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic in Greeneville on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—The Oak Ridge Wildcats and Lady Wildcats will both play Powell for District 3-AAA championships today. The girls’ game starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday, February 21, at Clinton High School, and the boys’ game begins at 7:30 p.m.

The Lady Wildcats (25-3) advanced to the championship game by beating Anderson County 61-45 in a District 3-AAA semifinal game at Clinton on Saturday.

It’s the second year in a row that Oak Ridge is playing for the district championship. Last year, the Lady Wildcats won the title by beating Campbell County 52-34 at Anderson County High School. That was their first district championship since 2010.

Oak Ridge went on to play in the state tournament and finished as runner-up in Class AAA. [Read more…]

Wildcats put on show. The highlight: A between-the-legs dunk

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Oak Ridge senior Tee Higgins (5) crosses the ball between his legs, from his left hand to his right, on a dunk during a 111-77 semifinal win at Clinton in the District 3-AAA tournament on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—You’ve probably never seen this in a high school basketball game before. You might not ever seen it again. A between-the-legs dunk.

It happened Saturday night in Clinton. Oak Ridge senior Tee Higgins told Coach Aaron Green at halftime during a District 3-AAA semifinal game that he was going to do the between-the-legs dunk if he had a chance.

That was okay, Green said, as long as Higgins made it. He did.

Higgins was wide open on a break from half court, and after launching into the air, he moved the basketball between his legs from his left hand to his right before winding up and slamming it through the hoop with his right.

The move fired up fans. Even Clinton fans enjoyed it.

Green said you might not even see that kind of dunk in college or NBA games.

“Those are dunks that are done in dunking contests,” he said. “I wish I could do that, to be honest with you.” [Read more…]

Football: New Dragons coach talks about hire, community support

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Information from WYSH Radio

On Tuesday morning, Clinton High School’s new football coach, Randy McKamey, was on “Ask Your Neighbor” on WYSH Radio in Clinton. McKamey, a 1989 graduate of CHS, was hired last week to take over at his alma mater after spending 10 successful seasons at Grace Christian Academy in Knoxville.

Some people want to characterize the situation at Clinton High School as a rebuilding effort, but that is not the approach Coach McKamey is taking. Instead, he is referring to it as a “revival,” saying that sometimes “you can become a little complacent and stagnant and that’s the way we’re viewing it.”

McKamey said that after watching some game film, he is confident that one area where the Dragons will make immediate improvements will be in their confidence, which he says is something that “anybody can change if you have just a little bit of swagger and some people that believe in you. I think they lost that belief.” [Read more…]

Campbell County finishes first, Clinton second in Christmas basketball tournament

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Daraon Jones (10) led Clinton with 12 points during a 57-46 loss to Campbell County during the Don W. Lockard Christmas Invitational Championship at Clinton High School on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

 

CLINTON—Campbell County held off a second-half rally by Clinton to beat the Dragon 57-46 and win the championship at the Don W. Lockard Christmas Invitational basketball tournament on Wednesday. Clinton finished as runner-up.

The tournament began at Clinton High School on Monday, and it ended on Wednesday.

Wednesday started with the Campbell County boys (12-5, 2-3 District 3-AAA) erasing an early 13-point deficit to blow out Oakdale 77-52.

The afternoon session began with Clinton’s boys—resting many of their starters—holding off First Baptist Academy, or FBA, 70-62. [Read more…]

Football: McKamey leaving Grace Christian to coach Clinton

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Information from WYSH Radio

Randy McKamey, who once coached at Clinton Middle School, is leaving Grace Christian Academy to coach football at his alma mater, Clinton High School.

Clinton High School Athletic Director Brad Collette announced the decision last week.

Collette said that McKamey was offered the job on Monday and accepted. He met with his Grace Christian players to inform them of his decision.

McKamey once coached at Clinton Middle School, but he has spent the last 10 years at Grace Christian, compiling an 89-32 record and making the playoffs nine times, including this season, when the Rams finished 6-6 and lost in the second round to Happy Valley. His Rams appeared in three state semifinals, won seven region championships, and went unbeaten in the regular season twice, including in 2011, when the program was serving a two-year playoff ban handed down by the TSSAA. [Read more…]

Mavericks uncork big plays, notch 8th straight Crosstown Showdown victory

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Information from WYSH Radio

Anderson County 71, Clinton 43: Stanton Martin completed 20 of 24 passes Friday night for 420 yards and seven touchdowns, while also adding 56 yards and a touchdown on the ground as the Mavericks capitalized on defensive breakdowns for several big plays on their way to an eighth straight win in the Crosstown Showdown with Clinton. The Mavericks have now won in 17 of the last 18 games.

Three different Maverick receivers caught two touchdowns each: Caleb Bethel (nine catches for 157 yards), Thyshaud Thrasher (five catches for 98 yards), and Michael Carroll, two catches for 99 yards. Everette Dews caught the seventh scoring strike.

Mason Phillips also had a strong offensive game for Anderson County as he tallied 125 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Mavericks racked up 604 yards of total offense. [Read more…]

Football: Cougars blank Dragons 35-0, improve to 5-0

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Information from WYSH Radio/Oak Ridge Today

Campbell County improved to a school-record 5-0 and 2-0 in Region 3-5A as they pulled away after halftime at home against Clinton on Friday. The Cougars won 35-0.

Zach Rutherford threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Logan Phillips that covered 56 and 58 yards, respectively. Patrick Strunk provided the balance for the Cougar offensive attack as he ran for 147 yards and two touchdowns.

Clinton (1-4, 1-2) was held to eight first downs and was outgained 450-183. Ahmaad “Ro” Hardin led Clinton with 90 rushing yards, and J’Quan Thomas provided the Dragons’ lone defensive highlight with an interception.

Campbell County led 14-0 at halftime but scored 21 points in the third quarter to put the game out of reach and start the clock running continuously. [Read more…]