Oak Ridge Today

New Year, Same Results: Both Wildcat teams cut down rival Beavers

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Geevantay Gee of Oak Ridge Wildcats and Karns

Junior point guard Geevantay Gee (12) scored 11 points and was one of four Oak Ridge Wildcats in double digits against the Karns Beavers on Tuesday at Wildcat Arena. (Photos by Melissa Livesey)

 

In the first 2015 game at home for Oak Ridge, both teams had a familiar foe awaiting them: the Karns Beavers and Lady Beavers. Both sets of Beavers gave it their all, but neither could withstand the firepower of the Wildcats or Lady Wildcats.

Girls’ Team

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats had a tough time with their opponent for the first quarter of the game, but they soon woke up and clobbered the Lady Beavers of Karns by a score of 57-39. Early foul trouble by the Lady Beavers proved to doom them late in the game.

Karns came out of the gate and scored the first two points of the game. For the first six minutes, there would be seven lead changes and three ties. Both teams were back and forth, with neither one gaining the upper hand. [Read more…]

Wildcats get game-saving block to stop Halls’ Moore, who had 34 points

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Oak Ridge Ted Mitchell and Halls Braxton Moore

Oak Ridge senior guard Ted Mitchell (4) had a game-saving block against Halls senior guard Braxton Moore (0) as time expired in a 58-56 win for the Wildcats on Friday. (Photos by Melissa Livesey)

 

Senior guard Braxton Moore of Halls scored 34 points and hit six three-point shots against Oak Ridge on Friday, but a game-saving block by Ted Mitchell in the final seconds preserved a 58-56 win for the undefeated Wildcats.

The Red Devils scored almost half of their points on three-point shots, knocking down nine of them for 27 points.

But Oak Ridge’s depth and the number of players it used—along with the critical stop with less than six seconds remaining—allowed the Wildcats to prevail and improve to 9-0 overall and 3-0 in District 3-AAA. [Read more…]

Football players add depth as Wildcats basketball improves to 8-0

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Darel Middleton

Darel Middleton

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…]

After rough first quarter, Wildcats warm up in 70-54 season-opener

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Oak Ridge Wildcats Geevantay Gee and Grace Christian

Junior guard Geevantay Gee (12), the only returning starter to play in the season-opener, scored the only points for the Wildcats during the first quarter against Grace Christian on Tuesday, but the rest of the team played better in the next three quarters and Oak Ridge won 70-54.

 

KARNS—They had a rough start in the season-opener on Tuesday, but the relatively young Oak Ridge Wildcats improved after the first quarter and turned a 12-point deficit into a 70-54 win.

Junior point guard Geevantay Gee, the only returning starter to play in the season-opener at Grace Christian in Karns, scored the only points for the Wildcats during the first quarter—seven total. Meanwhile, the Rams started hot and quickly racked up 19 points.

But after their nerves calmed, the Wildcats started defending better—stepping up their pressure and forcing turnovers—and their performance improved. For example, Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said, the Wildcats had two assists at the half, and Gee alone had five in the second.

After giving up 19 points in the first quarter, the Wildcats held the Rams to 35 total in the next three. Green said he thought Grace Christian became fatigued. [Read more…]