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Lady Wildcats win championship in Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic

Posted at 11:58 pm December 29, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the championship game in the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic basketball tournament, beating Jefferson County 49-36 at Greeneville on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 30.

GREENEVILLE—After finishing second the past two years, the Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the championship game in the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic basketball tournament in Greeneville on Saturday, beating Jefferson County 49-36.

It’s the sixth time Oak Ridge (15-2, 3-1 District 3-AAA) has won the title in 10 appearances in the tournament final. The Lady Wildcats have been runner-up four times, including in 2016 and 2017, when they lost to Bradley Central. Oak Ridge’s last championship win in the tournament was in 2002.

The team didn’t want to settle for second place again this year.

“When you want to play for championships, you want to win championships,” Oak Ridge Coach Paige Redman said.

It was the second championship win for Oak Ridge in about a week. The Lady Wildcats won their division championship in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix on Saturday, December 22.

Oak Ridge senior guard Jada Guinn was named the most valuable player of both tournaments. [Read more…]

After two wins at the buzzer, Lady Wildcats play for championship today

Posted at 1:12 pm December 29, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge senior guard Jada Guinn (24) was named most valuable player at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix on Saturday, Dec. 22, 2018. She had a winning shot at the buzzer against Daniel Boone in a first-round game at the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic basketball tournament in Greenville on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats Basketball/Paige Redman)

Note: This story was updated at 2 p.m.

After two wins at the buzzer this week, the Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats will play for the championship in the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic basketball tournament in Greenville today (Saturday, December 29).

It’s the second championship game in a week for the girls. Oak Ridge (14-2, 3-1 District 3-AAA) won their divisional championship in the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix last Saturday.

Oak Ridge senior guard Jada Guinn was named the most valuable player of the Nike Tournament on Saturday, December 22.

She had one of the buzzer-beating shots, a layup, in the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic this week. That was in the final five seconds of a 50-48 win over Daniel Boone, an upper East Tennessee team, in a first-round game on Wednesday.

The Lady Trailblazers ended the Lady Wildcats’ last season with a 62-51 Class AAA sectional win in March, and Guinn told 5StarPreps, a high school sports website, that she didn’t want to lose to Daniel Boone this week. [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats play for championship in basketball tournament today

Posted at 2:37 pm December 31, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

oak-ridge-golden-dribble-guinn-greeneville-dec-29-2016-web

Oak Ridge junior Jaymi Golden (32) dribbles the ball during a 69-50 win over Greeneville in a quarterfinal game at the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic in Greeneville on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016. At left is sophomore Jada Guinn (24). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

GREENEVILLE—The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats will play for the championship in a basketball tournament in Greeneville today (Saturday, December 31).

Oak Ridge (13-1, 5-0 District 3-AAA) will play Bradley Central, a team the Lady Wildcats beat 38-31 in the Class AAA state semifinal last season. Today’s championship game in the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic starts at 4:30 p.m. in the Hal Henard Gymnasium in Greeneville.

The Lady Wildcats advanced to the championship by winning three straight games in the tournament this week. That included a Friday night 51-41 semifinal victory over South Greene (14-2, 2-0 District 1-A). The Lady Rebels, a Greeneville team, were the Class A state champions last season, and they made it to the final game of the Ladies Classic last year.

Before South Greene on Friday, Oak Ridge defeated Jefferson County 57-50 in the opening round on Wednesday and Greeneville 69-50 in a quarterfinal game on Thursday. [Read more…]

Area hoops squads to stay on court after Christmas

Posted at 12:05 pm December 22, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

With the pre-Christmas tournaments wrapped up, attention will turn for some area teams to post-Christmas basketball tournaments next week.

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats will take part in the Andrew Johnson Bank Classic in Greeneville next week, starting play against Jefferson County on Wednesday.

The Wildcat boys will participate in the Arby’s Classic at Tennessee High in Bristol and will open up Tuesday against Science Hill, a team Oak Ridge beat 82-72 last weekend in Johnson City. [Read more…]

Basketball schedule changes for Friday, Saturday

Posted at 2:01 pm February 12, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

There have been some basketball schedule changes for tonight (Friday, February 12) and tomorrow (Saturday, February 13).

The Jefferson County and Maryville games that had been scheduled at Wildcat Arena on Saturday have been canceled.

The Oak Ridge and Fulton games are still scheduled though. The Oak Ridge girls are now scheduled to play Fulton at 6 p.m., and the Oak Ridge-Fulton boys game is scheduled to start at 7:30.

Today’s games at Campbell County, which was closed due to weather, will start earlier than scheduled. The girls game will start at 4:30 p.m., and the boys game will begin at 6.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

With four games scheduled, record-breaking crowd expected at Wildcat Arena on Saturday

Posted at 3:31 pm February 9, 2016
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With four basketball games scheduled, including Oak Ridge vs. Fulton, officials are expecting a record-breaking crowd at Wildcat Arena on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. (Photo by David Clary)

There are four basketball games scheduled at Wildcat Arena on Saturday, including Oak Ridge vs. Fulton. Officials are expecting a record-breaking crowd, and they are encouraging all Oak Ridge fans to arrive early.

The schools that will be playing are Fulton, Jefferson County, Maryville, and Oak Ridge.

Here are the basketball games scheduled for Saturday, February 13:

3 p.m. girls game—Maryville vs. Jefferson County

Maryville is 19-6 overall and 11-3 in District 4-AAA.

Jefferson County is 16-9 overall and 10-3 in District 2-AAA.

4:30 p.m. girls game—Oak Ridge vs. Fulton

Oak Ridge is 20-3 overall and 14-0 in District 3-AAA.

Fulton is 10-8 overall and 4-4 in District 3-AAA. [Read more…]

Wildcats win Tabernacle Baptist Thanksgiving championship in Bahamas

Posted at 10:38 am November 29, 2015
By John Huotari 1 Comment

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats, pictured above with their coaches, won the Tabernacle Baptist Thanksgiving championship game in the Bahamas on Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015, beating the home team, St. Georges Jaguars, 69-54. (Photo courtesy Paige Green)

Note: This story was last updated at 11:05 a.m.

During their second trip to the Bahamas, the Oak Ridge Wildcats won the Tabernacle Baptist Thanksgiving Tournament championship game on Saturday, beating the home team, St. Georges Jaguars, 69-54.

It was the first championship for the Wildcats in the tournament. The boys basketball team also played in the Tabernacle Christian Academy Invitational Tournament in 2013, when they finished 3-2, said broadcaster David Clary of Prepradio.com.

This year, the Wildcats finished 5-0 in the Bahamas.

Junior Tee Higgins was named the most valuable player of the tournament. Higgins drilled four three-pointers and finished with 25 points, according to Grandbahamasports.com. [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats win tournament championship 2-0 at Science Hill

Posted at 8:07 am September 7, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats Championship at Science Hill Tournament

The undefeated Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the championship soccer game 2-0 in the Science Hill Tournament in Johnson City on Saturday night. (Photo by Michael Welsh)

The undefeated Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the championship soccer game 2-0 in the Science Hill Tournament in Johnson City on Saturday night.

The Lady Wildcats beat Tates Creek High School of Lexington, Kentucky, in the final game, Oak Ridge Coach Jeff Trombly said. It was Oak Ridge’s third match of the tournament.

The score was 0-0 at halftime in the competitive championship game, Trombly said. The two teams were fairly even in terms of shots on goal, he said.

Trombly said freshman forward Kate Hausladen scored first for Oak Ridge at about the 65th minute on a cross behind the defense from junior right back Leah Scudder. [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats playing in championship game after 2-0 win over George Rogers Clark

Posted at 6:39 pm September 5, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats will play in the championship game at the Science Hill Invitational tonight after a 2-0 win over George Rogers Clark High School on Saturday afternoon.

It was a very competitive soccer game, and the score was zero to zero at halftime, Oak Ridge Coach Jeff Trombly said.

He said freshman forward Kate Hausladen scored in the second half for the Lady Wildcats at about the 60th minute, giving Oak Ridge a 1-0 lead.

Senior forward Macy Barclay added the second goal for Oak Ridge at about the 75th minute, converting a penalty kick into a goal. [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats beat Jefferson County at Science Hill, play Kentucky team today

Posted at 1:15 pm September 5, 2015
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Oak Ridge beat Jefferson County 3-1 in the Science Hill Invitational on Friday night, and the Lady Wildcats soccer team will play George Rogers Clark High School of Winchester, Kentucky, at 2:15 p.m. today (Saturday, September 5).

Scoring for the Lady Wildcats on Friday were senior forward Macy Barclay, senior defender Katie Welsh, and freshman forward Valerie Carter, Oak Ridge Coach Jeff Trombly said.

The Lady Wildcats were up 2-0 at halftime, but Jefferson County scored about five minutes into the second half, making it a game, Trombly said.

“It was very, very competitive,” he said. [Read more…]

Wildcats will play for state championship after beating Arlington 57-56

Posted at 2:45 pm March 14, 2014
By John Huotari 2 Comments

The Oak Ridge Wildcats found a scoring formula that worked well on Friday: get the ball inside to senior Isaac Merian (#33) and let him fake out a defender before shooting in double and triple coverage.

MURFREESBORO—The Oak Ridge boys’ basketball team will play for a state championship for the first time in 51 years after beating the Arlington Tigers 57-56 in a semifinal game in Murfreesboro on Friday. It was a victory decided by a tie-breaking free throw with only a few seconds remaining.

The Wildcats (32-7) will now battle the Blackman Blaze (27-6) in the Class AAA state tournament finals in Murfreesboro on Saturday afternoon.

Senior Isaac Merian overcame double and triple teams on Friday to lead all scorers with 21 points. He often faked a shot, let a defender go by, and then fired.

“I just kept playing my game, and my shots kept falling,” said Merian, a 6-foot-6 power forward who also had three blocks. “It’s probably one of the most memorable games. I’ll tell this one to my kids.” [Read more…]