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Wildcats win district championship, then beat West in regional game

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats won the District 3-AAA basketball championship with a 75-65 win over Karns on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge Wildcats won the District 3-AAA basketball championship with a 75-65 win over Karns on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 3:20 p.m. Feb. 28.

Oak Ridge won the District 3-AAA basketball championship with a 75-65 win over Karns on Wednesday, and the Wildcats won a Region 2 quarterfinal game with a 78-63 victory over West at home on Sunday.

The Wildcats (25-5) will play Knoxville Catholic (25-6), the District 4 runner-up, in a regional semifinal at Wildcat Arena this evening (Tuesday, February 26).

Oak Ridge senior Marcus Smith scored 41 points during the championship win over Karns on Wednesday, with 26 points in just the fourth quarter. Eleven of those points were from free throws. Smith was named most valuable player of the district tournament.

On Sunday, Wildcats senior JaVonte Thomas scored 30 points in the Region 2 quarterfinal win over West at Wildcat Arena. Smith and Thomas have been the Wildcats’ top two scorers. Like Smith, Thomas was named to the District 3 All-Tournament Team last week.

The other semifinal game at Wildcat Arena this evening will feature Bearden (26-5), the District 4 champion, and Maryville (28-3), the number three seed from District 4. Oak Ridge is the only District 3 team in the regional tournament. [Read more…]

Basketball: Mavericks stun Oak Ridge with last-second win

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Oak Ridge senior guard Marcus Smith (2) scored a career-high 34 points during an 82-65 win over Karns at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge senior guard Marcus Smith (2) led all scorers with 21 points during a 65-64 district loss to Anderson County at Wildcat Arena on Friday, Dec. 14, 2018. Smith is pictured above during an 82-65 win over Karns at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 4. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge boys hadn’t lost a basketball game to Anderson County in more than eight years.

That changed Friday. The Mavericks, who trailed by 12 points with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, scored on a game-winning layup with 1.2 seconds remaining to beat the Wildcats 65-64.

It was a stunning comeback victory and the first Anderson County win over Oak Ridge since February 24, 2010. That’s when the Mavericks won the third-place game, 61-53, in the District 3-AAA playoffs.

Since then, the Wildcats had won 17 straight games in the series. Oak Ridge had won nine of those by 30 points or more. The Wildcat’s most recent win was a 69-61 victory in the district tournament semifinal at Halls in February.

Anderson County senior Stanton Martin, a two-time Mr. Football finalist as Mavericks quarterback, scored the winning layup from the left side of the lane in the Friday night game at Wildcat Arena. Oak Ridge was unable to score in the final 1.2 seconds, and the Mavericks erupted into a celebration on the floor at the final buzzer. [Read more…]

Basketball: Smith scores career-high 34 as Wildcats sweep Karns

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Oak Ridge senior Marcus Smith (2) scored a career-high 34 points during an 82-65 win over Karns at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge senior guard Marcus Smith (2) scored a career-high 34 points during an 82-65 win over Karns at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Oak Ridge senior guard Marcus Smith scored a career-high 34 points as the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats swept Karns at home on Tuesday.

Smith also had eight rebounds and five assists during the 82-65 win over the Beavers at Wildcat Arena.

“I was really proud of Marcus,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said.

Eleven of his points were from the free throw line, where Smith was 11-of-15.

Oak Ridge senior guard JaVonte Thomas scored 18 points for the Wildcats (6-1, 3-0 District 3-AAA) and pulled down 10 rebounds. Senior guard Joe Kesterson added 10 points, with nine of those on three-point shots. Junior guard Isaiah Johnson scored eight, and sophomore forward Jeremy Miller had six points and 10 rebounds. [Read more…]

Basketball: Oak Ridge boys win at Campbell County

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JACKSBORO—The Oak Ridge boys basketball team picked up their second district win of the season in a 81-67 victory at Campbell County on Friday night.

The Cougars took an early lead, but the Wildcats led 22-12 by the end of the first quarter.

Oak Ridge (5-1, 2-0 District 3-AAA) outscored Campbell County 48-29 in the next two quarters to widen the lead to 70-44.

But the Cougars (0-7, 0-2) scored 23 points in the fourth quarter, compared to 11 for the Wildcats, to narrow the final score to 81-67. [Read more…]

Basketball: Wildcats, Lady Wildcats beat Halls in first district games

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats and Lady Wildcats won at Halls in their first district games of the season on Tuesday night.

The girls (2-0, 1-0 District 3-AAA) won the first game 77-49. In the second game, the boys (4-1, 1-0) defeated the Red Devils 81-34.

Oak Ridge senior guard Jada Guinn, who signed this month to play basketball at Tennessee Tech, led the Lady Wildcats with 29 points against the Lady Red Devils (1-4, 0-1).

It was the second game of the season for the girls. They won at Meigs County 56-38 in a non-district game on Tuesday, November 13. Guinn had 31 points, five assists, and four steals in that game.

The girls will play their second district game of the season at Campbell County (4-0, 1-0) on Friday. That game will start at 6 p.m. For the past three years, the Lady Wildcats and Lady Cougars have battled for the top two spots in their district, with Powell usually number three. [Read more…]

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