Karns Archives - Oak Ridge Today

Wildcats win district championship, then beat West in regional game

Posted at 3:34 pm February 26, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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: Guinn passes 2,000 points, sets single-game record of 45

Posted at 3:20 pm February 1, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge senior Jada Guinn (24) has passed 2,000 points total scored for the Lady Wildcats, and she set a single-game scoring record of 45 points at Karns on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019. Guinn is pictured above shooting a free throw during a 81-24 win at Clinton on Friday, Jan. 24, 2019. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge senior Jada Guinn has passed 2,000 points total scored for the Lady Wildcats, and she set a single-game scoring record of 45 points at Karns on Monday.

Guinn moved into third place on the all-time scoring list during that same game, when she scored her 2,064th point in the first half of a 94-19 win, according to Prepradio.com broadcaster David Clary, who tracks Wildcats’ statistics. She went on to add to that scoring total later in that same game.

Guinn has played basketball all four years at Oak Ridge, and she has signed to play basketball at Tennessee Tech.

Guinn was, as of a few games ago, averaging 23 points per game this year, seven rebounds per game, four assists per game, and three steals per game, according to nomination information posted by Clary for Class AAA Miss Basketball in Tennessee. She scored 24 points or more in the first half of two recent games: 27 at the half at Karns on Monday and 24 at the half at Clinton last Friday. She’s had several recent games where she has scored more than 30 points, with 32 at Clinton on Friday and 34 against Halls at Wildcat Arena on January 8. [Read more…]

Basketball games rescheduled to Monday

Posted at 11:06 am January 27, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge basketball games that had been scheduled for Tuesday at Karns have been moved to Monday because of the threat of snow and cold winter weather on Tuesday.

There is an 80 percent chance of snow in the Oak Ridge area on Tuesday, and the low Tuesday night could be 16 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the seven-day forecast by the National Weather Service in Morristown. [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…]

Basketball: Oak Ridge boys win at Campbell County

Posted at 2:50 pm December 3, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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…]

Football photos at Karns by Houchin

Posted at 12:49 am October 2, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge senior Herbert Booker (13) throws against Karns during a 48-7 win over the Beavers on Friday, Sept. 28, 2018. (Photo by Barry Houchin)

The Oak Ridge football team is 6-1 so far this season. Here are photos from the September 28 game at Karns, courtesy of Barry Houchin.

Oak Ridge is off this week. They play next at Clinton on Friday, October 12. [Read more…]

Football: Oak Ridge Wildcats 6-1 so far this season

Posted at 9:48 pm October 1, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Wildcats walk down the stairs at Jack Armstrong Stadium before a 41-12 win over Dobyns-Bennett on Blankenship Field on Friday, Aug. 24, 2018. (Photo by Barry Houchin)

The Oak Ridge football team is 6-1 so far this season.

The Wildcats have had three wins and no losses in Region 3-5A. They have defeated Campbell County at home and West and Karns on the road.

Their other three wins were in non-regional games, with victories at Hardin Valley, at home against Dobyns-Bennett, and at Sevier County.

Their one loss, a non-regional game, was to Farragut on Blankenship Field.

All three games remaining in the regular season are regional games: Clinton (1-5, 0-2); Powell (6-1, 3-1); and Fulton (5-1, 2-0).

Oak Ridge is off this week. They play at Clinton on Friday, October 12. Their final two games, against Powell and Fulton, will be at home on October 19 and 25.

Here is a summary of the first seven games. [Read more…]

Wildcats play for district championship tonight

Posted at 3:56 pm February 17, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Levert Smith (5) of Oak Ridge during a District 3-AAA semifinal game against Anderson County at Halls on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

HALLS—The Oak Ridge Wildcats will play for a district championship against Powell at Halls tonight (Saturday, February 17).

The Wildcats (20-6) advanced to the title game by beating Anderson County 69-61 in a District 3-AAA semifinal game at Halls on Friday.

Powell (18-10) made it to the championship game with a 75-45 win over Karns in the other boys’ district semifinal game on Friday.

The Wildcats and Panthers also played in the district championship game last year, when Oak Ridge won 86-58.

On Friday at Halls, the Oak Ridge gained a 16-2 lead over Anderson County (20-12) in the first four minutes of the district semifinal, but the Mavericks then scored nine straight points to keep it close. [Read more…]

Basketball: Oak Ridge plays Blackman on Saturday

Posted at 11:51 pm January 19, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge boys’ and girls’ basketball teams will play Blackman of Murfreesboro at Wildcat Arena at Oak Ridge High School on Saturday afternoon.

The girls’ game starts at 3 p.m., and the boys’ game begins at 4:30 p.m.

The Blackman Blaze (17-0, 4-0 District 7-AAA) are undefeated. The Wildcats are 11-5 overall, and 7-0 in District 3-AAA.

Oak Ridge beat Blackman 57-53 last season, on December 10, 2016. The two teams had previously met in the Class AAA state championship game on March 15, 2014, when Blackman won 60-58. [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats finish as district runner-up, play Farragut in Region 2 semifinal Tuesday

Posted at 4:43 pm October 17, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge freshman Katelyn Mattus (13) scored four goals in the 5-0 shutout win over Halls in a District 3-AAA semifinal win at the Pro2Serve Oak Ridge Soccer Complex on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017. (Photo by Linda Ripley)

Oak Ridge freshman Katelyn Mattus (13) scored four goals during the 5-0 shutout win over Halls in a District 3-AAA semifinal game at the Pro2Serve Oak Ridge Soccer Complex on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017. (Photo by Linda Ripley)

The Oak Ridge girls’ soccer team finished second in District 3-AAA, and the Lady Wildcats will play Farragut in a Region 2-AAA semifinal game today (Tuesday, October 17).

Today’s game is an elimination game, meaning the season is over for the loser. The winner will be guaranteed at least two more games, the Region 2-AAA championship and a Class AAA sectional game. The sectional games will determine which eight teams will play in the Class AAA state tournament.

The District 3-AAA tournament championship game was Thursday at Powell Middle School. Powell, the top seed in the district tournament, won 6-0. Oak Ridge was the number two seed.

It was the third year in a row that Oak Ridge (10-8-1, 3-1 District 3-AAA) and Powell (13-3-1, 4-0) played for the District 3-AAA championship—and the fourth time in five years. The Lady Wildcats won last year 2-0, and the Lady Panthers defeated Oak Ridge 1-0 in 2015.
[Read more…]

Football photos: Oak Ridge-Karns

Posted at 2:25 pm October 2, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge junior linebacker K-Juan Stacey-Wright (16) tackles Karns junior wide receiver Thomas Harper (10) during a 49-3 homecoming win for the Wildcats on Blankenship Field on Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. Also pictured are sophomore linebacker Jacob Adams (44) and senior linebacker Matt Thompson (23). (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Nine Oak Ridge Wildcats scored in a 49-3 rout of Karns in the homecoming football game on Blankenship Field on Friday. Seven different Wildcats scored touchdowns, and two kickers added extra points. Here are photos by Luther Simmons. [Read more…]

Nine Wildcats score in 49-3 homecoming win over Karns

Posted at 6:55 pm September 30, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge junior wide receiver Kai’Reese Pendergrass (12) is tackled by Karns sophomore Trey Hawkins (7) during a 49-3 homecoming win for the Wildcats on Blankenship Field on Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. Also pictured are Oak Ridge seniors Jaycen McGhee (6) and Johnny Stewart (2). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Nine Oak Ridge Wildcats scored in a 49-3 rout of Karns in the homecoming football game on Blankenship Field on Friday.

Seven different Wildcats scored touchdowns, and two kickers added extra points.

It was the third region win for Oak Ridge (5-2, 3-0 Region 3-5A) and the third straight win for the Wildcats.

The three remaining regular-season games are all region games:

Clinton (2-4, 0-2) at home on Friday, October 13;
at Powell (5-2, 2-2) on Friday, October 20; and
at Fulton (5-1, 2-0) on Friday, October 27.

The Wildcats do not play this coming week.

Oak Ridge finished with a season-high 324 yards rushing on 33 carries and five touchdowns on Friday. The previous high was 112 yards rushing against Farragut on September 8. That was the only other time this season that the Wildcats have had more than 100 yards rushing in a game. [Read more…]