Oak Ridge senior Tajion Jones (3) shoots from three-point range during a 46-43 win over Maryville in a Region 2-AAA semifinal elimination game at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)
Maryville senior guard Easton Upchurch scored 25 points and made seven three-point shots on Tuesday, but it wasn’t enough to keep Oak Ridge from advancing to its fifth straight regional championship. Here are photos from the Region 2-AAA semifinal game by Luther Simmons. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior Anthony Gibson (23) led the Wildcats with 13 points during a 46-43 win over Maryville in a Region 2-AAA semifinal elimination game at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)
Maryville senior guard Easton Upchurch scored 25 points and made seven three-point shots on Tuesday, but it wasn’t enough to keep Oak Ridge from advancing to its fifth straight regional championship.
The Wildcats were held to their lowest offensive output of the season in the 46-43 Region 2-AAA semifinal win over the Rebels at Wildcat Arena. No Oak Ridge player scored more than 13, which is unusual.
Maryville Coach Mark Eldridge said Oak Ridge has better players than the Rebels, so his team tried to limit the number of possessions. More possessions mean the better team wins, Eldridge said.
The Wildcats probably had about half as many possessions as they normally do, Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said. Maryville has guards who are good enough that the Rebels could run time off the clock—and they did.
“Sometimes you have to find ways to grind them out,” Green said. “Our guys haven’t had a lot of close games, and our guys kept their composure.”
Oak Ridge (28-2) advances to play Bearden (21-8) in the Region 2-AAA championship at Wildcat Arena at 7 p.m. Thursday. The season is over for Maryville (24-6). [Read more…]
Oak Ridge junior point guard Levert Smith (10) became the single-season assist leader for Oak Ridge, with 187 assists this year, during a 68-38 Region 2-AAA quarterfinal win against West at home on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. Also pictured are Oak Ridge seniors Tee Higgins (5) and Tajion Jones (3), who became only the second Wildcat to hit his 200th career three-point shot. (Photo by Luther Simmons)
Oak Ridge senior Anthony Gibson again led the Wildcats in a playoff win, this time in a Region 2-AAA quarterfinal win against West at home on Saturday. Here are photos from the game by Luther Simmons. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior Anthony Gibson (23) again led the Wildcats in a playoff win, this time in a 68-38 Region 2-AAA quarterfinal win against West at home on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)
Note: This story was updated at 9 a.m. Feb. 28.
Oak Ridge senior Anthony Gibson again led the Wildcats in a playoff win, this time in a Region 2-AAA quarterfinal win against West at home on Saturday.
Gibson, a 6-foot-1 guard, scored a game-high 18 points in the elimination game at Wildcat Arena on Saturday. He had four three-points shots for 12 of those points.
Earlier in the week, on Tuesday, Gibson led Oak Ridge with 24 points as the Wildcats won their fifth straight District 3-AAA championship with an 86-58 defeat of Powell.
With the Region 2 quarterfinal win on Saturday, Oak Ridge advanced to play Maryville at Wildcat Arena at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in a semifinal elimination game. The winner of the Tuesday night Oak Ridge-Maryville game will move on to play in the Region 2-AAA championship. The season will be over for the loser.
“This is the toughest game of the year,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said. “There’s a lot on the line across the state.” [Read more…]
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…]
Oak Ridge senior Tee Higgins (5), making a layup here, scored a career-high 33 points during a 76-65 win at Fulton on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)
KNOXVILLE—Oak Ridge senior Tee Higgins scored 33 points, a career high, during a 76-65 win at Fulton on Saturday. Here are photos from the basketball game by Luther Simmons. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior Tee Higgins (5) had two powerful dunks, including this one in the second half, during a 108-56 win over Halls at Wildcat Arena on Monday, Nov. 23, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)
Oak Ridge topped 100 points and senior Tajion Jones scored 32 as the Wildcats beat Halls 108-56 at home on Monday. Here are photos by Luther Simmons and videos by Myles Hebrard. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior Tajion Jones (3) scored 32 points as the Wildcats topped 100 points during a 108-56 win over Halls at Wildcat Arena on Monday, Nov. 23, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)
Oak Ridge topped 100 points and senior Tajion Jones scored 32 as the Wildcats beat Halls 108-56 at home on Monday. It was the fifth-highest point total for an Oak Ridge game in program history, according to broadcaster David Clary. The record of 137 was set in 1971.
It was an apparent career high for Jones. Eighteen of his points came from six three-point shots, and he had 24 points in the first half alone.
“He’s shooting well,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said.
Senior Tyshawn Young, who has had some high-scoring games in the past month, added 27 points, and senior Anthony Gibson had 17.
The seniors racked up all those points in the first three quarters, before reserves came in for Oak Ridge. Bench players added 21 points in the fourth quarter. That included three three-point shots by sophomore Joe Kesterson. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior Tee Higgins (5), shown dunking the ball here, had a season-high and game-high 21 points during a 94-57 win at Campbell County on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
JACKSBORO—The Oak Ridge Wildcats tied a school record with 15 made three-point shots during a 94-57 win at Campbell County on Tuesday. Here are photos from the game. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior Tajion Jones (3) scored 17 points and made three three-point shots during a 94-57 win at Campbell County on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017. Jones is defended here by Campbell County senior Jacob Walden. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was updated at 1 p.m. Jan. 16.
JACKSBORO—The Oak Ridge Wildcats tied a school record with 15 made three-point shots during a 94-57 win at Campbell County on Tuesday.
“You don’t make 15 threes a lot,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said.
Wildcats senior Tee Higgins had a season-high and game-high 21 points. Five of those were three-point shots, with four in the third quarter.
Before Tuesday, Higgins only had four made three-point shots this season, according to Wildcats broadcaster David Clary. Higgins missed some games early in the season because he wasn’t initially going to play basketball in order to focus on football, and he has missed some games midway through the season due to football-related commitments.
“He can shoot the ball really well,” Green said of Higgins. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior Tyshawn Young (4) led the Wildcats with a game-high 29 points during a 64-56 win over Science Hill in the first round of the Arby’s Classic in Bristol on Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016. (Photo by Allen Greene/TriCitiesSports.com)
BRISTOL—Oak Ridge senior Tyshawn Young scored a game-high 29 points and senior Anthony Gibson added 17 as the Wildcats beat Science Hill in the first round of the Arby’s Classic in Bristol on Tuesday. Here are pictures from the game by Allen Greene of TriCitiesSports.com.
It was the second time Oak Ridge defeated the Hilltoppers this month. They also won 82-72 in the Champion Chevrolet Shootout at Science Hill in Johnson City on December 17.
The Wildcats will play again in the Arby’s Classic at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, when they take on Trinity of Louisville, Kentucky, in a winners bracket game in the basketball tournament. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior E.J. Bush (2), pictured above, led the Wildcats with 20 points during a 76-56 win over Cleveland in the Champion Chevrolet Shootout at Science Hill High School in Johnson City on Friday, Dec, 16, 2016. (File photo by Robert Kell)
Two of the top players for the Oak Ridge Wildcats, E.J. Bush and Tee Higgins, will not play in the Arby’s Classic in Bristol this week. It’s a basketball tournament that has featured dramatic games, record-setting performances, and close wins—and losses.
Bush, a 6-foot-4 senior who was injured in the 82-72 win over Science Hill in the Champion Chevrolet Shootout in Johnson City on December 17, has a knee injury. It’s not clear how long he might be unable to play, or if he’ll travel with the team to the Arby’s Classic this week.
Bush can score 16-20 points per game and pull down six to 10 rebounds per game.
Meanwhile, Higgins, a wide receiver who has committed to Clemson, is leaving Tuesday for the 10th annual Under Armour All-America Football Game in Orlando on January 1. That game features more than 90 of the nation’s best senior high school football players. Besides Higgins, they include wide receiver Amari Rodgers of Catholic—he’s also committed to Clemson—and punter Joe Doyle of Farragut. [Read more…]
