Oak Ridge Today

Wildcats finish fifth in Arby’s Classic with win over Taylor County, Ky.

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This photo is property of Allen Greene. Unauthorized use of this photo is not permitted without consent.

Oak Ridge senior point guard Geevantay Gee (12) dribbles during a 91-73 win over Taylor County for fifth place in the 2015 Arby’s Classic in Bristol on Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015. (Photo by Allen Greene/TriCitiesSports.com)

 

The Oak Ridge Wildcats finished fifth in the 2015 Arby’s Classic basketball tournament with a 91-73 win over Taylor County, Kentucky, in Bristol on Thursday.

The Wildcats had been bumped into a consolation bracket in this year’s tournament after they lost to David Crockett of Jonesborough, 87-85, in a double-overtime second-round game on Tuesday. They advanced to the fifth-place game with a 56-54 win on Wednesday over North Mecklenburg of North Carolina, the 2014 Arby’s Classic champion.

Oak Ridge junior Anthony Gibson led the Wildcats (17-1, 5-0 District 3-AAA) with 22 points on Thursday and 100 percent shooting from the free throw line. Junior Tee Higgins added 20 points, and he pulled down eight rebounds and had five assists and two steals. He also got the crowd on its feet with two dunks in the second half.

The Wildcats had three other players in double digits: senior forward Javien Johnson with 17 points (seven rebounds, one assist); junior guard E.J. Bush with 13 (six rebounds, two blocks, one assist); and junior guard Tajion Jones with 12 (six rebounds, four assists, one block, and one steal). [Read more…]

Wildcats beat 2014 Arby’s Classic champion to play for 5th place on Thursday

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Oak Ridge junior Tee Higgins (5) hit two free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining to beat North Mecklenburg of North Carolina, 56-54, in the 2015 Arby’s Classic in Bristol on Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2015. (Photo by Allen Greene / TriCitiesSports.com)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:25 a.m. Dec. 31.

Oak Ridge lost an Arby’s Classic tournament game on free throws on Tuesday, and then won one on free throws on Wednesday. The Wildcats beat last year’s Arby’s Classic champion on Wednesday to play for fifth place in Bristol on Thursday.

Oak Ridge junior Tee Higgins hit two free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining to beat North Mecklenburg of North Carolina, 56-54, in the 2015 Arby’s Classic. North Mecklenburg was the champion in the 2014 Arby’s Classic.

Higgins, a University of Tennessee football commit who had a one-handed dunk early in the third quarter, finished with 11 points. Junior Tajion Jones, who had a three-pointer in each of the first three quarters, scored 11 for the Wildcats. Higgins pulled down five rebounds and had three assists, while Jones had four rebounds and a block. Senior Geevantay Gee had 10 points, two rebounds, and two assists for Oak Ridge.

Oak Ridge will play for fifth place in this year’s Arby’s Classic against the winner of a Wednesday afternoon game between Urspring, Germany, and Taylor County, Kentucky. (Thursday, December 31 update: Oak Ridge will play Taylor County.) The fifth-place game starts at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, December 31. [Read more…]

Wildcats lose to Pioneers in double-overtime game that features 30 three-pointers

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Oak Ridge junior Tee Higgins (5) scored 25 points for the Wildcats in a double-overtime 87-85 quarterfinal loss to David Crockett in the 2015 Arby’s Classic basketball tournament in Bristol on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2015. (Photo by Allen Greene / TriCitiesSports.com)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11:40 a.m. Dec. 30.

The Oak Ridge Wildcats lost their first basketball game of the season in a thrilling quarterfinal game that went into double overtime in the Arby’s Classic tournament in Bristol on Tuesday. It featured a combined 30 successful three-point shots. The final score was 87-85 in favor of the David Crockett Pioneers.

Oak Ridge junior Tajion Jones had a game-high 28 points and was credited with seven three-pointers, while junior Tee Higgins had 25 points and hit six three-pointers. Jones hit four of his seven three-point shots in the first quarter. The 6-foot-4 guard also finished with seven rebounds and one assist, and the 6-foot-5 Higgins had five rebounds and two steals.

It was a personal best for Jones, both in terms of total points scored and made three-pointers.

The Wildcats (15-1, 5-0 District 3-AAA) had 14 three-point shots total, while David Crockett (12-2, 2-0 District 1-AAA) had 16. That tied the single-game record of 16 set by Memphis White Station in 2003. The 15-0 start for Oak Ridge was the best in school history.

Oak Ridge and David Crockett, two top Class AAA teams that received a standing ovation at halftime after a flurry of three-pointers, made 21 three-point shots in the first half alone and shot an incredible 68 percent from beyond the arc (21 of 31). In comparison, the two teams shot 60 percent or less from two-point range in the first half. [Read more…]