Powell Archives - Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge eliminates Catholic in Region 2 quarterfinal

Posted at 11:24 am February 25, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The 2018 Region 2-AAA boys’ basketball tournament bracket.

Oak Ridge eliminated Catholic in a Region 2-AAA quarterfinal game at Wildcat Arena on Saturday.

The Wildcats (21-7) advanced to play Bearden (34-1) in a regional semifinal game at Bearden High School at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Oak Ridge was the District 3-AAA runner-up this year, and Bearden was the District 4 champion.

The winner of Tuesday’s semifinal will play in a state sectional game, which determines who goes to the state tournament, and the Region 2-AAA championship at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Tuesday night semifinal is an elimination game, so the season will be over for the loser.

The other semifinal Tuesday is between Powell (20-10), the District 3 champion, and Maryville (25-6), the District 4 runner-up. It’s scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Tuesday, just before the Oak Ridge-Bearden game. [Read more…]

Basketball photos: Oak Ridge vs. Powell in boys’ district championship

Posted at 1:18 pm February 24, 2018
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Josh Woods of Powell (12) is pictured above during the 60-58 District 3-AAA championship win over Oak Ridge at Halls on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

HALLS—Oak Ridge hadn’t lost a district game in four years, but Powell ended the Wildcats’ long 70-game win streak during the district championship at Halls last week. The Panthers outscored the Wildcats 14-9 in the final quarter for a 60-58 upset victory to win the District 3-AAA basketball championship at Halls High School on Saturday, February 17.

Here are photos from the game.
[Read more…]

After district win streak ends at 70, Wildcats play Catholic on Saturday

Posted at 12:24 pm February 24, 2018
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Oak Ridge senior Seth Caldwell (4) dribbles near the basket during a 60-58 loss to Powell in the District 3-AAA championship at Halls on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was updated at 9:45 a.m. Feb. 25.

HALLS—Oak Ridge hadn’t lost a district game in four years, but Powell ended the Wildcats’ long 70-game win streak during the district championship at Halls last week.

It was a close game, and Oak Ridge (20-7) led after each of the first three quarters: 26-16 at the end of the first, 37-35 at the half, and 49-46 at the end of three.

But the Panthers (19-10) outscored the Wildcats 14-9 in the final quarter for a 60-58 upset victory to win the District 3-AAA basketball championship at Halls High School on Saturday, February 17.

The Wildcats missed 16 free throws, including 10 in the second half. That could have been the difference in the two-point game. Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said the missed free throws were uncharacteristic.

“It hurts to lose a game, especially a championship game,” Green said. [Read more…]

Basketball: First round of Region 2 tournament starts at home Friday night

Posted at 12:45 pm February 23, 2018
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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the District 3-AAA basketball tournament championship for the third year in a row with a 60-38 victory over Campbell County at Halls on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The first round of the Region 2-AAA basketball tournament starts at home tonight (Friday, February 23).

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats (23-5), the District 3-AAA champion, will host Hardin Valley (22-7), the fourth-place team in District 4, at Wildcat Arena at 7 p.m. Friday. The doors open at 6.

The Oak Ridge Wildcats (20-7), the District 3-AAA runner-up, will host Knoxville Catholic (21-7), at Wildcat Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday. Doors for that game also open at 6.

[Read more…]

Basketball photos: Oak Ridge girls vs. Powell in district semifinal

Posted at 9:32 am February 22, 2018
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Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today

HALLS—The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats beat Powell 62-38 in a District 3-AAA tournament semifinal game at Halls on Friday, February 16. Here are photos from the game.

The girls then beat Campbell County 60-38 in the district championship on Saturday. The District 3 champions, the Lady Wildcats will play Hardin Valley, the fourth-place District 4 team, at home at Wildcat Arena in a first-round Region 2-AAA tournament game at 7 p.m. Friday, February 23.

We will add captions to those photos as we can. [Read more…]

Basketball: Lady Wildcats win third straight district championship

Posted at 2:22 pm February 19, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Note: This story was updated at 10 a.m. Feb. 25.

HALLS—Oak Ridge pulled away from Campbell County in the second half to win its third straight district championship in the girls’ basketball tournament at Halls on Saturday.

The Lady Wildcats led by just six points, 25-19, at halftime in the District 3-AAA tournament championship. But they outscored the Lady Cougars 35-19 in the second half to beat Campbell County 60-38.

Oak Ridge junior Jada Guinn, who was named most valuable player of the tournament, led in scoring with 23 points. Twelve of those were in the fourth quarter.

Oak Ridge senior Mykia Dowdell added 17.

Campbell County junior Skylar Boshears, who scored 11 points for the Lady Cougars, was hurt less than a minute into the second half and had to be helped off the floor and into the locker room. But she was back in the game a few minutes later. [Read more…]

Basketball photos: Oak Ridge-Anderson County district semifinal

Posted at 4:01 pm February 17, 2018
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Marcus Smith (2) of Oak Ridge during a District 3-AAA semifinal game against Anderson County at Halls on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. Behind him is Seth Caldwell (4). (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 advanced to the title game by beating Anderson County 69-61 in a District 3-AAA semifinal game at Halls on Friday.

Here are photos from Friday’s game. We will try to add more photo captions as we can. [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…]

Lady Wildcats will play in District 3 championship Saturday

Posted at 6:48 pm February 16, 2018
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Oak Ridge senior Desiree Bates (20) scored 17 points for the Lady Wildcats in a 62-38 District 3-AAA semifinal win over Powell at Halls on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

HALLS—The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats will play in the District 3-AAA basketball tournament championship on Saturday. It’s the third year in a row that the girls have made it to the district championship.

On Friday at Halls, Oak Ridge advanced to the championship game by beating Powell 62-38 in a district tournament semifinal game after trailing 21-14 at halftime.

Oak Ridge was led by junior Jada Guinn with 18 points. Ten of those were in the first half, which was most of the Lady Wildcats’ offense in the first two quarters. Guinn shot 8-for-8 from the free throw line during the game.

Senior Desiree Bates scored 17. She had three three-point shots in the third quarter, when the Lady Wildcats outscored the Lady Panthers 30-8. [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
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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…]

Gaddis gets 300th coaching win

Posted at 11:51 pm October 13, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis talks to the Wildcats football team after a 42-6 win over Clinton on Blankenship Field on Friday, Oct. 13, 2017. It was Gaddis’ 300th coaching win. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

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

Oak Ridge Coach Joe Gaddis got his 300th win as a football coach during a 42-6 win over Clinton on Friday.

Gaddis is only the seventh football coach in Tennessee to get 300 career wins, and he is one of only two active coaches with 300 wins, Oak Ridge school officials said. Gary Rankin of Alcoa is the other. Rankin was the first in Tennessee to win 400 games, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported in September.

Fans and players, parents and coaches, and students and school officials celebrated Gaddis’ milestone 300th win with a brief ceremony on Blankenship Field on Friday that included fireworks and photos, and signs and a football painted with the number 300 that was presented to Gaddis.

More than half of Gaddis’ wins have been at Oak Ridge, where he is 162-36. Gaddis first coached at Oak Ridge for 11 seasons, from 1988 to 1998, and he is in his fifth season back, after returning in 2013.

“I’m coaching at the best place there is to coach,” Gaddis said. “This is just a special place.” [Read more…]