Region 2-AAA championship Archives

Second in region, Lady Wildcats play for chance to go to state tonight

Posted at 5:15 pm March 3, 2018
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The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats finished as Region 2-AAA runner-up in a 57-45 loss at Bearden on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018. The girls will play in a sectional game, which determines who goes to the state tournament, at Daniel Boone in upper East Tennessee on Saturday, March 3, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

BEARDEN—The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats finished as runner-up in the regional basketball tournament at Bearden on Wednesday, and they will play in a sectional game, which determines who goes to the state tournament, at Daniel Boone in upper East Tennessee this evening (Saturday, March 3).

The runner-up in Region 2-AAA (Oak Ridge) plays at the winner of Region 1-AAA (Daniel Boone). The runner-up in Region 1-AAA (Jefferson County) plays at the winner of Region 2-AAA (Bearden). The games start at 7 p.m.

The eight girls’ teams that win in the Class AAA sectionals in Tennessee will advance to the state basketball tournament at Middle State State University in Murfreesboro on Wednesday.

Tonight’s game is the first sectional game on the road for the Lady Wildcats since 2005 at Greeneville, according to broadcaster David Clary. [Read more…]

Lady Wildcats eliminate Hardin Valley

Posted at 8:49 pm February 23, 2018
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Oak Ridge senior Jaymi Golden (32) is pictured above during a District 3-AAA semifinal game against Powell at Halls on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 2 p.m. Feb. 24.

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats eliminated Hardin Valley 55-39 in the first round of the Region 2-AAA tournament at Wildcat Arena on Friday.

Oak Ridge (24-5) was led by senior Jaymi Golden with 16 points, including 12 in the first half, and junior Jada Guinn, who also scored 16. Senior Mykia Dowdell had 11. Senior Desiree Bates, who scored four points, also had at least three rebounds and three steals.

The Lady Hawks (22-8) were led by senior Abbey Cornelius with 15 points. Junior Kiara Inman added seven. [Read more…]

Soccer photos: Oak Ridge-Farragut in Region 2-AAA championship

Posted at 10:41 am May 19, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge will travel to Science Hill for a Class AAA sectional on Saturday after losing to Farragut in the Region 2-AAA championship game at home on Thursday.

The Admirals beat the Wildcats 2-1 at the Pro2Serve Oak Ridge Soccer Complex at Oak Ridge High School.

Here are photos from the game by John Huotari of Oak Ridge Today. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge travels to Science Hill after Region 2 championship loss

Posted at 11:13 pm May 18, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge will travel to Science Hill for a Class AAA sectional on Saturday after losing to Farragut in the Region 2-AAA championship game at home on Thursday, May 18, 2017. Pictured above is junior midfielder Casey Nigh (12). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 11 a.m. May 19.

Oak Ridge will travel to Science Hill for a Class AAA sectional on Saturday after losing to Farragut in the Region 2-AAA championship game at home on Thursday.

The Admirals beat the Wildcats 2-1 at the Pro2Serve Oak Ridge Soccer Complex at Oak Ridge High School.

Science Hill, in Johnson City, was the the Region 1-AAA champion. The Hilltoppers beat Dobyns-Bennett of Kingsport 3-0 in the Region 1 championship on Thursday.

The winner of Saturday’s sectional game between Oak Ridge and Science Hill will advance to the state Class AAA soccer tournament. The season will be over for the loser. [Read more…]

Wildcats advance to Region 2 soccer championship

Posted at 9:20 pm May 16, 2017
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Oak Ridge advanced to the Region 2-AAA soccer championship with a 3-1 win over Maryville in a semifinal elimination game at home on Tuesday, May 16, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

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

Oak Ridge advanced to the Region 2-AAA soccer championship with a 3-1 win over Maryville in a semifinal elimination game at home on Tuesday.

The Wildcats will now play Farragut in the Region 2-AAA championship at the Oak Ridge Soccer Complex at 7 p.m. Thursday.

Oak Ridge and Farragut will both play at least two more games, the regional championship on Thursday and a Class AAA sectional on Saturday.

Here’s how the sectionals work: The Region 2 champion will host the Region 1 runner-up, and the Region 1 champion will host the Region 2 runner-up.

While the Region 2 championship features Oak Ridge and Farragut, the Region 1 championship, which will also be played on Thursday, features Dobyns-Bennett and Science Hill. [Read more…]

Soccer: Vinyard scores four as Wildcats advance to district championship

Posted at 1:11 pm May 12, 2017
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Oak-Ridge-Austin-Vinyard-Goal-Halls-Soccer-May-10-2017-Slider

Oak Ridge senior forward Austin Vinyard (9), left, scored four goals and had one assist as the Wildcats advanced to the District 3-AAA soccer championship with a 6-0 win over Halls on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Oak Ridge senior forward Austin Vinyard scored four goals and had one assist as the Wildcats advanced to the District 3-AAA soccer championship with a 6-0 semifinal win over Halls on Wednesday.

Vinyard, who signed to play soccer at Maryville College on Thursday, said he also had four goals in a game last season, but his four goals and an assist on Wednesday may be a career high.

Oak Ridge, the number one seed, will play Central, the number two seed, in the District 3-AAA championship game, which starts at 7 p.m. today (Friday, May 12) at the Oak Ridge Soccer Complex at Oak Ridge High School.

The Wildcats were undefeated in the district during the regular season, and they beat the Bobcats 2-1 on Monday, April 24. Central’s only district loss during the regular season was to Oak Ridge, according to records posted on CoachT.com.

Central advanced to the District 3-AAA championship with a 4-0 win over Powell on Wednesday. Oak Ridge and Central will both advance to the Region 2-AAA championship. [Read more…]

Boys basketball photos: Oak Ridge-Bearden

Posted at 10:57 am March 3, 2017
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Oak Ridge sophomore Herbert Booker (14) shoots the basketball against Bearden sophomore Drew Pember (3) during an 86-73 win for the Wildcats in the Region 2-AAA basketball championship at Wildcat Arena on Thursday, March 2, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Oak Ridge sophomore Herbert Booker (14) shoots the basketball around Bearden sophomore Drew Pember (3) during an 86-73 win for the Wildcats in the Region 2-AAA basketball championship at Wildcat Arena on Thursday, March 2, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Oak Ridge beat a young, talented Bearden team 86-73 in the Region 2-AAA championship at Wildcat Arena on Thursday. Here are photos by Luther Simmons. [Read more…]

Wildcats win Region 2 championship two years in a row

Posted at 10:07 am March 3, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge beat a young, talented Bearden team 86-73 in the Region 2-AAA basketball championship at Wildcat Arena on Thursday, March 2, 2017. The team is pictured above with coaches, cheerleaders, and the student section. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Oak Ridge senior Tajion Jones bounced back with 24 points and the Wildcats beat a young, talented Bearden team 86-73 in the Region 2-AAA championship at home on Thursday.

It’s the second consecutive regional championship for the Wildcats and their third in the past five years.

Oak Ridge (29-2) will now play David Crockett, the Region 1-AAA runner-up, in a sectional at Wildcat Arena at 7 p.m. Monday.

Bearden (21-9) will play at Science Hill, the Region 1 champion, in another sectional at 7 p.m. Monday.

The eight sectionals will determine which teams get to play in the Class AAA state basketball tournament from March 15-18 at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said the Thursday night win over Bearden, which started four sophomores, was a collective effort. [Read more…]

Girls basketball photos: Oak Ridge-Hardin Valley

Posted at 8:56 am March 2, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge senior Courtney Ellison (10) made three three-point shots during a 71-42 win over Hardin Valley in the Region 2-AAA championship at Wildcat Arena on Wednesday, March 1, 2017. She is defended here by Hardin Valley junior Abbey Cornelius (25). (Photo by Luther Simmons)

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the Region 2-AAA championship for the second year in a row on Wednesday, crushing Hardin Valley 71-42 in their best overall game. Here are photos by Luther Simmons. [Read more…]

Playing their best game, Lady Wildcats win Region 2 championship

Posted at 8:17 am March 2, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Playing their best game, the Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the Region 2-AAA championship for the second year in a row, crushing Hardin Valley 71-42 at Wildcat Arena on Wednesday, March 1, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Note: This story was updated at 10:15 a.m.

The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats won the Region 2-AAA championship for the second year in a row on Wednesday, crushing Hardin Valley 71-42. Oak Ridge Coach Paige Redman said it was the best overall game she’s seen the girls play.

“This game showed me a lot about them from start to finish on both ends of the court,” Redman said. “We played really, really well.”

The Lady Wildcats (29-3) had at least 15 steals, and they scored on eight of those. Oak Ridge had 25 points off of turnovers, including steals. Some of those turnovers led to three-point shots, some to layups, and still others to two-point plays converted into three-point plays because of Hardin Valley fouls.

Oak Ridge also had at least a half-dozen feeds in the paint for a basket, sometimes from one player standing near the free throw line to another cutting inside toward the basket when Hardin Valley guards came out too far.

“Tonight they played basketball,” Redman said of her team. “It was the best overall game I’ve seen them play.” [Read more…]

Upchurch scores 25, but Maryville can’t stop Oak Ridge

Posted at 3:52 am March 1, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge senior Anthony Gibson (23) led the Wildcats with 13 points during a 46-43 win against Maryville in a Region 2-AAA semifinal elimination game at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

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…]

Soccer photos II: Oak Ridge-Bearden in Region 2-AAA championship

Posted at 2:51 pm May 21, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Wildcats-Clowers-Warmbrod-Bearden-Garcia-May-19-2016

Oak Ridge senior defender Blake Clowers (3) scored the one goal for the Wildcats during a 4-1 loss at Bearden in the Region 2-AAA championship on Thursday, May 19, 2016. Also pictured are Bearden senior Kelvin Garcia (10) and Oak Ridge senior Matt Warmbrod (5). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

KNOXVILLE—Oak Ridge finished as Region 2-AAA runner-up at Bearden on Thursday, and the Wildcats play Dobyns-Bennett in a sectional soccer game in Kingsport this afternoon (Saturday, May 21). Here are more photos from Thursday’s game.

The winner of today’s game will advance to the Class AAA state tournament in Murfreesboro next week.

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Bearden senior Jameson Elmore (21) goes for a shot during a 4-1 win over Oak Ridge at Bearden on Thursday, May 19, 2016. Also pictured from left are Oak Ridge senior goalkeeper Joel Turner, junior midfielder Brent Robinson (6), and senior defender Blake Clowers (3). (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

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Oak Ridge junior midfielder Brent Robinson (6), at right), heads the ball past Bearden senior Gabe Alvarez during a 4-1 loss for the Wildats at Bearden in the Region 2-AAA championship on Thursday, May 19, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/oak Ridge Today)

[Read more…]