Oak Ridge Today

Gibson again leads Wildcats, this time in quarterfinal win over West

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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)

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…]

Jones named MVP as Wildcats win fifth straight district championship

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The Oak Ridge Wildcats won their fifth straight District 3-AAA championship with an 86-58 victory over Powell at Clinton on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

The Oak Ridge Wildcats won their fifth straight District 3-AAA championship with an 86-58 victory over Powell at Clinton on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

 

CLINTON—Oak Ridge senior Tajion Jones was named most valuable player as the Wildcats won their fifth straight District 3-AAA championship with an 86-58 victory over Powell at Clinton on Tuesday.

Oak Ridge (26-2) will play West, which finished fourth in District 4-AAA, in a first-round Region 2-AAA game at Wildcat Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday. West (15-17) lost to Hardin Valley 64-58 in the third-place District 4 game on Tuesday.

The Wildcats, the top seed in the District 3-AAA basketball tournament, advanced to the district championship at Clinton High School on Tuesday by beating Clinton, which had been the number five seed, 111-77 in a semifinal game on Saturday.

Oak Ridge was led against Powell on Tuesday by senior Anthony Gibson. He scored a game-high 24 points, with 22 of those in the first half. Gibson knocked down three three-point shots.

Jones scored 21, with 12 of those on four three-point shots. Jones, a Mr. Basketball finalist in Class AAA, also had a baseline drive for a dunk. [Read more…]

Boys basketball photos: Oak Ridge-Powell

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Oak Ridge senior Tyshawn Young (4) is pictured above during an 86-58 win over Powell in the District 3-AAA championship at Clinton High School on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

Oak Ridge senior Tyshawn Young (4) is pictured above during an 86-58 win over Powell in the District 3-AAA championship at Clinton High School on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

 

CLINTON—Oak Ridge senior Tajion Jones was named most valuable player as the Wildcats won their fifth straight District 3-AAA championship with an 86-58 victory over Powell at Clinton on Tuesday. Here are photos from the basketball game by Luther Simmons. [Read more…]

Wildcats put on show. The highlight: A between-the-legs dunk

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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…]

Basketball photos: Wildcats at Fulton

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Oak Ridge Higgins Layup Fulton Feb 11 2017 Simmons Web

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…]

Higgins scores 33, a career high, during win over Fulton

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Oak Ridge Higgins Shoots Fulton Feb 11 2017 Simmons Web

Oak Ridge senior Tee Higgins (5) scored 33 points, a career high, 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.

Higgins hit three three-point shots, made 12 free throws (he had 14 attempts), and pulled down 10 rebounds.

“He told me on the way over here he was ready to go,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said.

Falcons fans remember Higgins. In the last game at Jody Wright Arena two years ago—the gym was loud, hot, and packed that night, too—Higgins hit a three-point shot with 3.1 seconds left to give Oak Ridge a one-point victory. The Wildcats had been down by two, but Higgins, who was then a sophomore, finished the dramatic all-out battle between the two top-five teams. Besides the game-winning three-pointer, he had 20 points and 14 rebounds in that classic game.

The Wildcats didn’t get off to a great start this year in the non-district game on Saturday, the last of the regular season for Oak Ridge. Fulton jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and led for much of the first quarter.

“We gave up some easy points defensively,” Green said. [Read more…]

Tajion Jones a Mr. Basketball finalist

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Oak Ridge senior Tajion Jones (3) scored 32 points as the Wildcats topped 100 points during an 108-56 win over Halls at Wildcat Arena on Monday, Jan. 23, 2017. (File photo by Luther Simmons)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:50 p.m.

Oak Ridge senior Tajion Jones has been named as one of three finalists for Mr. Basketball in Class AAA in Tennessee.

Among other accomplishments, Jones is second on the all-time Oak Ridge list for career three-point shots with 189, according to broadcaster David Clary.

The other two Mr. Basketball finalists in Class AAA are Tyler Harris of Cordova High School and Alex Lomax of Memphis East High School.

It’s the second year in a row that Oak Ridge has had a Mr. Basketball finalist. Last year, Tee Higgins, who was then a junior, was named a finalist.

This year’s finalists were announced Friday by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, or TSSAA. The Mr. and Miss Basketball awards will be presented to the top boys and girls in five TSSAA classifications in the Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State University on Tuesday, March 7. [Read more…]

Photos, videos: Oak Ridge, Halls basketball game

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Oak Ridge Higgins Dunk Halls Jan 23 2017 Web

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…]

Wildcats top 100 points, Jones scores 32 in win over Halls

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Oak Ridge Jones Halls Jan 23 2017 Web

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…]

Photos: Wildcats beat Campbell County 94-57

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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…]

Wildcats tie record for three-pointers at Campbell County

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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…]

Young has another big night as Wildcats give Karns its first district loss

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Oak Ridge senior Tyshawn Young (4) had another big night for the Wildcats, scoring 27 points and pulling down 16 rebounds in a 97-68 win over Karns at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017. Behind Young is Cole Cooper (34) of Karns. (Photo by Luther Simmons)

 

Oak Ridge senior Tyshawn Young had another big night on Tuesday as the Wildcats gave Karns its first district loss of the season.

Last week, Young scored 29 points, a personal best, during a 64-56 win over Science Hill in the Arby’s Classic in Bristol on December 27.

On Tuesday, he almost matched that, scoring a game-high 27 points during a 97-68 win over Karns. He also had 16 rebounds.

“He’s playing really, really well,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said.

Young said he was surprised by his 29 points against Science Hill.

“We’ve always had the ability to play well,” Young said. “It’s not unexpected. I’ve just got to step up and play harder.” [Read more…]