Oak Ridge junior Destiny Kassner (30) plays defense during a 48-47 Region 2-AAA semifinal win over William Blount at Wildcat Arena on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)
Two steals, a layup, and a free throw in the final minute helped Oak Ridge beat William Blount by one point, 48-47, in a Region 2-AAA semifinal game that came down to the final few seconds on Monday. Here are photos by Luther Simmons. [Read more…]
Two steals, a layup, and a free throw in the final minute helped Oak Ridge beat William Blount by one point, 48-47, in a Region 2-AAA semifinal game that came down to the final few seconds on Monday, Feb. 27, 2017. Pictured above are Oak Ridge juniors Jaymi Golden (32) and Destiny Kassner (30). (Photo by Luther Simmons)
Two steals, a layup, and a free throw in the final minute helped Oak Ridge beat William Blount by one point, 48-47, in a regional semifinal game that came down to the final few seconds on Monday.
The Lady Governors led by two points late in the Region 2-AAA semifinal elimination game, Oak Ridge Coach Paige Redman said. But a steal by Lady Wildcats senior Courtney Ellison led to a tying layup by junior Mykia Dowdell.
Then, another Oak Ridge steal led to a William Blount foul and two free throws by Lady Wildcats sophomore Jada Guinn. She missed the first one but hit the second, Redman said. That gave the Lady Wildcats (28-3) a one-point lead with about half a minute remaining.
With just over two seconds to go, Oak Ridge got the basketball. But the Lady Wildcats turned it over with about 1.3 seconds remaining. When the Lady Governors threw it in, Dowdell knocked it out of bounds. The clock ticked down to 0.3 seconds. That wasn’t enough time for William Blount (21-11) to get the ball in bounds and possibly make a game-winning basket. After being nervous—the Lady Governors led 47-45 with 2:14 remaining—Oak Ridge fans were jubilant.
“Wow!” said Stephanie Thompson, Oak Ridge High School assistant principal. “What a win for the Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats!” [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…]
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…]
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…]
Jefferson Middle School and Robertsville Middle School will play their rescheduled basketball games on Monday.
The girls’ junior varsity game tips off at 4:45 p.m. Monday at Wildcat Arena at Oak Ridge High School. Varsity games will follow.
The games were postponed due to the weather on Saturday.
Oak Ridge was led by sophomore Jada Guinn (24) with 30 points, the most for one of the Lady Wildcats since 2014, in a 104-19 win over Karns at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017. (Photo by Luther Simmons)
The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats scored more than 100 points for the first time since 2003 in a 104-19 win over Karns at home on Tuesday.
The girls were led by sophomore Jada Guinn with a game-high 30 points, the most for a Lady Wildcat since Mykia Dowdell, who is now a junior, scored 32 against Central in 2014, according to broadcaster David Clary.
It’s the 11th time the Lady Wildcats (14-2, 6-0 District 3-AAA) have scored more than 100, Clary said. The last time was in 2003 against Alcoa.
Coaches said the 30 points for Guinn, including 17 in the first quarter alone, was likely a personal best. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge junior Mykia Dowdell (34) had a game-high 14 points during a 57-36 win over Science Hill in the Champion Chevrolet Shootout at Science Hill High School in Johnson City on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2016. (Photo by Robert Kell)
JOHNSON CITY—Oak Ridge junior Mykia Dowdell again led the Lady Wildcats to a win over Science Hill.
Last year, Dowdell scored 18 in the 49-32 Oak Ridge win over the Lady Hilltoppers at Wildcat Arena.
This year, she scored a game-high 14 points against Science Hill in the Champion Chevrolet Shootout at Science Hill High School in Johnson City on Saturday. This year, the Lady Wildcats (10-1, 5-0 District 3-AAA) won 57-36.
It was the Lady Wildcats’ second win of the Champion Chevrolet Shootout. They also beat Cleveland 69-35 on Friday. [Read more…]
A reminder—There are three events happening this evening: the Harlem Ambassadors Basketball Show in a benefit for Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County, a former chief astronomer at NASA who is referred to as the “mother of the Hubble Telescope” discussing the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to black holes, and local historian and writer Ray Smith discussing the Three Bend Scenic and Wildlife Management Refuge Area of the Oak Ridge Reservation.
The Harlem Ambassadors Basketball Show starts at 6 p.m. today (Thursday, March 24) at Wildcat Arena at Oak Ridge High School. This show is not only entertaining, organizers said, it also brings an important message to kids: “Stay off drugs, stay in school, don’t be a bully!â€
Individuals have sponsored tickets so that student-athletes in Anderson County can come to the game for free.
The “opposing†team, the Habi-bats, is made up of local coaches and other local basketball standouts.
“We hope to fill the arena and sell lots of hotdogs, all in an effort to raise money to build and repair homes in Anderson County,” a press release said. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge senior point guard Geevantay Gee (12), playing in his last game at Wildcat Arena, goes for a layup during a 73-70 overtime loss to David Crockett in a Class AAA sectional on Monday, March 7, 2016. Gee is guarded here by Pioneer Patrick Good (12), who had a game-high 29 points, including six three-pointers. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 8:15 a.m.
David Crockett denied Oak Ridge a fourth consecutive trip to the state basketball tournament on Monday with 11 three-point shots, including a winning three-pointer by senior Patrick Good with 3.5 seconds left in overtime, and the 17 second-half points of senior Dustin Day.
It was the second time the two teams have met this year. Both games went into overtime and were decided on less than three points, and David Crockett won both. The first game was during the regular season, when the two teams combined to make 30 three-point shots, and the second was during a Class AAA sectional at Wildcat Arena on Monday. Good scored the winning baskets in both games.
After their 73-70 overtime win in the sectional game on Monday, the Pioneers (30-5) advance to the state tournament for the first time in the 44-year history of the program.
“They don’t get much tougher than that,” Oak Ridge Coach Aaron Green said after the three-point overtime loss.
[Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats and cheerleaders celebrate a 39-32 sectional win over Dobyns-Bennett at Wildcat Arena on Saturday, March 5, 2016. The win sends the Lady Wildcats to the state tournament for the first time since 2010. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was last updated at 10:47 p.m.
Oak Ridge freshman Jada Guinn scored 14 second-half points to help hold off a Dobyns-Bennett rally in a close Class AAA sectional game on Saturday, and the 39-32 victory sends the Lady Wildcats to the state basketball tournament for the first time since 2010.
Guinn had a big turnaround from the first half to the second. She hit her first shot, a layup, but then missed her next six shots in the first and second quarter. But she knocked down six shots in the second half, along with two free throws, for a game-high 18 points.
Guinn scored 10 in the fourth quarter, after the Lady Indians had rallied to take a one-point lead at the end of the third quarter and then widened it to 30-27 with 5:40 left in the fourth. [Read more…]
Jennifer Walker, left, branch manager of TNBank on South Illinois Avenue, hands Charlotte Bowers, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County, a sponsorship check. (Submitted photo)
Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County is hosting the Harlem Ambassadors Basketball Show on Thursday, March 24, at Oak Ridge High School. This show is not only entertaining, organizers said, it also brings an important message to kids: “Stay off drugs, stay in school, don’t be a bully!”
The show starts at 6 p.m. March 24 at Wildcat Arena.
“Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County is so very appreciative of the businesses that are sponsoring this event,” a press release said. They include Life Safety Inspections, ORAU, MS Technology, Thrivent Financial, SL Industries, ORNL Federal Credit Union, A-Plus Concrete, Techmer PM, TNBank, Orthopaedic Surgeons of Oak Ridge, Tracy Larabee CPA, BWSC, Stoller, LEIDOS, Krogers, and J&M’s Butcher Shop.
“A special thank you to Hampton Inn and Shailesh Patel for housing the Ambassadors!” the press release said. Many individuals have also sponsored tickets so that student-athletes in Anderson County can come to the game for free. [Read more…]
