Three Oak Ridge High School football players were taken to two hospitals after a crash in Blount County on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
The three were reportedly leaving Maryville to come to practice in Oak Ridge at the time of the crash, Wildcats Coach Joe Gaddis said.
He said two players were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville and the third was taken to Blount Memorial.
Gaddis said the three had apparently spent the night with a friend. [Read more…]
Sophomore Tee Higgins (5) led all Wildcats with 18 points, including three dunks and two three-pointers. (Photos by Melissa Livesey)
Note: This story was last updated at 9:57 p.m.
After days of delays because of winter weather, the Oak Ridge boys’ basketball team advanced to the regional semifinals on Wednesday, while the girls were eliminated from the playoffs. The Wildcats walloped Lenoir City 81-37, while the Lady Wildcats lost to Farragut 57-17.
Oak Ridge, which was the number one seed from District 3, will move on to play either Heritage or Halls in the Region 2 semifinals, although it’s not clear when because of the weather. The semifinal game could be played as early as Friday or as late as Sunday.
Wednesday’s game at home at Wildcat Arena was the only boys’ game in Region 2. Oak Ridge hasn’t played since Valentine’s Day, or 11 days, mostly because of the weather. [Read more…]
The Region 2 basketball tournament games have been rescheduled for this afternoon.
The Oak Ridge girls are scheduled to play at Farragut at 4:30 p.m. (Wednesday, February 25), and the boys are scheduled to play at home at 4:30 p.m. against Lenoir City.
There are reports that some games have been postponed or moved, including the Karns-Maryville boys’ Â game, Maryville-Powell girls’ Â game, Halls-William Blount girls’ game, and Anderson County-Bearden girls’ game. We suggest you check in advance for more specific information on your game. PrepXtra, the high school sports section at the Knoxville News Sentinel, is posting updates on Twitter.
The Wildcats were supposed to play Karns in the District 3 championship last week, but that game was canceled because of weather. And the Lady Wildcats were supposed to play Anderson County in the District 3 consolation game, but that match was also called off.
The regional games have already been rescheduled several times because of winter weather.
Note: This story was last updated at 8:14 a.m. Feb. 24.
Schools in Clinton and Anderson, Roane, Morgan, Campbell, Scott, and Union counties are among those closed again Tuesday because of the weather.
Anderson County Schools said schools will be closed due to icy conditions on many of the county’s back roads. The Central Office will follow the inclement weather procedure, and principals should report to their schools.
Oak Ridge Schools said they plan to be open. Update: Oak Ridge Schools are also closed Tuesday. Please see newer story here.
“At this point, school will start on time tomorrow, but weather will be monitored during the night,” Oak Ridge education officials said. “We will alert you if there are changes.” [Read more…]
Sophomore Tee Higgins (5) of Oak Ridge had two dunks in the first quarter and led the Wildcats with 14 points against the Clinton Dragons at Wildcat Arena on Tuesday. (Photos by Melissa Livesey)
Eleven miles is all that separates the bitter rivalry between the Oak Ridge Wildcats and the Clinton Dragons. However, since 1990 the rivalry has been nothing but Oak Ridge. For 57 straight games, Oak Ridge has bested Clinton on the basketball court, and Tuesday night was no different for the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats. Both teams went on to soundly defeat their opponents.
The Oak Ridge Lady Wildcats were the first matchup of the night. Clinton’s players and coaches were pumped up before and during the entire game, and it was obvious that they had upset on the mind. However, thanks to a strong fourth quarter, the Lady Wildcats were able to defeat the Lady Dragons by a solid score of 65-54.
Clinton actually jumped out to an early lead on Oak Ridge. With a little less than 5:20 left in the first quarter, the Lady Dragons had an 8-1 lead. However, the Lady Wildcats fought back to a 10-8 lead thanks to a three-pointer by Jasmine Hembry with 3:51 left in the first quarter. Hembry would finish with 14 points, which was second on the team. After fighting back and forth, Oak Ridge would score a basket with :20 seconds left, and the score after one quarter was 15-13. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge boys cross country team won the regional championship during a Region 2-AAA meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday. (Photos by Nichole Zawisza)
KNOXVILLE—For the first time since 2008, the Oak Ridge boys and girls cross country teams swept the regional championships, and the two high school teams will compete in the state meet in Nashville next Saturday.
The Wildcats saw some stiff competition at the Region 2-AAA meet at Victor Ashe Park in Knoxville on Thursday, but the Oak Ridge boys’ team had no trouble collectively running past all challengers in the 5,000 meter run. Although Dartanian Oakley of Hardin Valley took home first place, three Oak Ridge runners followed right behind him. Gashaw Duhamel finished second with a time of 16:22:08, Wesley Robinson finished third with a time of 16:25:57, and Tyler Boullie finished fourth with a time 16:32:36. Both Duhamel’s and Robinson’s finishes met the national silver standard, which is finishing a race before the 16:30:00 mark.
The rest of the Oak Ridge boys’ team finished strongly as well. Jacob Etheridge finished seventh with a time of 16:52:39. Shortly behind him were Daniel Beckett running at 16:54:74 to finish 10th and Thomas Colburn running 16:57:14 to finish 11th. Rounding out the seven runners for Oak Ridge was Jose Villegas, who finished 17th with a time of 17:13:91. [Read more…]
Junior running back T.J. Allison (#6) of the Wildcats runs behind the blocking of senior tight end Ryan Waddell (#86) as senior Joseph Elkins (#5) of Campbell County tries to strip the ball away. Allison ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns on Friday. (Photos by Julio Culiat)
Note: This story was last updated at 2:15 p.m.
Wildcats shut down big passing gains for Cougars
The running game was working well and burning up the clock, so Oak Ridge coach Joe Gaddis stuck with it.
Two running backs, juniors T.J. Allison and Jaylen Nickerson, racked up more than 100 yards each and led the Wildcats to three touchdowns in the first, second, and third quarters. Kicker Brandon Nickle added a field goal in the fourth.
The 24-8 victory was an important district win for the Wildcats, who are now 6-0 overall and 4-0 in District 3-AAA. The only other undefeated team in the district is Anderson County (7-0, 6-0). The two teams will face off in the season finale on Thursday, October 30.
Oak Ridge came close to picking up its fourth shutout of the season on Friday night at Blankenship Field, preventing the Cougars, who had averaged 42 points per game, from scoring until late in the fourth quarter.
“Our defense played really well,” Gaddis said.
The Lady Wildcats took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge on Thursday. Here is a collection of photos from the ice bucket challenge submitted by coach David Scott.
The Lady Wildcats program then went on to challenge Coach Aaron Green and his staff and the Wildcats basketball team, Coach Allen Etheridge and his staff and the cross country team, and the Oak Ridge football team, Scott said.
The Oak Ridge High School Football Boosters will have a pancake breakfast fundraiser for the 2014 football season on Saturday, June 7, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Lincoln’s Sports Grille.
The cost is $5 per person, and children three years of age and under eat free with a purchase of an adult ticket. This includes pancakes, sausage, bacon, juice, milk, and coffee.
“Please come out and support the 2014 Wildcats!” a press release said.
Michael Farley, center, donated $500 to the Oak Ridge Wildcats boys basketball team to help them travel to the state tournament in March. (Submitted photos)
Michael Farley, a candidate for Anderson County chancellor, made a $500 donation to the Oak Ridge High School boys’ basketball team in March to help them travel to the state tournament.
“The donation was extremely helpful in covering our cost, and myself and the team are very appreciative,” Coach Aaron Green said in a press release.
In the press release, Farley said he has always been a big donor to athletics in Anderson County, supporting individual athletes and teams at the optimist, middle, and high school levels for more than 20 years. [Read more…]
Note: This story was last updated at 1:20 p.m.
Schools in Anderson County, Clinton, and Knox and Morgan counties are closed today (Monday) because of weather conditions and possible icing. And the Wildcats boys’ basketball sectional game in Kingsport, featuring Oak Ridge and Dobyns-Bennett, has been postponed to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Roane State Community College is closing its Campbell, Cumberland, Morgan, Scott, and Fentress county campuses due to icy roads. The campuses in Oak Ridge and Loudon, Knox, and Roane counties are open, but classes at the Clinton facility have been canceled.
The afternoon docket for the Anderson County General Sessions Court in Clinton has been canceled starting at 1 p.m. The afternoon docket for Anderson County Juvenile Court has also been canceled. And the Anderson County Courthouse closed at 1 p.m.
Tennessee officials said state offices will be closed the remainder of the day statewide, but mission-critical state employees will report to work as usual. [Read more…]
Anderson County eliminated the Lady Wildcats 42-22 in the second round of the District 3-AAA girls’ basketball tournament on Saturday at Powell.
The Lady Mavericks (16-11) will now play Halls (13-12) in a semifinal game at 4:30 p.m. Monday at Powell.
The Lady Wildcats (8-21) had advanced to the second round after eliminating Clinton 51-37 in a first-round game at Powell on Tuesday. [Read more…]
