Wildcats take second loss of season
Playing without one of its top scorers, Oak Ridge High School’s boys basketball team dropped a 53-33 decision to Cleveland Saturday night.
It was only the second loss of the season for the Wildcats (13-2), but Coach Aaron Green wasn’t about to make any excuses.
“We were without Brennen Scott,” he said. “He had an injury. He was out and he didn’t play. But we just didn’t play well.
“Defensively, we were OK, but offensively we weren’t good at all.
“We missed a lot of shots and we missed shots that we don’t normally miss,” Green said.
Kaden Brightharp had nine points for the Wildcats, who defeated the Blue Raiders 68-63 in overtime on Tuesday, Dec. 13.
Oak Ridge opened the 2023 calendar year with an 81-46 victory over a young Clinton squad on Tuesday, Jan 3, at Wildcat Arena.
Green said he was impressed with the Dragons’ effort despite the seemingly lopsided final score.
“Any time Clinton and Oak Ridge line up in any sport, it’s a big rivalry, and I thought both teams played hard,” Green said. “It’s always a pretty good game.”
The Wildcats had three players post double figures in the scoring column as Scott led the way with 19 points. Grayson Strader added 18 and Brightharp finished with 17.
Jeremiah Lee led the Dragons with 18 points, while Brent Reynolds chipped in with 14 and Teegan Bolinger had eight.
This week, Oak Ridge dives back into District 3-4A play.
The Wildcats traveled to Knox County’s Marble City community Tuesday as they played at West High School. The Rebels entered the contest with an 11-3 record under Head Coach Aubin Goporo, a former member of Rick Barnes’ staff at Tennessee.
Results were not available at press time.
The Wildcats travel to Karns Friday.
“We’ll have two tough games this week,” Green said.
“It all starts at West High.”