Wildcats take care of business against Knoxville Central
As the 2022-23 high school basketball regular season enters its home stretch, the Oak Ridge boys are starting to find their stride.
The Wildcats have won consistently all season.
But longtime Head Coach Aaron Green is always looking for improvement from his team, which has battled injuries a bit lately.
Oak Ridge (16-3 overall, 5-1 in District 3-4A) opened the second half of its league schedule with a convincing victory over Knoxville Central Friday night at home.
Grayson Strader scored 25 points, while Ray’Quan Watson poured in 23 points and dished out 10 assists as ORHS topped the Bobcats 81-63 at Wildcat Arena.
“He played really well,” Green said of Watson. “He’s one of our young guys who is really stepping up. He had 23 points against Central.”
Oak Ridge had been playing without Strader, but he came back in the Wildcats’ recent district win against Karns.
“Grayson is one of our top players and he had been out, but he got healthy at Karns,” Green said.
Any good basketball team features a balanced offensive attack, and Green got the balance he’s been looking for when the Wildcats defeated Campbell County in a district tilt on Tuesday, Jan. 17.
Five Wildcats posted double figures in the scoring column in an 85-61 victory over the Cougars.
Kaden Brightharp, a steady contributor this year, led the way with 24 points against the Cougars early last week. Brennen Scott added 11 points, while Strader, Watson and Cooper Williams (who has been filling in for injured center Bryson Comer) finished with 10 points each.
“Against Campbell County, we had five guys in double figures,” Green said. “We have a lot of depth and we have five guys who can score, and that makes us hard to guard.”