Wildcats drop two, win one during weekend play

December 20, 2023 by Ken Lay

It was a tough weekend on the hardwood for the Oak Ridge High School boys basketball team.

Despite playing at home in the 5Star Preps Hoop Jam, the Wildcats suffered a pair of back-to-back losses Friday and Saturday.

Oak Ridge opened the tournament, which features some of the Southeast’s top boys and girls basketball teams, with an 83-77 loss to Knoxville’s Austin-East Magnet High School.

This was one that ORHS Coach Aaron Green said his team let get away.

“We had a lead pretty much the whole game, and we were ahead by 14 points at one point in the game, but we didn’t guard well and we didn’t play well in the fourth quarter,” Green said. “They were good, but we didn’t guard and we didn’t defend the way that we want to.”

The Wildcats (10-3) opened the contest against the Roadrunners, who improved to 9-3 with Friday night’s victory, as they took a 7-0 lead when point guard Ray’Quan Watson made a steal. He converted that into a layup with 5 minutes, 48 seconds, remaining in the first quarter, and the Wildcats appeared poised for an easy victory.

But Austin-East had other ideas as it battled back to trim the deficit three, at 25-22, by the end of the opening frame on a bucket by Condis Cherry, a freshman, as time expired in the period.

The Roadrunners would eventually take the lead after Watson was whistled for his third foul with 4:52 to go before halftime.

Austin-East opened up a 35-31 advantage when Cherry knocked down a pair of throws midway through the frame.

The Wildcats, however, would regain the upper hand before the break as they outscored the visitors 12-4 to end the second period.

Cherry scored 12 of his 21 points in the first half, but it was his older brother, Shane, a junior and University of Tennessee recruiting target, who would prove to be the Roadrunners’ most potent weapon. He poured in a game-high 39 points against the Wildcats, who still held a 64-58 advantage heading in the final eight minutes of the fray.

Oak Ridge had a 71-69 lead when Watson, who scored 19 points, fouled out with 3:17 to go in the game.

“We gave up 21 points to a freshman, and Shane Cherry scored 39 points,” Green said. “Ray Ray fouled out, and that was probably a big difference. But that’s part of basketball, and we have to have other kids step up and we didn’t.

“Ray Ray has got to stay out of foul trouble.”

Austin-East Head Coach Dernard Bertum, a former Oak Ridge assistant, said his team did exactly what it needed to do down the stretch.

“We came over here to play this game to see where we’re at,” Bertrum said. “We knew they were a tough team and we knew they were well-coached.

“He (Green) is my boss. I used to coach over here and Aaron always does a great job. He always has his team well-prepared. This is a great environment for high school basketball and you had all of Knox County and Anderson County watching.”

The Wildcats took a 77-76 lead with 1:07 remaining, and Condis Cherry turned the ball over a short time later. But his 3-pointer with under a minute to play gave the Roadrunners a 79-77 lead, and they didn’t trail again. Shane Cherry closed the game with four consecutive free throws in the final 22 seconds to provide the winning margin.

Kaden Brightharp scored 24 points to lead Oak Ridge, and Cooper Williams finished with 17.

The Wildcats closed the week with a 78-77 loss to Hamilton Heights from Chattanooga.

ORHS returned to the court on Tuesday when they played a road game at Sevier County. Results were not available at press time.