Lady Wildcats’ season comes to a close
Oak Ridge’s Ze’Yana Stewart (5) has been a powerhouse inside the paint during the 2023-24 season. Stewart finished with 18 points against William Blount on Friday night and a 10 points against the Admirals in the Region semifinal game on Monday night.
The Lady Wildcats, who recently completed a perfect run through their District 3-4A regular season and postseason tournament, dropped a 48-36 decision to District 4-AAA regular-season champion and tournament runner-up Farragut Monday night at Bearden High School in West Knoxville.
ORHS, which had no seniors on its roster this season, looks to return all of its players in 2024-25.
The Lady Wildcats, who finish the campaign with a 21-8 overall record, had a 13-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, after the Lady Admirals (20-12) opened the contest by scoring five unanswered points and had a 9-2 lead at one juncture in the frame.
Oak Ridge closed out the opening stanza with a 10-2 surge to take the lead by first quarter’s end.
The game remained a hotly-contested battle throughout the second quarter, with the Lady Wildcats clinging to a 20-18 lead when Farragut’s Reagan Sheridan made a three-point shot as time expired in the opening half to give the Lady Admirals a 21-20 advantage at the break.
Farragut took control of the contest in the second half as foul trouble became a factor for the Lady Wildcats, who had their two leading scorers in the game foul out. Ze’Yana Stewart, who finished with 10 points, and Ayana Porter, who had nine, left the game in the fourth quarter.
Jaci Neubert led the Lady Admirals with 12 points, while Annie Priest finished with 11 for Farragut, which will play the host Lady Bulldogs today (Feb. 28) at 7 p.m. for the region title. The two District 4-4A rivals split their regular-season series and Bearden defeated Farragut to win its district tournament.
The Lady Wildcats advanced to the region semifinals with a 60-40 victory over William Blount Friday night at Wildcat Arena behind 18 points from Stewart and 15 from Jenna Johnson. Porter finished with 10.