Oak Ridge clinches District 3-4A title
Giles hits 1,500-point milestone against Beavers
Oak Ridge senior Garrett Giles scored his 1,500th career point against Karns on Friday, Jan. 24. (photo:Tony Cox )
The Wildcats (16-3 overall, 8-0 district) secured the championship last week with two dominant road wins. They capped the stretch with a 93-58 rout of Karns on Friday.
Senior Garrett Giles reached a career milestone in the win over the Beavers (1-17, 0-8), scoring his 1,500th career point as part of a 15-point performance.
Senior point guard Ray Ray Watson led the offensive charge with 18 points. Cooper Williams added 15 points, while Malik Howard chipped in 10. Oak Ridge led 48-35 at halftime.
The win over Karns was part of a three-game road sweep for the Wildcats last week.
On Saturday, Oak Ridge traveled to Murfreesboro and defeated Oakland 76-43. Giles paced the offense with 21 points, while Watson added 17 and Williams finished with 10.
“That was a good win for us,” Oak Ridge coach Aaron Green said. “They have a good team and some really good players.”
The Wildcats opened the week with a 90-54 district victory at Knoxville Halls on Tuesday, Jan. 21. Watson scored 18 points, while Giles tallied 16 and Charlie Taubenheim contributed 12.
Oak Ridge returned to action Tuesday night at home against Powell, but results were unavailable at press time. The Wildcats wrap up district play Friday against Campbell County.
“We have two district games at home this week, and we’d like to get those and finish undefeated in the league,” Green said.
By winning the district title, Oak Ridge earned a first-round bye in the coming District 3-4A tournament, and an automatic berth in the Region 2-4A tournament. However, Green emphasized that the Wildcats’ work is far from finished in the 2024-25 regular season.
“We have some big games left against some good teams,” he said.
“We’ll play Walker Valley, and they’re always tough. Then we play at Alcoa, and then we go to Cleveland. We have Sevier County, another good team, and then we go to Fulton.”
The Wildcats will host Walker Valley on Feb. 3 before traveling to Alcoa to face the Tornadoes in hopes of avenging an earlier loss.
They’ll visit Cleveland on Feb. 11, host Sevier County on Feb. 13, and conclude the regular season at Fulton’s Jody Wright Arena on Feb. 15.
