Wildcats outmuscle Knoxville Halls 72-52
Oak Ridge High School’s boys basketball team continued its season-long dominance over District 3-4A foes with a decisive 72-52 win over Knoxville Halls in Saturday’s district semifinal at Karns High School.
After a sluggish first half, the Wildcats (24-3) built early momentum with a 14-11 lead in the opening quarter, extending it to 28-21 by halftime.
Oak Ridge then exploded in the third quarter, outscoring the Red Devils 22-7 to push a commanding 50-28 lead into the final period.
Point guard Ray’Quan Watson led the scoring attack with 18 points despite battling illness, while Garrett Giles added 11.
“We didn’t play our best against Halls, but it’s all about surviving and advancing,” Coach Aaron Green said. “We didn’t play our best in the first half, but we will be playing for a district championship.
“Our point guard, Ray Ray, had illness issues and when you get to this point in the season, you just have to throw all of the records out the window and survive and advance,” Green said. “As coaches, we keep trying to find ways to help our team improve and put them in situations to keep winning.”
Oak Ridge was set to face Powell in the district tournament final on Tuesday at Karns High, with results pending at press time.
In addition, by virtue of their semifinal victory, the Wildcats have earned a Region 2-AAA tournament quarterfinal home game at Wildcat Arena this Saturday.
A district tournament championship win would secure home-court advantage throughout the regionals, as the District 3 Champion hosts the region tournament.
“The championship is important because it’s our district’s turn to host the region tournament,” Green added. “Powell is a tough team. They’ve gotten better, beating Hardin Valley on a last-second three, and handling Campbell County in the other semifinal.
“The winner of this game will be at home pretty much until the state tournament if they keep winning,” he said.
