Wildcats survive, advance in Region tourney
After dominating District 3-4A play and sweeping their two district tournament games, the Oak Ridge High School boys basketball team opened the Region 2-4A Tournament with a narrow victory.
The Wildcats, who only trailed once against Knoxville West, nearly saw a late double-digit lead slip away but held on for a 62-60 win over the Rebels Saturday night at Wildcat Arena.
“This was a good win,” Oak Ridge coach Aaron Green said. “We had to battle some adversity, and we talked about battling adversity a little bit today. West is a good basketball team. They finished second in that district over there (in the regular season), and that’s one of the toughest districts in the state.”
The Rebels (21-7), under first-year coach Tommy Eggleston, earned an automatic bid to the region tournament as regular-season runners-up. However, they entered Saturday’s game as the No. 4 seed after losing in the semifinals and the third-place game. West, ranked in the top 10 in Tennessee, saw its season end at Wildcat Arena for the second consecutive year.
The game appeared sealed when Wildcats’ senior point guard Ray’Quan Watson sank two free throws with four seconds left, giving Oak Ridge a 62-57 lead. However, West High’s Jaylon Hill drilled a three-pointer with 0.8 seconds remaining to tighten the score to 62-60, adding late drama.
Oak Ridge’s lead, which was as large as 10 points late in the fourth quarter, began to waver after Watson, who led all scorers with 27 points, hit two free throws to make it 54-44 with 3:43 left.
“We didn’t play our best,” Green admitted. “A lot of that was because of them. Good teams always make you not play your best. But we survived and advanced, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Charlie Taubenheim and Cooper Williams each scored nine points for the Wildcats, while Malik Howard and Garrett Giles contributed seven points apiece.
Oak Ridge (25-3) was set to face Bearden (28-4) Tuesday night in an elimination semifinal. A win over the Bulldogs would secure a spot in the region championship game and a berth in the state sectionals on Monday, March 10.
