Lady Wildcats find late spark, eye Region berth
The young Oak Ridge High School girls basketball team absorbed its share of hard lessons during the 2025-26 regular season.
But the Lady Wildcats (9-15 overall, 5-7 in District 4-4A) found momentum at the right time, closing the campaign with back-to-back victories and entering the district tournament needing one more win to punch a ticket to the Region 2-4A Tournament.
Oak Ridge was slated to open postseason play Tuesday against either McMinn County or Rhea County. Results were not available at press time. A victory would send the Lady Wildcats to the region tournament, while a loss would end their season.
After dropping a 65-45 decision at home to Cleveland on Monday, Feb. 9, Oak Ridge responded with resilience. The Lady Wildcats edged Lenoir City 57-49 the following night behind a big performance from Eviaya Mitchell, who poured in 26 points. Jenayah Pippins added 12.
Oak Ridge carried that momentum into Friday night’s regular-season finale at Wildcat Arena, rolling past Fulton 61-33.
Mitchell led the way again with 25 points, while Pippins chipped in 18 as the Lady Wildcats closed the regular season on a high note and turned their focus to the postseason.
