Anderson County’s Christopher Baldwin was one of five Mavericks wrestlers to take the top spot for his weight class at the 2025 region meet on Saturday. - Tony Cox
Anderson County High School’s wrestling team has enjoyed plenty of success in recent seasons.
On Saturday, however, the Mavericks had a record-setting day on the mats at the Region 2-A championships.
Anderson County advanced 11 wrestlers to the state sectionals from the regional tournament, held at the Don W. Lockard Gymnasium at Clinton High School.
This week, the Mavericks, who recently competed in the Class A state duals for the second- consecutive year, face a long road trip to sectionals, set for Saturday at Chuckey-Doak High School.
At regionals, five Anderson County wrestlers claimed individual titles. Three others reached the finals, two finished third, and another took fourth in his weight class.
Anderson County’s Cam Lawson is closely guarded by Clinton’s Camden Nelson during Friday’s rivalry matchup. - Dwane Wilder
After a sluggish start to the season, Clinton High School’s boys basketball team has emerged as one of the area’s hottest squads.
The Dragons have won six of their last seven games, including six straight. Their biggest victory of the season came Friday night when they outlasted crosstown rival Anderson County 60-54 in front of a packed and energetic crowd at ACHS.
In addition to extending its winning streak, Clinton (16-10, 9-1 District 4-AAA) snapped the Mavericks’ nine-game run and ensured at least a share of first place in the district standings.
The Dragons started strong, but Anderson County (16-9, 8-1) held a narrow 16-13 lead after the first quarter. Clinton responded with a dominant second period, using a 15-6 run to take a 28-22 advantage into halftime.
The Dragons extended their control in the third quarter, outscoring the Mavericks 15-7 to push the lead to 43-29 heading into the fourth.
Anderson County, which had handed Clinton its only district loss earlier this season, mounted a late comeback. However, the Dragons held firm to secure their first win over the Mavericks since the 2022-23 regular season.
Clinton’s Josie Moody tries to get a shot off while being defended by Anderson County’s Bethany Lowe. - Dwane Wilder
Clinton High School’s girls basketball team has endured a roller-coaster 2024-25 season.
The Lady Dragons, one of the area’s most-experienced teams, faced a rigorous early schedule and struggled out of the gate.
As the season progressed, Clinton began to string together wins, although success didn’t come easily.
Then, the Lady Dragons suffered a major setback when junior Lanee Carmichael, the reigning District 4-AAA Player of the Year, sustained a season-ending injury. Carmichael was averaging 22 points per game when her junior campaign was cut short.
“We had to change the way we play,” Clinton Coach Alicia Daugherty said. “When we lost Lanee, the district player of the year, we lost 22 points per game. As coaches, we had to brainstorm and find different ways to fill those 22 points.”
Despite the loss, the Lady Dragons have found a way to compete.
On Friday, Clinton secured a 47-30 district road win over Anderson County, marking its fourth-straight victory and a regular-season sweep of the Lady Mavericks.
Anderson County’s Donovan Rainey competed in the 100-meter freestyle and 200-meter individual medley at the TISCA state championship meet last weekend. - Tony Cox
The Anderson County High School swim team wrapped up its 2024-25 season over the weekend at the TISCA state swimming and diving championships at the University of Tennessee’s Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.
Senior Avery Coker reached the consolation finals in both the boys 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard freestyle.
In the butterfly preliminaries, he posted a time of 51.56 seconds, improving to 50.75 seconds in the finals to place 13th. In the freestyle, he swam 47.65 seconds in the preliminaries and finished 16th in the finals at 48.72.
Landon Rainey finished 26th in the 100 freestyle (48.27) and 29th in the 200 freestyle (1:48.06), with both times recorded in the preliminaries.
For the Lady Mavericks, junior Donovan Rainey placed 39th in the 100 freestyle (56.15) and 43rd in the 200-yard individual medley (2:19.97).
“We had a good season, and this was a great way to end it,” ACHS Coach Stephanie Coker said.
Clinton’s Keenan Hoskins (126) defeated Hayden Mitchell of Northview Academy in the early rounds of Saturday’s region meet at Clinton High School. - Tony Cox
Clinton High School’s wrestling team is in the midst of a rebuilding season in 2024-25.
The Dragons, however, delivered solid performances at the Region 2-A championships Saturday at their home venue, Don W. Lockard Gymnasium.
Two Clinton wrestlers advanced to this weekend’s state sectional championships, set for Saturday at Chuckey-Doak High School.
Dalton Kendall, Clinton’s 215-pounder, finished second in his weight class, falling to Anderson County’s Josh Bingham, the state’s top-ranked wrestler.
“Dalton wrestled really well; he lost to Josh Bingham in the championship match,” Clinton Coach Channing McDonald said. “Hopefully, we’ll see a rematch of that this week.
“It would be great to see our hometown wrestlers go one and two at sectionals.”
Jordan Smith, who competes in the 175-pound division, placed third in his regional bracket and will also compete this weekend.
Six area high school wrestlers will compete Thursday and Friday in the girls’ state sectional championships at Northview Academy in Kodak.
Matches are scheduled to begin at approximately 6 p.m.
Clinton will have five athletes in the tournament. The Lady Dragons will be represented by Maggie Lloyd (114-pound weight class), Zaira Feeney (120), Janelle Casado (165), Ace Johnson (185), and Brenna Griffith (235).
Anderson County sophomore Danielle Connors will also compete for a chance to advance to the state championships.
She will wrestle in the 120-pound division. In December, she was ranked as the top wrestler in the 126-pound division in the Tennessee Wrestling Coaches Association poll.
The Norris Senators’ 2024-25 basketball season came to a close on Monday night in the state sectionals. The Senators finished as runners-up in the state sectional tournament. Members of the 2024-25 team are: (in numeric order) 2-Cooper Downs, 3-Liam Childress, 4-Bentley Ellis, 10-Mason Douglas, 11-Mason Ellis, 12-Fisher Clark, 15-Riley Miller, 21-William Dorton, 22-Ty Page, 23-Eli Lindsey, 32-Connor Dabney, 34-Colton Lawson and 42-Brogan White. - Dwane Wilder
The Norris Middle School boys basketball team entered the state sectional tournament hoping to secure a second straight trip to the state tournament.
A win Monday night at Anderson County High School would have sent the Senators back to the Midstate for the Class AA Final Four later this week.
Instead, Norris came up short, falling 58-42 to Knoxville’s Vine Magnet Middle School.
The Senators got off to a fast start, holding the Golden Bears to just six first-quarter points while taking a 13-6 lead against the three-time defending Knox County Class AA regular-season and tournament champions.
Norris maintained a 20-19 advantage at halftime before Vine took control in the second half, outscoring the Senators 39-22 after the break.
By the end of the third quarter, the Golden Bears led 35-30 before pulling away in the final six minutes.
The Oak Ridge High School girls basketball team added two nonleague victories last week, continuing its dominant run.
The Lady Wildcats, who recently secured another regular-season district championship with an undefeated league record, extended their road winning streak Friday night with a 72-47 rout of Alcoa in Blount County.
Oak Ridge (21-3) remains unbeaten in true road games this season.
Ze’Yana Stewart led the Lady Wildcats against the Lady Tornadoes with 25 points and seven rebounds.
Euleesha Mitchell contributed 13 points, three rebounds, and one steal, while Jenna Johnson added 10 points and five boards.
Oak Ridge opened the week with a 64-22 victory over Walker Valley on Monday, Feb. 3, at Wildcat Arena.
Stewart scored 16 points and grabbed three rebounds in that win.
Lindsay Cleveland finished with eight points, five steals, and two assists, while Ayana Porter anchored the defense with 11 steals. She also scored six points and had one rebound.
The Lady Wildcats visited Cleveland on Tuesday night, but results were unavailable at press time.
Oak Ridge will wrap up its road schedule Saturday night when it travels to North Knoxville to face Fulton at Jody Wright Arena. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m.
The Lady Wildcats will then conclude the regular season at home Monday against Sevier County. That game was originally scheduled for Thursday, but had to be rescheduled.
Oak Ridge senior point guard Ray ‘Quan Watson reached two career basketball milestones last week while leading the Wildcats in two non-district wins.
On Friday night, Watson scored his 1,000th career point as Oak Ridge edged Alcoa 88-85 in Blount County. He finished with 16 points and was one of four Wildcats to score in double figures.
Malik Howard led Oak Ridge (20-3) with 21 points, while Garrett Giles added 17. Cooper Williams chipped in 12.
The win over the Tornadoes marked Oak Ridge’s 20th victory of the season and avenged a 69-67 loss to Alcoa in late December.
On Monday, Feb. 3, the Wildcats rolled past Walker Valley 88-70 at Wildcat Arena.
Watson scored 29 points and became Oak Ridge’s all-time assist leader by recording his 469th career assist.
Shamar Greene and Giles each had 16 points, and Williams added 13.
Oak Ridge traveled to Cleveland on Tuesday to face the Blue Raiders, but results were not available at press time.
The Wildcats play their final road game of the regular season Saturday at Jody Wright Arena in North Knoxville against Fulton.
They will close out the regular season Monday at home against Sevier County.
Anderson County’s Taylor Davis (front, red shirt) and Ty Murphy (front, blue shirt) are joined by Mavericks football coaching staff as they celebrate signing their national letters of intent to further their academic and athletic careers at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky.
Taylor Davis
Anderson County High School football player Taylor Davis will continue his playing career at the college level, staying relatively close to home while crossing into Kentucky.
Davis, who played as an H-back and defensive end during his senior season with the Mavericks, signed his national letter of intent to play at the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky.
He is one of three Mavericks from the 2025 recruiting class to commit to the Patriots, joining quarterback Landen Hensley and lineman Ty Murphy. All three took part in a signing ceremony Wednesday, Feb. 5, at ACHS.
Former Anderson County players Eli Davis and Nick Moog are already on the roster at the University of the Cumberlands.
“I talked to Nick, and he said he really loved the school,” Davis said. “He didn’t try to sell me on it — he just told me everything about it.”
A defensive player for much of his high school career, Davis will transition to fullback at the college level. He first played offense during his senior season in 2024.
Clinton’s Blaine Collins is joined by family to celebrate the signing his national letter of intent to continue his academic and football career at Maryville College.
Clinton High School punter Blaine Collins will continue his academic and football career at the college level.
Collins finalized his plans last week by signing a national letter of intent to attend Maryville College, where he will punt for the Scots.
The 2024 Region 3-5A Punter of the Year is following a familiar path. His brother, Bryce Collins, also punted for Clinton before playing at Maryville.
“I knew about it because my brother played there,” Blaine said. “The game-day environment appealed to me, and I felt a connection with the players and coaches.”
Bryce graduated from Clinton four years ago, and Blaine said that played a role in his decision.
Collins plans to major in business management and hopes to one day own a business in Knoxville.
“I liked Maryville because of the small class sizes; it felt a lot like high school,” he said.
“When I got there, it just felt perfect. You get to know the people around you.”
Another key factor in his choice was proximity to home.
“I wanted to stay close, within a three-hour radius,” Collins said.
“It’s important to me that my family can see me play.”
