Oak Ridge plays Christmas tourneys in Greeneville, Bristol
If you’re a high school basketball fan, then there are two times of the year that you look forward to the most. The obvious No. 1 time is the post season when all records go back to 0-0. As Oak Ridge head boy’s basketball coach Aaron Green says, the regular season is just scrimmage games to prepare for the post season because every team plays at least one game in the post season. Even a winless team in the regular season can win a State Title.
Hope springs eternal.
The second most fun time, in my opinion, is the Holiday Christmas Tournaments, which are upon us. Because I have been so blessed to follow Oak Ridge basketball for over 40 years, I have traveled to five different states and have witnessed over 200 Christmas Tournament games involving the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats. From Florida to Arizona and from Georgia to Ohio with Kentucky in the middle, we’ve been there. My crew and I have covered a lot of basketball, but despite all the travel, the best tournaments might just be right here in Tennessee. Beginning today, Dec, 26, at 7 p.m. both Oak Ridge teams are on the road to two of the most prestigious Christmas Tournaments in the South, if not the nation. Here in Tennessee.
Lady Wildcats travel to Greeneville
For the 24th time since 1989, the Lady Wildcats will be headed up to the Hal Henard Gym in Greeneville to participate in the Andrew Johnson Bank Ladies Classic. The tournament has had several names including the Burger Chef Ladies Classic as it was originally called in 1989, but the competition has remained the same, Excellent. There will be 20 teams representing five states all vying for a championship opportunity on the final day of the tournament on Dec. 30. The Lady Wildcats have won more championships than any other participating team in the tournament’s 32 years. Six different times the Lady Wildcats have been champions with the last coming in 2018.
The 6-3 Lady Wildcats will open up at 7 p.m. against the North Greene Lady Huskies and it willbe the 89th game that Oak Ridge has played at this tournament. Along with their six titles, they have been runner-up five times and have a 63-25 record. Some of the greatest legends of Oak Ridge basketball have been named MVP of this tournament, Tennessee Miss Basketball winners Erin McGinnis and Jennifer Wilson come to mind, along with Danielle Barnard, Angela Phillips, Brittany Frazier and most recently, Jada Guinn, were deemed the best players there. Oak Ridge Head Coach Paige Taylor was also MVP back in 1993 when her Bradley Central Lady Bears won the title. The local residents of Greene County consider this to be a community event and they pack out the gym every day of the tournament.
Wildcats play in Bristol
Speaking of packed out gyms, the Wildcats will be traveling up the road to another nationally known Christmas Tournament tonight (Dec. 26), the Arby’s Classic in Bristol. This tournament is played at Viking Hall and over 30,000 people will pay the price of admission to watch teams from eight different states, the District of Columbia and the Bahamas try to bring home a championship on Dec. 30. This is a by invitation only tournament that has been around for 40 years. The Wildcats will be participating in their 7th Arby’s Classic and are in pursuit of their first title.
Former Oak Ridge Head Coach Steve Shipley took the first Wildcat team there in 1988 with the last trip coming in 2017 under Aaron Green. Former Head Coach Chuck Carringer saw his 1999 Wildcats play for the title on Y2K eve, but lost in double overtime to Science Hill. Against national powerhouses, Oak Ridge has a 15-8 record at the Arby’s and one of our own, Isaac Merian, won one of the big events at the tournament, the slam dunk contest. Basketball at it’s best.
Oak Ridge will open up tonight at 7 p.m. against one of the coolest mascots we’ve ever played, the Black Bears of Harlan County, Kentucky. As the unofficial historian of the basketball program, I was curious to see if we had ever played them before. Low and behold, I thought we had in 1951 but come to find out that same county has an even cooler named team, The Green Dragons of Harlan, Kentucky. Historically that team has the distinction of being the first opponent of the Wildcats in what we now call the old gym in the current high school. The Green Dragons opened that facility on Dec. 7, 1951. I bet some other Dragons were green with envy on having not being invited to be the first. In fact we didn’t even play them that season. But I digress.
My crew will be on the road tonight in Bristol covering a South Carolina signee who plays at Harlan County in Trent Noah. A big time scorer and big time player. Although we’d like to be able to cover both boys and girls, it is impossible tonight since they begin at the same 7 p.m. start time. As is our policy, we cover the team farthest away from Oak Ridge and that is the Wildcats in Bristol. The good news is that the guys are off on Wednesday so we’ll be able to cover the Lady Wildcats in Greeneville in their second round game. Hopefully both teams will have start times moving forward that we can cover both on the same day. All of the tournament games that we cover will be on FM 92.7 and we’ll stream the live video on our YouTube Channel-Prepradio.
It’s a great time for basketball fans and we’d love to see you on the road with usthis week.
David Clary has been the "Voice of the Wildcats" for over 40 years and may be heard during football season on FM 92.7 and on YouTube on the Prepradio Channel.