Garrett Giles (5) and the Oak Ridge Wildcats faced the Walker Valley Mustangs in a TSSAA Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal at the Charles M. Murphy Athletic Center on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Oak Ridge boys advanced. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — Since the Region 2-4A Tournament began March 1, the Oak Ridge boys basketball team has faced, endured and survived nail-biter after nail-biter to cut its path to the TSSAA State Tournament.
On Thursday, the Wildcats breathed a bit easier for a change.
Facing a team it beat by 18 only a month ago, Oak Ridge cruised past Walker Valley once again, posting a 60-39 win in a Class 4A state quarterfinal at MTSU’s Murphy Center.
Oak Ridge (30-3) beat Walker Valley at its own game, knocking down eight 3-pointers in just 20 tries. Walker Valley (30-5) finished 3 of 19 from deep.
The Wildcat starters sat the final 2 minutes, 6 seconds.
“Our last four (games) have been nail-biters for sure,” Oak Ridge coach Aaron Green said. “A win’s a win. Definitely feels good. Little less stressful for coach to win kind of going away at the end. Felt good.”
RayQuan Watson led the Oak Ridge in scoring with 13 points.
Oak Ridge advances to the state semifinals for the first time since 2021. The Wildcats will face either Whitehaven (32-3) or defending-champion Independence (24-12) at 8:45 p.m. Central time on Friday.
Should Oak Ridge win that semifinal, it’ll play for a state title for the first time since finishing runner-up in 2014. Its last boys basketball state title came in 1963.
“We didn’t do much celebrating in the locker room (tonight). There’s still work to be done,” Green said. “So that’s our focus. It’s going to be a short turnaround, having to watch (Whitehaven vs. Independence) and then getting ready (to play) in less than 24 hours.
“We’re definitely happy to be in the next round, for sure.”
SmartBank is the proud sponsor of 5Star Preps postseason basketball coverage.
Walker Valley predicated its success this season upon the 3-point shot, where its main rotation averages more than nine makes per game and where five players shoot 37.5 percent or better. Zach Davis and Landon Shirk entered with matching 41.9-percent shooting percentages from 3, and each makes 2.5 treys per game or better. They went a combined 0-for-6 on Thursday.
In the first half, Oak Ridge limited Walker Valley to an 0-for-6 team clip from deep while building a 27-16 advantage by the break.
Oak Ridge made six of 12 tries from 3 before halftime. Watson’s 3 midway through the second quarter put Oak Ridge ahead 20-8. Malik Howard made one at the 1:29 mark of the quarter to move Oak Ridge ahead 25-13.
The trend continued into the second half.
Watson hit a 3 at the midpoint of the third to give Oak Ridge a 38-21 margin.
Charlie Taubenheim, a 6-5 junior at Oak Ridge, went 3-for-3 from 3. His third triple made for a 41-22 score.
“The shots just felt good today,” Taubenheim said. “When I saw the first one go in, the other two just felt like muscle memory to me.”
OAK RIDGE vs. Walker Valley PHOTOS