BY JESSE SMITHEY
Oak Ridge principal Drayton Hawkins, who’s been known to talk ball from time to time, tossed out a casual question to Wildcats boys basketball Aaron Green during the season about what his team might be able to achieve in the postseason.
Green didn’t need to think long nor hard for his answer.
“I’ll probably go as far as RayRay takes us,” Green told Hawkins.
Truer words.
By “Ray Ray,” Green meant senior point guard Ray’Quan Watson, and Watson led Oak Ridge all the way to the final game of the high school basketball season.
And while the Wildcats took a tough loss in the 4A championship game to Hillsboro, Watson had still guided the program to more than 30 wins and its first title-game appearance since 2014.
The 5Star Preps Player of the Year averaged 16.1 points, 5.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game, shooting 84 percent from the foul line and 39.2 percent from the 3-point arc.
He’s the program’s all-time assists leader.
“His development as a player and as a young man, he’s made great progress every year. Our run we made, we fell a little bit short on what we were trying to get done. But he was definitely the key to that, in my opinion,” Green said. “He had to handle the ball. Taking it back to that Whitehaven (state semifinal) game, he was getting double teamed and pressured, he just made a lot of big plays. You go back to that region tournament against West, Bearden and Maryville, he made a lot of big plays in those games.
“Just a great career — but had an elite senior year and a big part of the run that we made.”
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Oak Ridge (31-4) took a 14-game winning streak into the postseason and cruised to the District 3-4A Tournament title.
But in a loaded Region 2-4A field, Oak Ridge had to get past West, Bearden and Maryville. They did that, but by an average of 5.3 points per game. Watson hit four consecutive 3s in the region semifinal elimination game against Bearden to kickstart their victory push and made key layups, steals and assists late to secure the win.
Oak Ridge then edged visiting Sevier County, 51-50, in the sectional round to get to the state tournament. Watson made four foul shots down the stretch to help Oak Ridge clinch that win.
And when Oak Ridge couldn’t buy a bucket in the final 10-11 minutes of a state semifinal nail-biter against Whitehaven, Watson willed the team to victory with sheer effort and the ability to get to the foul line.
“He’s just a competitor. He finds a way to make plays,” Green said. “He doesn’t turn it over very much. I think it takes some grit and toughness to be able to handle that, and hopefully our preparation helped a little bit, too.”
Watson played 92 of 96 possible minutes at the state tournament, but that represented the effort he gave the entire season. Oak Ridge didn’t have much available guard depth to spell him, so Watson rarely exited a meaningful game.
Didn’t bother him a bit.
“I’ve been like that since I was younger. I never want to come out of the game,” Watson said.
“Ever.”
The hard part of Watson’s senior year was balancing basketball, school and a job. That often meant early morning workouts and getting up shots, finding a way to shoot some during lunch and then after team practice. He even got up some shots late after he had worked.
“It was just constantly getting in the gym,” he said. “But that’s what helps me get that confidence, always seeing my shot go in.”
The 5-foot-9 Watson has committed to Chattanooga State, hoping to parlay his time there into the right opportunity on a college stage in a couple years.
As for now, Watson is already back in the lab and film room, putting his entire game under the microscope to find ways to improve.
“He’ll go down as one of the best point guards, if not the best, in school history,” Green said. “We’ve had some good ones since I’ve been here. We’ve had some good ones prior to me arriving in 2010. His numbers speak for themselves.”