Year in Sports
2023 was a good year for Anderson county teams
It was a banner year for high school athletics in Anderson County,
And as the calendar has shifted to 2024, The Courier News takes a look at some of the top accomplishments of local high school teams, coaches and players during 2023, which is now in the rearview mirror.
The journey back in time begins in late January when Oak Ridge hired Derek Rang as its third football coach in three years.
Rang was chosen after the Wildcats parted ways with Scott Cummings, who guided ORHS to a second-place finish in Region 3-5A and a TSSAA Class 5A state quarterfinal playoff appearance.
In his first year at the helm at Oak Ridge, Rang guided the Wildcats to a region championship. The year ended on a sour note when the Wildcats lost to cross-county rival Clinton as the Dragons qualified for the state quarterfinals for the first time since the early 1990s.
Basketball took center stage during the winter sports campaign. Anderson County, after getting off to a slow start under then first-year Head Coach Jordan Jeffers won the District 4-AAA Tournament Championship.
The Mavericks, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, knocked off No. 2 Scott in the semifinals at the Don W. Lockard Gymnasium in Clinton.
The host Dragons also crashed the championship party as they notched a first-round upset against top-seeded Halls as the tourney’s No. 4 (and bottom seed).
Both the Dragons and Mavericks won a region tournament game.
The Lady Dragons hosted a region tournament game and prevailed in that contest after finishing second in the District 4-AAA Tournament.
In Oak Ridge, the Lady Wildcats, under Head Coach Paige Taylor, swept their way through the District 3-4A schedule to win both the regular-season title and tournament championship. Oak Ridge, which won 20 games, was eliminated by Maryville in the first round of the Region 2-4A Tournament.
Shifting to the spring, Clinton made the Region 2-AAA softball tournament and picked up a road victory against eventual district regular-season and tournament champion Knoxville Halls.
Clinton’s boys soccer team won the District 5-AA Tournament Championship in 2023 as it defeated Kingston, 1-0, in the tournament title match.
High school baseball took a huge step forward in the county in 2023.
In District 4-AAA, Clinton, Anderson County and Knoxville Halls shared the league’s regular-season championship, and the Dragons, by virtue of a tie-breaker, were awarded the No. 1 seed. But the Mavericks and Red Devils advanced to the Region 2-AAA Tournament.
Oak Ridge, meanwhile, won the District 3-4A regular-season championship. The Wildcats swept a regular-season series from Powell along the way, handing the Panthers their first league losses in several seasons.
Fall 2023 was monumental.
On the gridiron, Oak Ridge won a region title and Anderson County navigated its region schedule and was undefeated in league play for the eighth consecutive year. The Mavericks finished 8-5, and earned their lone non-league victory against crosstown rival Clinton, as the longstanding rivalry was renewed after a three-year hiatus.
Clinton went 6-7, but made it back to the quarterfinal round of the state playoffs.
In volleyball, Clinton won its first-ever district tournament title and reached the regionals for the third time in school history.
Anderson County swept its way through its district schedule to win the regular-season and tournament championships. The Lady Mavs also won in the regional and state sectional and made another appearance in the Class AA State Tournament in Murfreesboro.
In soccer, the Lady Mavericks won both the district and region championships, while Clinton finished third in the District 4-AA standings, representing their best effort in recent memory.
Oak Ridge made it back to the Region 2-AAA Tournament in Donnie Green’s final season as head coach.
The Anderson County High School cross country teams again shined on the state stage. The Mavericks finished sixth, while the Lady Mavericks finished 10th.
The trip through time concludes with the Clinton wrestling team. The Dragons defeated rival Gibbs 42-27 to win the Gibbs Holiday Duals in Corryton Friday. It was Clinton’s first win over the Eagles in program history.