Game 12 – Oak Ridge 74, Cocke County 72 (OT)

(Game 12) Oak Ridge 74, Cocke County 72 (OT)

The first overtime game of the 2024 tournament occurred Friday night as Oak Ridge outlasted Cocke County 74-72 in a thriller that had to go an extra four minutes to decide the outcome.

Ayana Porter banked in a shot to beat the overtime buzzer as Oak Ridge survived a torrid fourth quarter charge by the Lady Red that had more plot twists than a soap opera.

Oak Ridge was up 15-5 after one quarter and 28-22 at halftime. They maintained that six point spread at 46-40 entering the final period. With just over five minutes left, the Wildcats had boosted their lead to 51-44, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Blakelyn Clevenger got Cocke County back into it and it was a nailbiter the rest of the way.

Two free throws by Porter put Oak Ridge up 62-59 with 23 seconds to go, but Brooklyn Clevenger hit a tying shot from behind the arc with less than five seconds to go. The Wildcats hustled into front court and Eulesha Mitchell got a shot off that fell through, but it was determined the horn had sounded and overtime was needed.

The score was tied at 64, 67 and again at 69 before Oak Ridge took a 72-69 lead with 42 seconds to go thanks to good free throw shooting. But Cocke County got even again at 72 when reserve Ava Wheeler scored her only bucket of the game, a 3-pointer from the corner with 31 seconds to go.

That gave Oak Ridge the final shot at it, and Porter made good just prior to the horn sounding and the Wildcats had escaped.

Porter scored 28 to lead Oak Ridge, Evaiya Mitchell had 13 and Ze’Yana Stewart and Lindsay Cleveland each scored 10. For Cocke County, Karmine Carmichael and Blakelyn Clevenger each scored 20 and Brooklyn Clevenger tallied 13.

OAK RIDGE (74): Evaiya Mitchell 5-9 1-2 13, Ze’Yana Stewart 3-7 3-4 10, Ayana Porter 10-18 6-6 28, Lindsay Cleveland 2-3 4-4 10, Eu.Mitchell 3-6 0-0 7, Lawing 1-2 0-0 2, Pippins 1-3 0-0 2, Johnson 1-4 0-2 2. TOTALS: 26-52 14-18 74.

COCKE COUNTY (72): Brooklyn Clevenger 4-7 4-4 13, Campbell 0-1 1-6 1, Wheeler 2-3 0-0 5, Blakelyn Clevenger 8-14 1-2 20, Niethammer 3-4 0-0 6, Proffitt 1-2 0-0 2, Reed 2-7 0-2 5, Karmine Carmichael 8-10 4-5 20. TOTALS: 28-48 10-19 72.

3-Point Goals: OR—8 (Porter 2, Mitchell 2, Cleveland 2, Stewart, Eu.Mitchell). CC—6 (Bl.Clevenger 3, Br.Clevenger, Wheeler, Reed.)