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Karns basketball triumphs over Oak Ridge for first time in 10 years, guarantees state sectional berth

Toyloy Brown III
Knoxville News Sentinel

Karns senior guard JJ Faulkner wasn’t ready for Tuesday to be his last game as a Beaver. 

His game-high 21 points were needed in the Beavers' Region 2-4A semifinal contest against perennial powerhouse Oak Ridge. Along with his play, senior Aiden Goins said Faulkner’s words were valuable in this elimination game. 

“(Faulkner) continued to be a leader,” Goins said. “He just told us to keep on being vocal and win the game.” 

And that is exactly what happened. 

Karns prevailed over Oak Ridge in overtime for a 78-72 home win, which guaranteed its first state sectional berth for since 2016. This is also the first time the Beavers defeated Oak Ridge since the 2012-13 season. 

“It’s a long time coming,” said Lee Henson, who is in year 28 coaching the Beavers. “They beat us quite often in the last so many years, but we were due.”

“We finally got over the hump, beating Oak Ridge,” Faulkner said.

Karns will play William Blount on Thursday for the Region 2-4A championship.

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Faulkner’s prowess on both ends

Faulkner’s shooting was one of the Beavers’ strongest offensive weapons. Karn’s 5-foot-11 star point guard made four 3-pointers, most coming from a few feet behind the 3-point arc. He explained that the Wildcats were going under screens, and he eventually found a shooting rhythm. 

The threat of the jump shot combined with his strong ball-handling made him challenging to contain in the half-court. 

Coupled with Faulkner's superb offense was his dedication to guarding the opposing team’s best scorer: Kaden Brightharp.

The Oak Ridge junior guard scored eight of his team-high 20 points in the third quarter. Faulkner decided to take the assignment himself and said he took this matchup personally. 

“Kaden was just scoring, and I was like ‘I need to guard him,’” Faulkner said. “I got him, I noticed that he doesn’t like to finish with his right (so) cut off his left and steals every time.”

Henson said that Faulkner is a driving force for the team. 

“He’s such a special player,” Henson said. “He does stuff you can’t teach. … He’s our catalyst, but like I said we had other guys step up, make shots but he’s the man that makes us go.”

Senior leadership 

Karns’ senior trio of Faulkner, Goins and Jaylen Roberts was essential in keeping Karns in good spirits. The 6-9 Goins not only overwhelming with his burly physique but skillfully nailed two 3-pointers, finishing with 15 points. 

The wiry 6-3 Roberts, who Henson described as the team’s “wildcard,” showcased his electric leaping ability with game-changing blocks and pull-up jumpers, finishing with 17 points and at least three blocks. 

Henson said the “switch” looks to have been flipped for the seniors as they are playing to extend their high school basketball careers in their final season.