Oak Ridge faces huge obstacle in first round of tourney

~ The Bluejays brace for top-seeded Charleston in the opening round.

The Oak Ridge boys basketball gets the opportunity to tip off the annual Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament on Tuesday morning at the Show Me Center.

That might be where the good news ends for the Bluejays.

Oak Ridge plays in the tournament's 9 a.m. opening game against top-seeded Charleston, ranked No. 1 in the state's most recent Class 3 poll and winners of the SEMO Conference Tournament.

"They're the No. 1 seed for a reason," Oak Ridge coach John Martin said last week. "Coach [Danny] Farmer does a good job down there.

"This is a tall task, but we're going to show up, play hard and see what happens. The kids are playing hard and the attitude is good. That's not going to change."

Martin, in his second year at Oak Ridge after five years as an assistant at Jackson, has directed his team to a 1-5 start after a 3-19 record last year.

This year's team has no returning starters from last season and is being paced by a freshman point guard, Garret Light.

"We don't have a whole bunch of size," Martin said. "We go from 6-foot down to 5-6.

Light, 5-10, had 20 points and 10 rebounds Monday in the Bluejays' 55-42 victory against Valle Catholic, which means the Bluejays will enter the tournament fresh off a victory.

"That gave us a little confidence," said Martin, who noted that his team outrebounded a taller Valle squad 38-24.

Charleston's lineup includes plenty of height -- and bulk -- with 6-foot-5 senior Jamarcus Williams and 6-4 senior Justin Clark.

"We're going to approach it as we would against any team," Martin said. "We want to try to stop penetration and give them one shot per possession. I think our big thing against Charleston will be trying to stop them in transition and making them take jump shots.

"I'm familiar with Jamarcus Williams and Justin Clark," Martin added. "They were sophomores on the varsity when I was at Jackson, and they're Division I players, whether it's football or basketball."

Martin's final two years on the Jackson staff included back-to-back Christmas Tournament championships. He is not so bold as to claim that is the Bluejays' immediate goal, but he doesn't mind taking the Class 1 team up against area's large schools -- as long as it's once a year, for now.

"It's tradition," he said. "This was an adjustment [from Jackson], but for us, it's an opportunity to play some different schoools and see where we stack up against the bigger schools.

"We don't put a lot of focus on it. We just try to get better each game. Sometimes, a lot of emphasis can be placed on tournaments like this but for the small schools, you try to get three or four games in. Oak Ridge hasn't done that since I don't know when."

If it does not happen this year, Martin would like to see that day soon. In addition to Light, he has a lineup with juniors Dylan Abbott, a 5-10 guard, and Dustin Meyr, a 6-1 forward.

"We have a couple of big kids on the JV program," Martin said. "Hopefully, they will develop over the summer and fall and make improvements for next year."

Whatever the won-lost record ends up at this week or for the campaign, Martin sees this as a potential turning point season for the Bluejays.

"The kids' attitude and work ethic is better," he said. "Part of it is me and my assistant coach, Jeff Beck, being together for a second year. I think the kids see that we've put a lot of time in, and we're going to get better each year."