TKA-Providence

Lady Lions fall behind early, come up short in fourth straight final four

BY BRIAN HAMILTON CLARKSVILLE – The King’s Academy had been here before. The Lady Lions defeated this same Providence Christian team 57-36 in the Class A state semifinals in 2025. The team and its fans felt that this would be the year to finally climb over the hump and cut down the nets for a state championship. Except it wasn’t. Things went awry for TKA early on, as the Lady Lions found themselves in a 15-0 hole late in the first quarter and never really recovered. TKA was able to whittle the deficit down to 11 in the third quarter, …

The King's Academy

Big fourth quarter sends Lady Lions to fourth straight Final Four

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – “I memorize the basics. Making strange faces. Tread slowly, for I know, there’s a thousand miles to go.” “This is the night, this is the sound. Here comes the warm machine.” The lyrics of the song “Warm Machine” by the alternative rock band “Bush” can resonate with most Lady Lions fans because this team has already been in the position of needing to win the region with a lower seed after losing the district semifinal to Grace Christian. Just one season ago, The King’s Academy lost in the district semifinals to Grace Christian and then …

Smoky Mountain Girls Basketball Top 10 Rankings (2/15/26)

Bearden (26-3, 12-0 Class 4A District 4) Cocke County (26-4, 10-0 Class 3A District 3) Gatlinburg-Pittman (23-3, 8-0 Class 2A District 2) Alcoa (20-7, 8-0 Class 3A District 5) Sevier County (18-5, 6-0 Class 4A District 2) The King’s Academy (23-8, 11-2 DII East Region District 1) Heritage (23-5, 6-2 Class 3A District 5) Northview Academy (20-5, 7-3 Class 3A District 3) Farragut (20-9, 10-2 Class 4A District 4) Morristown East (20-6, 6-2 Class 4A District 1)

TKA vs Grace Christian

Lady Lions suffer difficult loss to Grace Christian in district semis

BY BRIAN HAMILTON KNOXVILLE – The King’s Academy swept Grace Christian in both regular season meetings and throughout most of the game, it looked as if the Lady Lions were going to take a third game from the Lady Rams, but Grace Christian hit big shots in the fourth quarter, while TKA went cold for much of the period, falling in the district semifinals by a score of 54-51. “We just had some mental letdowns and they hit some big threes and we’ve got to respond,” TKA head coach Dante Turnipseed said after the game. “We say that basketball is …

Smoky Mountain Sports Girls Basketball Top 10 Rankings (2/8/26)

Cocke County (24-3, 9-0 Class 3A District 3) Bearden (23-3, 11-0 Class 4A District 4) Gatlinburg-Pittman (21-3, 6-0 Class 2A District 2) The King’s Academy (22-7, 11-2 Division II, Class A East Region District 1) Alcoa (19-6, 8-0 Class 3A District 5) Sevier County (14-5, 4-0 Class 4A District 2) Northview Academy (18-4, 6-2 Class 3A District 3) Morristown East (19-6, 5-2 Class 4A District 1) Heritage (21-5, 6-2 Class 3A District 5) Farragut (17-9, 9-2 Class 4A District 4)