BY BRIAN HAMILTON WHITE PINE – A little over two years ago, Harrison Rollins sat before his coach going into his freshman season and was asked, “What do you want to get out of your four years here at TKA?” The now-junior forward responded, “I want to lead this team to a state tournament.” Rollins is now one step closer to doing just that after scoring a career-high 27 points during The King’s Academy’s impressive 64-53 region semifinal win over Boyd Buchanan on Friday night. The Lions were able to avenge a December loss to the Buccaneers and clinched a …
Youth gone wild: Eighth-grader and fellow underclassmen propel Lady Lions to region championship berth
BY BRIAN HAMILTON WHITE PINE – The King’s Academy has often been led by seniors Juleigh Anne Tucker and Leah Thornton, but on Friday night the Lady Lions needed someone else to step up, as the two stalwarts didn’t have their best games. TKA relied on an eighth-grader, a freshman and a sophomore to guide the Lady Lions to a region championship berth. Walden finished with a game-high 21 points, hitting three from downtown and a buzzer-beating shot at the end of the third quarter. “I just shot a few and they just started going in and so I just …
Lady Lions trounce Notre Dame 56-23 to advance to first region semifinal since 2020
BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – TKA advanced to its first region semifinal since 2020 on Tuesday night, as the Lady Lions put their foot on the gas early and never let up, ending Notre Dame’s season with a 56-23 win in the region quarterfinals. “We just punched them in the mouth first and it gave us some cushion on the back end,” King’s Academy head coach Dante Turnipseed said after the game. The King’s Academy scored immediately to start the game, as freshman guard Bailey Tidwell caught the opening tip and sprinted down the court for a layup and a …
Lions advance to first region semifinal in school history with route of Grace Baptist Academy
BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – The King’s Academy advanced to its first regional semifinal in school history on Monday night, as the Lions jumped out to a roaring start and never looked back, pouncing on Grace Baptist Academy 78-36 in the regional quarterfinal. “We’ve never been this far,” King’s Academy head coach Sean Jones said. “I think our guys enjoy each other so much that they just want to win together. They just want to keep playing. They don’t care about anything else right now. When we set goals at the beginning of the season, it wasn’t that we were …
Smoky Mountain Sports Girls’ Top 10 Basketball Rankings (2/5)
Alcoa (24-2) Heritage (22-3) Gatlinburg-Pittman (20-5) Sevier County (20-6) Seymour (18-9) Northview Academy (18-8) Cocke County (16-9) King’s Academy (16-8) Maryville Christian (17-11) Morristown-West (14-10)