BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEVIERVILLE – Sevier County ran through a gauntlet of undefeated teams to win the Winterfest Shootout on Monday afternoon. The Bearettes were tasked with unseating 11-0 Lipscomb Academy in the semifinals (58-46) and then taking down 14-0 Heritage in the final. “I’ve never been one who cares if you’re undefeated,” Heritage head coach Rick Howard said after the game. “I think you need to lose every now and then just to keep you honest and make sure your ego is down and know that somebody can beat you. That doesn’t bother me more than playing terrible offensively.” …
Sevier County defeats White County for third place in Winterfest Shootout
BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEVIERVILLE – Sevier County was coming off a controversial loss to Lipscomb Academy in the semifinals of the Winterfest Shootout and could have hung their heads going into the third-place game of a holiday tournament. With the game at home and the stands packed with local supporters, the Smoky Bears came out strong and dominated White County 64-30 to place third in the tournament. Nate Griffin opened the scoring with a three to put White County in front 3-0, but Sevier County countered with a three of their own to tie the game at 3-3. Reed Ownby …
Bearettes throttle South-Doyle in Winter Shootout
BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEVIERVILLE – South-Doyle had barely finished their pop-tarts and coffee before the Bearettes had jumped down their necks in a 10 a.m. tip Friday morning. Sevier County scored early and often, en route to a 75-19 thumping of the Lady Kees. “We always want all the teams to have a good experience,” Sevier County coach Jonathan Shultz said of the Winterfest Shootout tournament. “We want to bring in some big-time competition. We’ve got several teams in from out of the area who we don’t get to see very often and that’s what makes it neat.” South-Doyle is …
Sevier County downs Cherokees 83-51 in first round of Winter Shootout
BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEVIERVILLE – While Sevier County is severely limited due to injuries, from leading scorer Jett Sutton, to starting power forward Parker Newman, to defensive stalwart Roman Gibbons, among others, the Smoky Bears came out strong against South-Doyle on Friday afternoon. Sevier County took an early lead and never looked back, as the Smoky Bears shredded the Cherokees 83-51. South-Doyle played as tough as it could, given that Vito Henderson nailed six three-pointers, but it wasn’t quite enough to take down the Smoky Bears. “I don’t think we played to our capabilities today,” Sevier County coach Ken Wright …
Sevier County outlasts Patriots in defensive slugfest 45-35
BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEVIERVILLE – Sevier County came into Friday night’s game down two starters in Jayden Barton and Bryson Hedrick, but the Smoky Bears were able to score just enough and rely on solid defense to come away with a 45-35 region win over Jefferson County. “That was a hungry team over there,” Sevier County head coach Ken Wright said of Jefferson County. “They came out and they played hard and they gave us everything they had. My hat’s off to them. They scrapped hard. They played with a lot of pride tonight and I’m glad our guys were …