Rebels fall to Cookeville 70-60 in first state tournament since 2015

BY BRIAN HAMILTON MURFREESBORO – Nobody expected Maryville to be here in November. No one, but themselves, that is. Maryville advanced to the state tournament in 2020, but with their game against Hillsboro being scheduled on March 18, they were unable to play due to the COVID-19 shutdown. Wednesday was the first time that the Rebels were able to actually play in the state tournament since 2015, when they fell to Blackman 65-45 in the Elite 8. The result was not much different nine years later, as the Rebels fell to a sharpshooting Cookeville team 70-60, in a game that …

Morristown East - Rossview

Morristown East’s historic run ends at the hands of Rossview in the state quarterfinals

BY BRIAN HAMILTON MURFREESBORO – Both Rossview and Morristown East entered the game in unfamiliar territory, as the Hawks were playing in the school’s first Elite Eight in its 23-year history and the Hurricanes snapped a 45-year drought, advancing to state for the first time since 1979. The teams both traded punches early, but it was Rossview that took over in the second half, capitalizing on its opportunity, and picking up a 64-43 win in its first state tournament appearance. While Morristown East lost to a very talented Rossview team, the Hurricanes left the floor at the Murphy Center with …

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 …

TKA - Berean Christian

Lions lose heartbreaker as Berean Christian rallies from 13 down in the fourth

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – The King’s Academy put together two impressive quarters on Thursday night, but unfortunately, one of those was not the fourth quarter. Both TKA and Berean Christian struggled to get much going offensively in the first quarter, but the Lions followed that by executing to near perfection in the second and third quarters, leading by as many as 16 points in the third quarter. The King’s Academy took a 13-point lead into the final frame, but failed to score a basket from the field, as Berean outscored the Lions 17-4 in the fourth to win 63-60, …

Cocke-Seymour

Cocke County overcomes slow start to defeat Seymour 88-75

BY BRIAN HAMILTON NEWPORT – Seymour opened the game with hot shooting and led most of the first half until Cocke County used a 13-0 run to take the lead for good later in the second quarter. The Fighting Cocks would stymie a late Seymour push to come away with an 88-75 win. “I thought, for the first time in a while, that we fought through some adversity,” Cocke County coach Casey Regan said after the game. “Credit Seymour, they came out and made a lot of shots early and I don’t think we defended particularly up to our standard, …