Bearden-Maryville

Bearden earns state tournament berth with hard-fought win over Maryville

BY BRIAN HAMILTON KNOXVILLE – Bearden and Maryville both played up to the standard of state tournament teams all year, but when the Rebels were upset last Thursday night in the region championship by Sevier County, that changed everything. It sent Maryville, as the region runner-up, to Bearden on Monday night for a matchup that featured two teams with a combined five losses on the season — the type of game you usually see in Murfreesboro. “It was unfortunate that it ended up being that way and a lot of the crime committed there was the TSSAA aligning us like …

Gatlinburg-Pittman

Barton out-duels Unicoi’s Simmons, helps bring Highlanders first region crown since 2000

BY BRIAN HAMILTON GATLINBURG – When most folks were looking for a region championship game to attend Thursday night, it was hard to look past the matchup between Gatlinburg-Pittman and Unicoi County. This matchup featured two Class 2A Mr. Basketball finalists, in Jayden Barton from GP and Jackson Simmons from Unicoi. The game lived up to its billing, as Simmons started the game hot, scoring the first nine points for the Blue Devils. The Highlanders would push back and hold a second quarter lead before Unicoi opened the third quarter with a 13-1 run. At that point Barton took the …

Fulton

Fulton leads from start to finish, defeats Austin-East for 4th district title in five years

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – Fulton didn’t want the same feeling they had in 2025, when the Falcons lost to Carter in the district championship and had to navigate through the region as a 2-seed before getting a rematch in the region championship. That might indeed happen again in the region this year, with Austin-East, but this season Fulton will enter the regional tournament as the 1-seed after defeating the Roadrunners 58-45 to win its fourth district championship in five years. The Falcons started the game hot and every time Austin-East got close, Fulton had an answer. After building a …

Seymour-Carter

Seymour outscores Carter 18-3 to end game, winning district consolation game 85-60

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – Seymour led Carter throughout most of the game, building a 17-point lead early in the fourth quarter before Carter used a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 10. The Eagles would answer by closing the game on an 18-3 run to win 85-60 and claim a 3-seed in the region tournament. “I didn’t want to blow a timeout at that time, because I think that’s going to help us later on, that adversity, that chaos right there,” Seymour coach Clint Sharp said. “I called one (timeout), but they still went on a run, so …

Austin-East vs Seymour

Austin-East wins double-overtime thriller over Seymour in district semis

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – Austin-East and Seymour battled it out Saturday night for the third time in eight days and the result was no different — a hard fought slugfest where neither team deserved to lose. Seymour took the first game last Friday night 50-45, and Austin-East won the second game at home 69-66 last Monday night. On Saturday, the teams battled back and forth and it took two overtimes to declare a winner. The Roadrunners missed a potential game-winner in regulation, but down three in the first overtime, Antonio Stewart nailed a three to force double overtime. Austin-East …