Seymour vs Austin-East Girls

Tidwell lifts Lady Eagles over Austin-East on layup with 3 seconds remaining

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – The game was tied at 56-56 with under 20 seconds to go with third-place in Class 3A District 3 hanging in the balance. That’s when Seymour’s Bailey Tidwell took a handoff from Kali Fisher and drove down the lane for a game-winning layup with three seconds remaining, giving the Lady Eagles a crucial 58-56 district win over Austin-East. “It was huge,” Seymour head coach Lindsey Koeneman said after the win. “We talked about how important this game was and how important our defensive effort was going to have to be. We were going to have …

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 …

Sevier County vs Cocke County

Bearettes mount fourth quarter rally to snap Cocke County win streak

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEVIERVILLE – Sevier County defeated Maryville on Monday night to win Class 4A District 2 and followed that up on Tuesday night by mounting a furious fourth quarter rally to take down a Cocke County team that was ranked in the top-5 of Class 3A. The Bearettes trailed by three at the end of every quarter, except for the last one, coming away with a convincing 47-40 win. “They’re a really good team, so when you have the opportunity to make a play, you’ve got to make it, and in the fourth quarter, girls stepped up and …

Smoky Bears maul Fighting Cocks 74-39 on senior night

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEVIERVILLE – Sevier County came into Tuesday night’s senior night looking to bounce back from a 57-37 district loss to Maryville on Monday night. Both teams battled throughout the first half, but the Smoky Bears outscored the Fighting Cocks 40-17 in the second half. Sevier County trailed 3-0 in the first minute, but would lead the rest of the way, bouncing back with a resounding 74-39 win. “We had chances last night, but I felt like we just didn’t play with the intensity that we needed to,” Sevier County head coach Ken Wright said about the Maryville …

Maliyah Glasper

Lady Highlanders overcome fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Northview Academy 62-56

BY BRIAN HAMILTON GATLINBURG – The Lady Highlanders trailed by nine points at halftime and whittled away at that deficit all third quarter. Gatlinburg-Pittman trimmed that deficit to four after three quarters and finally took the lead and control of the game early in the fourth, to win 62-56. “I thought, other than the second quarter, I thought we played a pretty good game,” Gatlinburg-Pittman head coach Katie Moore said after the game. “I thought we kinda fell apart in the second quarter and got out of our system, started fouling some. Northview is a very good team, so you …