Week 1 Top-10 Rankings Gatlinburg-Pittman (2-0) (13) Bearden (1-0) (7) Heritage (2-0) Sevier County (2-0) Northview Academy (3-0) The King’s Academy (0-1) Seymour (2-0) Alcoa (2-1) Farragut (2-1) Morristown East (3-0)
Lions fall to top-ranked Goodpasture 51-36 in state quarterfinals
BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – The King’s Academy had a season for the ages this year, winning the district and region for the first time, but the Lions came up short of a berth in the Final Four, falling to top-ranked Goodpasture 51-36 on Saturday afternoon. “That’s the best team in the state,” King’s Academy head coach Sean Jones said after the game. “They’ve been number one all year and they’ve only lost twice all year. Ultimately, they did to us what they do to everybody. They’ll play you close for a quarter or two and then they get a …
Rollins, Simun lift Lions to first regional final berth in school history
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 …
Northview Academy defeats Gibbs 65-34, sets up rematch with Seymour in district final
BY BRIAN HAMILTON STRAWBERRY PLAINS – Northview Academy wrapped up the semifinal round of the Class 3A District 3 tournament in the same fashion as it did in 2022, defeating Gibbs convincingly to earn a championship game berth against Seymour. None of the semifinal games went much different than a year ago, but there is one thing Northview head coach Brooke Shelley would like to see go different this year, and that is the result of the championship game. The Lady Cougars earned a chance to right that with a 65-34 drubbing of Gibbs on Thursday night and will look …