Knox West - Morristown West

Lady Trojans demolish West 73-18

BY BRIAN HAMILTON KNOXVILLE – Knox West was outmatched on Monday night, as Morristown West scored early and often, building a 24-2 first quarter lead, en route to a 73-18 district win. While a comfortable blowout win is nice, Morristown West head coach Johnny Gaylon is more concerned with how his team executes down the stretch. “We’re playing more to be in the right spots,” Gaylon lamented after the game. “We weren’t necessarily worried about the scoreboard and we talked about that. We know Knox West is young, but we were just trying to get a little momentum for Friday …

Knoxville West

West loses late lead, falls to Lipscomb Academy in Winterfest Shootout finals

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEVIERVILLE – Knox West jumped out to an early lead and led most of the way during the Winterfest Shootout finals against Lipscomb Academy, but were unable to hold onto the lead late. The Rebels clung to a 63-62 lead with less than a minute left until Lipscomb’s Nick Duke nailed a three with 45 seconds remaining to give the Mustangs a 65-63 advantage. West was never able to score again in the waning moments, falling 68-63. “They’re a very talented bunch and we knew that going in,” West head coach Tommy Eggleston said after the game. …

Gatlinburg-Pittman Christmas Classic Champions
Gatlinburg-Pittman: 2024 Smoky Mountain Christmas Classic Champions

Gatlinburg-Pittman uses second-half comeback to defeat Notre Dame and win Christmas Classic

BY BRIAN HAMILTON GATLINBURG – It looked as it Gatlinburg-Pittman was going to fade into the abyss after a three-point second quarter, which saw Notre Dame take a 7-point lead into intermission. The Highlanders would not go quietly into the night, however, as Gatlinburg-Pittman outscored the Fighting Irish 22-12 in the third quarter and 16-8 in the fourth quarter to win the Smoky Mountain Christmas Classic 56-45. “The problem was that we couldn’t make a shot,” Gatlinburg-Pittman coach Rashid Moore said. “We were like 1-for-12 from three at halftime and it didn’t get much better in the third quarter. Once …

Gatlinburg-Pittman
Gatlinburg-Pittman: 2024 Smoky Mountain Christmas Classic Champions

Lady Highlanders down Lincoln County 63-36 to win second straight Smoky Mountain Christmas Classic

BY BRIAN HAMILTON GATLINBURG – Many thought that this would be a very tough matchup for the Gatlinburg-Pittman. After all, the Lady Highlanders had to scratch and claw to get a tough 54-52 win over Moore County on Friday night. Many thought they would see a rematch of the GP-Cookeville championship game in the 2023 Christmas Classic. Lincoln County used hot shooting to thwart those plans and defeated Cookeville 69-56. The difference on Saturday evening was that Gatlinburg-Pittman’s threes were falling and the hot shooting from Friday night did not carry over for the Lady Panthers. The Lady Highlanders hit …

Gatlinburg-Pittman
Gabriella Cameron (22) goes up for a layup against Cordova in the first round of the Smoky Mountain Christmas Classic.

Lady Highlanders thrash Cordova (AL) in first round of Smoky Mountain Christmas Classic

BY BRIAN HAMILTON GATLINBURG – While Gatlinburg-Pittman may have been embarking on a defense of it’s 2023 Christmas Classic title, this team is much different than the one that won it a year ago. Last season, the go-to scorers may have been Maddy Newman, Leah Stinnett and Nya Burns, but all of those faces are gone now. This year’s version of the Lady Highlanders has seen three familiar faces step into new roles as dependable go-to scorers, and that is Maliyah Glasper, Addi Wear and Chloe Mejias. Maybe that’s the new ‘Big 3′ for this squad. All are juniors and …