Bearettes score 26 straight to finish game, spoil Hawk’s return

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEVIERVILLE – There were several storylines heading into this key district matchup for both teams. The major storyline being the return of senior Jefferson County star Madi Hawk. The Wofford signee went down with her second concussion of the season on December 29th at Carter and the Lady Patriots have been winless without her. “I heard that she’d been cleared, so I expected her to play,” Sevier County coach Jonathan Shultz said. “We let her get to the free throw line too much, but only allowed her to make two threes. Other than that, I felt we …

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, …

Cocke-Seymour

Lady Red pick up season sweep of Seymour despite 17-day layoff

BY BRIAN HAMILTON NEWPORT – Cocke County played its first game since January 6 on Tuesday night and the Lady Red showed no signs of rust, leading Seymour from start to finish for a 52-45 win. “It seemed like, tonight, every time they made a run, we were able to hit a big shot,” Cocke County coach Boddie Bible said after the game. “That’s huge. That’s how you win games. Credit Seymour, they made shots and they made us play until the buzzer.” “Our shots weren’t falling tonight, which is usually uncharacteristic, maybe it’s the time off, maybe it’s not,” …

Austin-East takes down rival Fulton 69-67 behind Cherry’s 41

BY BRIAN HAMILTON KNOXVILLE – Austin-East’s brotherly duo of Shane and Condis Cherry finished the game with a combined 58 points (Shane 41, Condis 17), outdueling Fulton’s twin tandem of Taj and Denaj Kimber, who combined for 35 points (Taj 18, Denaj 17) for a 69-67 win, as it was a packed house with standing room only inside Jody Wright Arena on Saturday afternoon. “When I took the job, I knew (the rivalry) was big, but I didn’t know it was this big,” said second-year Austin-East head coach Denard Bertram. “It’s a testament to see the stands packed with both …

‘It feels like it’s been forever’: Lady Cougars defeat Seymour for first time since 2021, end 7-game skid

BY BRIAN HAMILTON KODAK – Northview Academy appeared to be on a mission Friday night, as the Lady Cougars led from start to finish to defeat Seymour 61-50, ending a 7-game losing streak to the Lady Eagles that dated back to the 2020-21 season. “It feels like it’s been forever. It was really good for us mentally, especially this group of seniors, just knowing that we can do it,” Northview Academy coach Brooke Shelley said of the win. “It was such a great team win and such a balanced win. We came out and I thought our intensity was there …