Ty Glasper

Highlanders defeat West Greene 86-66 to earn berth in region semifinals

BY BRIAN HAMILTON GATLINBURG – The Highlanders withstood a scoring barrage by West Greene’s Leyton Frye, who finished with 33, to outlast and outscore the Buffaloes 86-66 and earn a berth in the regional semifinals next Tuesday. “We played them last year and he did the same thing last year,” Gatlinburg-Pittman head coach Rashid Moore said of Frye. “He had probably 25 or 30 last year against us. We watched their district consolation game quite a bit and I don’t know the point total, but he might have had 40. He scores at a really high rate, so the game …

Harrison Rollins

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 …

TKA vs Boyd Buchanan

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 …

The King's Academy defeated Grace Baptist Academy 78-36 on Monday night to secure the school's first ever birth in the region semifinals. Photo by Brian Hamilton

Lions advance to first region semifinal in school history with route of Grace Baptist Academy

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – The King’s Academy advanced to its first regional semifinal in school history on Monday night, as the Lions jumped out to a roaring start and never looked back, pouncing on Grace Baptist Academy 78-36 in the regional quarterfinal. “We’ve never been this far,” King’s Academy head coach Sean Jones said. “I think our guys enjoy each other so much that they just want to win  together. They just want to keep playing. They don’t care about anything else right now. When we set goals at the beginning of the season, it wasn’t that we were …

Bearden vs Heritage

Heritage still searching for first district win after 64-37 setback to Bearden

BY BRIAN HAMILTON WALLAND – Bearden jumped out to an early lead and never looked back during Tuesday night’s contest with Heritage. The Mountaineers entered the contest at 0-4 in district play and still in search of its first district win in two years. Bearden thwarted Tuesday night’s attempt, however, as the Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead and never trailed in the contest, coming away with a 64-37 win. “I didn’t think we played well at all,” Heritage coach Brad Flatford said after the game. “We were prepared and knew what they were going to do, but we looked …

Ryan Hudson

Hudson signs with Welch, becoming second Maryville Christian basketball player to sign scholarship

BY BRIAN HAMILTON MARYVILLE – Ryan Hudson transferred to Maryville Christian from Maryville after the first semester of his freshman year and the rest is history. The shifty and reliable point guard inked a scholarship to play at the next level on Tuesday afternoon, signing with Welch College to become the second Maryville Christian basketball player to do such. “It means a lot. I came here from Maryville (High School) halfway through my ninth-grade year and I wanted to prove that I could play basketball at a high level, and I wanted to do it with this school,” Hudson said. …

Alcoa-Tyner Academy

Alcoa comes up short in overtime against Tyner Academy 54-52 in substate sectional

BY BRIAN HAMILTON ALCOA – Jahvin Carter’s two free throws sent the game to overtime and Terrence Dorsey had an opportunity to force a second overtime with one half-second remaining, but the senior missed the first, as the Tornadoes trailed by two. Dorsey laid up a perfect miss off the side of the rim, which was corralled by Jordan Harris, but the putback didn’t fall, as Tyner Academy won 54-52 and advanced to the Elite 8 in Murfreesboro. “Sometimes, when you go all in on something, you’ve got to realize that you could come up heartbroken and I think for …

MCS NACA Championship

Maryville Christian fourth quarter comeback bid falls short in NACA Championship against Teays Valley (WV)

BY BRIAN HAMILTON DAYTON – Maryville Christian found itself down 19 early in the fourth quarter against Teays Valley Christian (WV) and West Virginia commit Josiah Davis, but the Eagles gave a valiant comeback effort, pulling to within four late in the game, but came up just short, falling 73-65 in the NACA Division 5 Championship. Davis would have his way in the paint, throwing down a thunderous dunk late in the game, on his way to 34 points and tournament MVP. “We wanted to eliminate his presence in the paint,” Maryville Christian coach Brian Turbyfill said. “He has great …

Alcoa

Freshmen come up big to help Tornadoes win region championship at Gatlinburg-Pittman

BY BRIAN HAMILTON GATLINBURG – Eli Graf hadn’t attempted a shot for nearly 29 minutes on Thursday night, but with under three minutes remaining in the Class 2A Region Championship, the freshman hit a three to tie the game at 54-54 and then put Alcoa up 57-54 and ahead for good with under two minutes left with another triple. Freshman Eli Owens also pulled down crucial rebounds and made timely baskets throughout the game. “Eli Graf hadn’t taken a shot all game and comes out and sticks two in that big moment, right there, unbelievable,” Alcoa coach Ryan Collins said. …