Alcoa vs West

Alcoa uses strong third quarter to avenge early season loss to West

BY BRIAN HAMILTON KNOXVILLE – Alcoa used a big third quarter to break open a game that was tightly contested early on, as the Tornadoes outscored West by 15 in the period and went on to preserve a 69-59 win. The win avenges a 73-71 loss in the Alcoa Thanksgiving Classic back in late November. It is worth noting that the Tornadoes were missing starters Eli Owens, Eli Graf and several other football players for that contest. “One of our key points to being successful was a fast start and a strong finish,” Alcoa coach Ryan Collins mentioned after the …

Tyler Lee

Smoky Mountain Sports Boy’s Preseason Top-10

Preseason Boys Rankings Preseason Boys Rankings Fulton (18) Bearden (1) Alcoa (1) William Blount Farragut Sevier County Gatlinburg-Pittman Austin-East Morristown West Morristown East

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 …

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. …

Gatlinburg-Pittman

Gatlinburg-Pittman defeats Alcoa 81-56 for back-to-back district championships

BY BRIAN HAMILTON GATLINBURG – Gatlinburg-Pittman jumped out to a 9-0 lead and never trailed, as the Highlanders won 81-56 to win their second consecutive district championship. Gatlinburg-Pittman withstood a heavy punch by Alcoa in the second quarter, before going on a 14-0 run to lead by 16 at the half. The Highlanders blew the game open in the third quarter, leading by as many as 31 points. Four starts graduated from last season’s district championship team, with Houston Byrd as the only holdover in the starting lineup. One year later, with a retooled starting lineup, and a freshman phenom …

Jahvin Carter

Alcoa overcomes 17-point second half deficit to defeat #6 Fulton

BY BRIAN HAMILTON ALCOA – Fulton came into Alcoa on Thursday night and led the Tornadoes by as many as 17 in the third quarter, but Jahvin Carter score 24 of his 32 points in the second half to pull out a 57-56 come from behind win over the Falcons, who came in as the 6th-ranked team in Class 3A. “We’ve had our struggles the whole season and we’ve been down and out and given into frustration,” Alcoa head coach Ryan Collins said. “I’m so proud of the kids tonight, because they didn’t take that path tonight. They chose a …