Bearden-Maryville

Bearden earns state tournament berth with hard-fought win over Maryville

BY BRIAN HAMILTON KNOXVILLE – Bearden and Maryville both played up to the standard of state tournament teams all year, but when the Rebels were upset last Thursday night in the region championship by Sevier County, that changed everything. It sent Maryville, as the region runner-up, to Bearden on Monday night for a matchup that featured two teams with a combined five losses on the season — the type of game you usually see in Murfreesboro. “It was unfortunate that it ended up being that way and a lot of the crime committed there was the TSSAA aligning us like …

Gatlinburg-Pittman

Barton out-duels Unicoi’s Simmons, helps bring Highlanders first region crown since 2000

BY BRIAN HAMILTON GATLINBURG – When most folks were looking for a region championship game to attend Thursday night, it was hard to look past the matchup between Gatlinburg-Pittman and Unicoi County. This matchup featured two Class 2A Mr. Basketball finalists, in Jayden Barton from GP and Jackson Simmons from Unicoi. The game lived up to its billing, as Simmons started the game hot, scoring the first nine points for the Blue Devils. The Highlanders would push back and hold a second quarter lead before Unicoi opened the third quarter with a 13-1 run. At that point Barton took the …

Fulton

Fulton leads from start to finish, defeats Austin-East for 4th district title in five years

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – Fulton didn’t want the same feeling they had in 2025, when the Falcons lost to Carter in the district championship and had to navigate through the region as a 2-seed before getting a rematch in the region championship. That might indeed happen again in the region this year, with Austin-East, but this season Fulton will enter the regional tournament as the 1-seed after defeating the Roadrunners 58-45 to win its fourth district championship in five years. The Falcons started the game hot and every time Austin-East got close, Fulton had an answer. After building a …

Seymour-Carter

Seymour outscores Carter 18-3 to end game, winning district consolation game 85-60

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – Seymour led Carter throughout most of the game, building a 17-point lead early in the fourth quarter before Carter used a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to 10. The Eagles would answer by closing the game on an 18-3 run to win 85-60 and claim a 3-seed in the region tournament. “I didn’t want to blow a timeout at that time, because I think that’s going to help us later on, that adversity, that chaos right there,” Seymour coach Clint Sharp said. “I called one (timeout), but they still went on a run, so …

Walters State vs Dyersburg State

Walters State puts on slam dunk exhibition in 106-56 route of Dyersburg State

BY BRIAN HAMILTON MORRISTOWN – While much of the country was getting ready to tune in to Saturday night’s NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Walters State hosted a slam dunk contest of its own on Carlyle-Kragle Court. For many in the audience, it felt like watching a real life version of NBA Jam on SNES, as the Senators aggressively attacked the rim again and again, en route to a 106-56 win over Dyersburg State. The Senators shot over 62-percent from the floor and committed only eight turnovers in what was a near flawless performance. “We’ve got a really good team, and …

Smoky Bears maul Fighting Cocks 74-39 on senior night

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEVIERVILLE – Sevier County came into Tuesday night’s senior night looking to bounce back from a 57-37 district loss to Maryville on Monday night. Both teams battled throughout the first half, but the Smoky Bears outscored the Fighting Cocks 40-17 in the second half. Sevier County trailed 3-0 in the first minute, but would lead the rest of the way, bouncing back with a resounding 74-39 win. “We had chances last night, but I felt like we just didn’t play with the intensity that we needed to,” Sevier County head coach Ken Wright said about the Maryville …

Barton scores 29 in second-half to fuel Highlanders’ win over Northview

BY BRIAN HAMILTON GATLINBURG – The Highlanders used 29 second-half points from senior Jayden Barton to take down Northview Academy 82-68 on senior day in Gatlinburg. The win felt like retribution for a 65-59 loss in Kodak one week after Gatlinburg-Pittman got its football players back following the state championship game. “First and foremost, I’m thankful for Northview being willing to reschedule it,” Gatlinburg-Pittman head coach Rashid Moore said of the game’s rescheduling due to inclement weather. “They could have gotten out of it if they didn’t intentionally make it a point to play. It was one that we had …

Smoky Mountain Sports Boys Basketball Top 10 Rankings (2/8/26)

Bearden (27-1, 11-0 Class 4A District 4) Maryville (20-3, 4-0 Class 4A District 2) Alcoa (14-9, 7-0 Class 3A District 5) Austin-East (14-10, 6-1 Class 3A District 3) Fulton (16-8, 9-1 Class 3A District 3) Gatlinburg-Pittman (18-4, 6-0 Class 2A District 2) Heritage (19-6, 6-2 Class 3A District 5) Sevier County (12-6, 3-1 Class 4A District 2) Farragut (19-8, 8-3 Class 4A District 4) Seymour (15-7, 4-2 Class 3A District 3)

Gatlinburg-Seymour boys

Gatlinburg-Pittman takes down Seymour behind Barton’s 40 points and 10 assists

BY BRIAN HAMILTON GATLINBURG – Gatlinburg-Pittman picked up their 12th win in the last 13 games with a 73-54 drubbing of Seymour on Thursday night, as Jayden Barton went off for 40 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, along with three steals and three blocks. Seymour kept the game close and had an early lead, as the teams were tied at 16-16 after one quarter, but Barton scored 33 of his 40 in the final three quarters, as the Highlanders pulled away. “(Barton) had 35 earlier in the year but that’s definitely been his most in a while,” Gatlinburg-Pittman head coach …

Cocke County - Northview Academy Boys

Northview outlasts Cocke County behind 70 points from Stolz, Pickel

BY BRIAN HAMILTON KODAK – Tuesday night was Northview Academy coach Cory Harkleroad’s birthday and it did not disappoint, as seniors Jaylen Stolz and Ben Pickel gift wrapped 70 points, between the two of them, to propel the Cougars to an 88-78 win over Cocke County. Stolz finished with a career-high 36 points, while Pickel, who had 34, came up one point shy of his career-high of 35, which he set last week against Austin-East. “I know Ben and Jaylen both had in the 30s, but we were looking at our stats and a lot of our made baskets — …