BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – TKA advanced to its first region semifinal since 2020 on Tuesday night, as the Lady Lions put their foot on the gas early and never let up, ending Notre Dame’s season with a 56-23 win in the region quarterfinals. “We just punched them in the mouth first and it gave us some cushion on the back end,” King’s Academy head coach Dante Turnipseed said after the game. The King’s Academy scored immediately to start the game, as freshman guard Bailey Tidwell caught the opening tip and sprinted down the court for a layup and a …
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 …
Smoky Mountain Sports Girls’ Top 10 Basketball Rankings (2/5)
Alcoa (24-2) Heritage (22-3) Gatlinburg-Pittman (20-5) Sevier County (20-6) Seymour (18-9) Northview Academy (18-8) Cocke County (16-9) King’s Academy (16-8) Maryville Christian (17-11) Morristown-West (14-10)
Smoky Mountain Sports Boys’ Top 10 Basketball Rankings (2/5)
William Blount (24-4) Alcoa (18-7) Gatlinburg-Pittman (18-5) King’s Academy (21-6) Carter (18-8) Maryville (16-10) Cocke County (16-9) Lakeway Christian (15-8) Morristown-East (12-9) Northview Academy (15-11)
TKA star guard Juleigh Anne Tucker signs with Asbury
SEYMOUR – The King’s Academy girls’ basketball team finished as state runner-up in Division II – Class A during the 2019-20 season, a season that ended with an incomplete for most squads, as the Covid-19 virus shut down all high school sports in mid-March. That year’s Lady Lions’ squad did have the opportunity to play out the season with a team that featured 2022 Class 4A Miss Basketball Jennifer Sullivan, who finished her career at Bearden, along with Bailey Burgess, who also transferred to Bearden. Standout post players Amelia and Ainsley Pfeiffer wound up at Alcoa during the 2021-22 season …
