Kings Academy Archives

Lady Lions fall behind early, come up short in fourth straight final four

BY BRIAN HAMILTON CLARKSVILLE – The King’s Academy had been here before. The Lady Lions defeated this same Providence Christian team 57-36 in the Class A state semifinals in 2025. The team and its fans felt that this would be the year to finally climb over the hump and cut down the nets for a state championship. Except it wasn’t. Things went awry for TKA early on, as the Lady Lions found themselves in a 15-0 hole late in the first quarter and never really recovered. TKA was able to whittle the deficit down to 11 in the third quarter, …

Big fourth quarter sends Lady Lions to fourth straight Final Four

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – “I memorize the basics. Making strange faces. Tread slowly, for I know, there’s a thousand miles to go.” “This is the night, this is the sound. Here comes the warm machine.” The lyrics of the song “Warm Machine” by the alternative rock band “Bush” can resonate with most Lady Lions fans because this team has already been in the position of needing to win the region with a lower seed after losing the district semifinal to Grace Christian. Just one season ago, The King’s Academy lost in the district semifinals to Grace Christian and then …

Smoky Mountain Girls Basketball Top 10 Rankings (2/15/26)

Bearden (26-3, 12-0 Class 4A District 4) Cocke County (26-4, 10-0 Class 3A District 3) Gatlinburg-Pittman (23-3, 8-0 Class 2A District 2) Alcoa (20-7, 8-0 Class 3A District 5) Sevier County (18-5, 6-0 Class 4A District 2) The King’s Academy (23-8, 11-2 DII East Region District 1) Heritage (23-5, 6-2 Class 3A District 5) Northview Academy (20-5, 7-3 Class 3A District 3) Farragut (20-9, 10-2 Class 4A District 4) Morristown East (20-6, 6-2 Class 4A District 1)

Lady Lions suffer difficult loss to Grace Christian in district semis

BY BRIAN HAMILTON KNOXVILLE – The King’s Academy swept Grace Christian in both regular season meetings and throughout most of the game, it looked as if the Lady Lions were going to take a third game from the Lady Rams, but Grace Christian hit big shots in the fourth quarter, while TKA went cold for much of the period, falling in the district semifinals by a score of 54-51. “We just had some mental letdowns and they hit some big threes and we’ve got to respond,” TKA head coach Dante Turnipseed said after the game. “We say that basketball is …

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

Cocke County (24-3, 9-0 Class 3A District 3) Bearden (23-3, 11-0 Class 4A District 4) Gatlinburg-Pittman (21-3, 6-0 Class 2A District 2) The King’s Academy (22-7, 11-2 Division II, Class A East Region District 1) Alcoa (19-6, 8-0 Class 3A District 5) Sevier County (14-5, 4-0 Class 4A District 2) Northview Academy (18-4, 6-2 Class 3A District 3) Morristown East (19-6, 5-2 Class 4A District 1) Heritage (21-5, 6-2 Class 3A District 5) Farragut (17-9, 9-2 Class 4A District 4)

TKA thrashes Polk County 72-28 on senior night

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – The King’s Academy put its four seniors on display Tuesday night when very few local teams suited up to play due to the inclement weather. Seniors Kyle Young, Adit Kuol, Emily Atchley, and Matazja Goins started and made a profound impression on the game early on, as the Lady Lions went on to a convincing 72-28 win over Polk County on senior night. “I told them I wasn’t going to make it all sad, so we wouldn’t cry, because I believe we should get some more home games, but they’ve been a blessing and you’ve …

Smoky Mountain Sports Girls Basketball Top 10 Rankings (2/1/26)

Cocke County (24-3, 9-0 Class 3A District 3) Bearden (21-3, 9-0 Class 4A District 4) The King’s Academy (20-6, 10-2 Division II, Class A East Region District 1) Alcoa (17-6, 6-0 Class 3A District 5) Northview Academy (17-3, 5-2 Class 3A District 3) Gatlinburg-Pittman (18-3, 5-0 Class 2A District 2) Morristown East (18-5, 4-1 Class 4A District 1) Sevier County (13-5, 3-0 Class 4A District 2) Heritage (19-5, 4-2 Class 3A District 5) Farragut (16-8, 9-1 Class 4A District 4)

Lady Lions fall at CAK to finish 2nd in district

BY BRIAN HAMILTON KNOXVILLE – The King’s Academy came into Friday’s road contest needed to beat CAK by at least 16 points to win the district, or a win by 15 or less and a CAK loss to Grace Christian next week to take the district. The former never really looked possible, but the latter did, as the Lady Lions led in the fourth quarter, but TKA ultimately fell 55-48 to take second place in the district. “We can score the ball, but we’ve got to get stops, and that’s what killed us,” TKA head coach Dante Turnipseed said after …

Lady Lions pick up series sweep of Grace Christian after honoring Turnipseed’s 100th win

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – The King’s Academy honored head coach Dante Turnipseed for winning his 100th game in a 63-26 win at Concord Christian on Tuesday, January 20 before Friday’s winter homecoming game. While Turnipseed was elated by the honor, the fifth-year Lady Lions coach knew he had to keep his focus on the task at hand, a home tilt against district foe Grace Christian. TKA defeated Grace 44-33 on the road January 6 and a win would all but wrap up at least a 2-seed in February’s district tournament. Turnipseed said after the game that the surprise celebration …

Lady Lions defeat Silverdale Academy 77-52 for series sweep

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – The King’s Academy traveled to Chattanooga on December 13 and came away with a hard fought 46-38 win over Silverdale Academy. Many expected a similar game on Saturday afternoon, but unlike the matchup in December, the Lady Lions shot much better and coasted to an easy 25-point win over its East Region foe. “We shot a lot better than we did down there and we kind of picked up the intensity a lot,” TKA head coach Dante Turnipseed said after the game. “They put a great third quarter together and we were able to withstand …

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