TKA Seniors

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 …

Gatlinburg-Seymour girls

Lady Highlanders defeat Seymour despite sluggish second quarter

BY BRIAN HAMILTON GATLINBURG – The Lady Highlanders won their ninth consecutive game, and 12th of 13, with a 58-40 win over Seymour on Thursday night. It was the lone matchup between the two cross-county rivals this season and Gatlinburg-Pittman was able to avenge a 41-36 loss in the teams’ last matchup in February 2025. Gatlinburg-Pittman struggled to score in the second quarter, finishing with only four points in the quarter, but Seymour lost an opportunity inch closer, only outscoring the Lady Highlanders 7-4 in the period. “I felt like we went into a dry spell in the second and …

TKA-CAK

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 …

Cocke County outscores Northview 14-2 in 4th to win third straight district crown

BY BRIAN HAMILTON KODAK – Due to inclement weather, Northview Academy and Cocke County didn’t find out whether their game, which would decide first place in Class 3A District 3, would be played or not on Tuesday until that afternoon. The school board was able to approve the game to be played, however, with the tip-off being moved forward one hour to 5 p.m. Both teams looked rusty throughout the game, but Cocke County seemed to shake that rust in the fourth quarter, while Northview never seemed to be able to. “It was an ugly game both ways. I didn’t …

TKA-Grace Christian

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 …

Heritage-South Doyle

Heritage outscores South-Doyle 16-1 in fourth to win 57-29

BY BRIAN HAMILTON KNOXVILLE – It’s only been a few weeks since Heritage lost Aleyah Smyth — a key contributor on the 2025 state title team — to an ACL injury that ended her high school career. The Mountaineers have rallied, despite losing their senior leader, having won 4-of-5 games since, heading into Friday’s district matchup at South-Doyle. “It was tough the first few games,” Heritage head coach Rick Howard said of losing his senior guard. “Tonight, they played great together tonight and the chemistry was there. We’re not ready to peak yet, but we’ve got to just keep getting …

Northview Academy - Seymour

Lady Cougars dominate fourth quarter to defeat Seymour 52-36

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – Northview Academy entered Thursday night’s contest with a record of 4-1 in Class 3A District 3 and looking to separate itself from the pack. Seymour entered the contest with a 3-1 district record, so despite Northview’s gaudy 16-2 overall record and Seymour’s underwhelming 7-12 record, there was still a lot at stake in this district matchup — second place in the district. It was a game of runs and ebbs and flows for three quarters, but in the end, Northview proved to be too much for the Seymour, outscoring the Lady Eagles 17-7 in the …

Seymour-Fulton

Lady Eagles take down Fulton behind Fisher’s 27 points

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – Seymour entered Tuesday’s contest with Fulton with a district record of 2-1 and looking to stay alive for a top-seed in the district tournament. The Lady Eagles were able to do that thanks to a strong second half, as Seymour outscored the Lady Falcons 35-14 en route to a 69-38 win. “We just started focusing on our defense,” Seymour head coach Lindsey Koeneman said of the second half surge. “Defense is such a big priority to us and we talk about that a lot in practice, so when we get our defense going, our offense …

Kylie Norwood

Lady Tigers defeat Eagleton 70-37 behind Norwood’s 38

BY BRIAN HAMILTON MARYVILLE – Pigeon Forge did not shoot well in the first half, but freshman Kylie Norwood was able to keep the Lady Tigers afloat by scoring 19 first half points. The team’s shooting improved in the second half, as leading scorer Makaylee Stalcup finally got on the board in the third quarter. Norwood finished the game with a career-high 38 points as Pigeon Forge would go on to defeat Eagleton College & Career Academy 70-37 in an important district contest. “Kiley wouldn’t get her 38 without her teammates,” Pigeon Forge head coach Paul Reagan said after the …

Maryville College

Lady Scots pick up first win of season in conference bout with Wesleyan

BY BRIAN HAMILTON MARYVILLE – It was a battle of two winless teams on Tuesday night, so something had to give. The 0-10 Wesleyan Lady Wolves visited 0-8 Maryville College with both squads eyeing its first win of the season. The Lady Scots came away with its first win of the season and it wasn’t close, by defeating Wesleyan 75-34. Maryville College coach Darrin Travillian said it started with a change in how his team plays. “We spent the entire preseason chunking the ball from the three-point line and we shot 19-percent for the first eight non-conference games and we …