Lady Lions outlast Maryville in overtime to pick up season sweep over Maryville

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – The King’s Academy saw a late seven-point cushion evaporate, as Maryville’s Jada Edwards nailed a game-tying three with 20 seconds remaining in regulation, but the Lady Lions were able to outscore the Lady Rebels 9-3 in the overtime period to come away with a 54-48 win on Friday night. “I thought that fighting back as much as we did, we were definitely missing legs (in the overtime period),” Maryville coach Taylor Clark said. “They did a good job of getting it inside and I think we were a little bit timid in there, more timid …

Halle Bailey (3) drives against West during the Lady Tornadoes' 72-14 win over the Lady Rebels. Photo by Brian Hamilton

Lady Tornadoes throttle West 72-14 to open 2024

BY BRIAN HAMILTON KNOXVILLE – Alcoa jumped out on West early and never let up, as the Lady Tornadoes found themselves leading by 30 points at halftime, which resulted in Alcoa coach David Baumann playing his entire roster and cruising to a 72-14 win to start 2024. “It gets the right taste in their mouths, obviously (after New Year’s break),” Baumann said after the game. “It gets them back in shape a little bit. We talked about it before the game and during the game and we always want to work on ‘us’ and obviously it was good to get …

Gatlinburg-Pittman Smoky Mountain Winter Classic Champions

Lady Highlanders win third tournament of season with 57-44 win over Lebanon in Winter Classic

BY BRIAN HAMILTON GATLINBURG – For the second consecutive game, the Gatlinburg-Pittman had to stave off a fourth-quarter comeback, but the Lady Highlanders were able to take care of business to defeat Lebanon 57-44 in the Smoky Mountain Winter Classic championship. The win improves Gatlinburg-Pittman to 9-0 on the year in tournament play. “I think this is such a good experience for us, because when you go to the state tournament you have to be able to play on back-to-back nights usually and that’s ultimately where we’re trying to get to, our number one goal,” Gatlinburg-Pittman coach Katie Moore said …

Glasper

Smoky Mountain Sports Girl’s Top-10 (11/19)

Week 1 Top-10 Rankings Gatlinburg-Pittman (2-0) (13) Bearden (1-0) (7) Heritage (2-0) Sevier County (2-0) Northview Academy (3-0) The King’s Academy (0-1) Seymour (2-0) Alcoa (2-1) Farragut (2-1) Morristown East (3-0)    

The King's Academy

Youth gone wild: Eighth-grader and fellow underclassmen propel Lady Lions to region championship berth

BY BRIAN HAMILTON WHITE PINE – The King’s Academy has often been led by seniors Juleigh Anne Tucker and Leah Thornton, but on Friday night the Lady Lions needed someone else to step up, as the two stalwarts didn’t have their best games. TKA relied on an eighth-grader, a freshman and a sophomore to guide the Lady Lions to a region championship berth. Walden finished with a game-high 21 points, hitting three from downtown and a buzzer-beating shot at the end of the third quarter. “I just shot a few and they just started going in and so I just …

Northview Academy defeats Gibbs 65-34, sets up rematch with Seymour in district final

BY BRIAN HAMILTON STRAWBERRY PLAINS – Northview Academy wrapped up the semifinal round of the Class 3A District 3 tournament in the same fashion as it did in 2022, defeating Gibbs convincingly to earn a championship game berth against Seymour. None of the semifinal games went much different than a year ago, but there is one thing Northview head coach Brooke Shelley would like to see go different this year, and that is the result of the championship game. The Lady Cougars earned a chance to right that with a 65-34 drubbing of Gibbs on Thursday night and will look …

Bailey McCoy

Seymour routs Carter 70-19 to earn berth in district championship game

BY BRIAN HAMILTON STRAWBERRY PLAINS – Seymour went about the semifinal round of the district tournament the same way it did in 2022, with a rout of Carter to advance to the championship game. The Lady Eagles got off to a hot start, offensively and defensively, en route to a 70-19 win, earning a rematch with Northview in the final, which it has won six straight against. Since the Lady Eagles had not played a game since last Friday, and will not play another until Monday, Seymour head coach Greg Hernandez said his goal was to make sure his team …

Lady Lions trounce Notre Dame 56-23 to advance to first region semifinal since 2020

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 …

Lady Eagles

Lady Eagles top Grainger 54-25 for sixth straight win

BY BRIAN HAMILTON SEYMOUR – Seymour continued its hot shooting and defensive dominance on Monday night, as the Lady Eagles put the clamps on Grainger early and never let up. Seymour trailed once midway through the first quarter and never trailed again, as the Lady Grizzlies were unable to handle the Lady Eagles’ pressure defense, resulting in a 54-25 win for Seymour. After the Gatlinburg-Pittman loss over one month ago, Seymour was 4-6 and riding a four game losing streak. Since that game, the Lady Eagles have only lost one game, to Pebblebrook (GA) in the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational. …