BY BRIAN HAMILTON
GATLINBURG – Last week, Gatlinburg-Pittman’s junior high girl’s basketball team held a net-cutting event to celebrate the team’s recent state championship, a 25-18 win over E.O. Coffman, which was played at Stewarts Creek High School in Murfreesboro.
“It’s awesome, I’m not going to lie to you,” Gatlinburg-Pittman head coach Alex Bowers said. “It’s been awesome this week.”
The week got even better for Bowers, as Gatlinburg Mayor Mike Werner and Gatlinburg City Manager Greg Patterson showed up to present the team with a proclamation, celebrating the hard work and success of the players and coaches.
Gatlinburg Mayor Mike Werner and City Manager Greg Patterson present Gatlinburg-Pittman Junior High girls coach Alex Bowers and his Lady Highlanders with a proclamation on February 23 during the net-cutting ceremony. Photo by Brian Hamilton
The Gatlinburg-Pittman junior high program is in its sixth year of existence with Bowers serving as head coach and Melissa Weiss as the assistant coach. The team made it to the state tournament (Final 4) in its inaugural season in 2020-21 and followed that with a Sweet 16 appearance.
This year’s edition finally made it over the hump, returned to the state tournament and won it all.
“This group of 6th, 7th and 8th graders, we’ve kind of been building and developing them now for three to four, five years,” Bowers said. “We knew coming into this year that we would have a really solid team with really good pieces. We had ball handlers, we had shooters, we had post presence, we had decision makers. We could do a lot of different things on offense and defense.”
It was a special ride that Gatlinburg-Pittman experienced this year, finishing 30-3 with its only losses coming to Class 3A Sevier County and West Valley Middle (twice), who finished the season as back-to-back Class 3A champions. The Lady Highlanders finished the season on a 15-game winning streak.
“If you think you’re going to make a run like that, I think you have to have a really good team,” Bowers said. “I think the bounces have to go your way on the court and you’ve got to catch a little luck off the court, and I think all three of those things happened for us this year.”
Laney McCloud, an eighth grader, finished with the most impressive statistical season in Gatlinburg-Pittman’s middle school history, scoring 375 points and tallying 140 rebounds, 80 steals and 50 assists.
“For all intents and purposes, if there would have been coaches voting in the postseason, she would have been the district MVP, the regional tournament MVP, the sectional game MVP and the state tournament MVP,” Bowers proclaimed. “Whatever there was to be done on the basketball court, Laney could do it. She was the heart and soul of our team.”
McCloud had what Bowers describes as the play of the year when the Lady Highlanders were down one to West Greene in the sectional game when McCloud put the team on her back and made a play.
“We kind of flowed right into our offense without a timeout and we get the ball kind of in her sweet spot, where she likes to attack,” Bowers said. “She got fouled and hit an and-one with seven seconds left to send us to the state tournament.”
McCloud said that she and her teammates set their goals high to start the season and being able to bring the championship trophy home was like a dream come true.
“I thought we were going to go to state, I just didn’t know if we were going to win it or not, but once we got to state, I was like, ‘We’ve got this,'” McCloud said in an interview. “It was crazy. I didn’t even believe it at first.”
Gatlinburg-Pittman seventh grader Leila Glasper cuts a piece of the net to celebrate the Lady Highlanders’ middle school state championship. Photo by Brian Hamilton
Another veteran player for Gatlinburg-Pittman was Addison Moul. Bowers describes Moul as a veteran player who is a really good shooter on the wing.
“She got more comfortable attacking the paint (this season) and she played her best basketball in the regional, sectional and state tournaments,” Bowers lamented.
The Lady Highlanders also started several seventh graders who will return next season, with the first being Sophia Burkett.
“She’s probably the best shooter in East Tennessee as a seventh grader,” Bowers said. “She’s getting better and more confident at putting the ball on the floor and scoring it in different ways, so we’re glad to have her back.”
Another key player returning for Gatlinburg-Pittman is seventh grade point guard Leila Glasper, the younger sister of GP stars Ty and Maliyah Glasper.
“She had an unbelievable seventh grade season,” said Bowers. “She’s probably the most dynamic player East Tennessee as a seventh grade, and when I say dynamic, I just mean in terms of impacting all areas of the game.”
The fifth starter for the Lady Highlanders was 5-10 seventh grader, Khloe McCarter, who plays the post position.
“She’s probably the most improved player in East Tennessee over the last three years,” Bowers said of McCarter. “She has grown and developed with her coordination, but then developed her basketball skills. She’s always been an inside presence and she had a fantastic year for us around the basket. She’s so athletic and she moves well. She’s going to spend a lot of time in the mid-range and running some offense out on the perimeter and being able to attack in space as she returns as an eighth grader next year.”
Gatlinburg-Pittman will have to replace some valuable contributions in 2026-27, as three seventh grade starters return and the other two will move up to Katie Moore’s varsity squad.
That being said, Bowers believes next years team will be a force to be reckoned with, but will now have a target on its back as defending state champs.
“Those three (Burkett, Glasper and McCarter) are definitely good enough to carry us back (to the final four), but those three will definitely have big targets on them,” Bowers said. “We have some really capable younger girls in our program that got a lot of playing time and have a lot of experience, whether it be in school ball or AAU basketball, that we will be relying on to fill in for Addison, Laney and some role players, but those three coming back will be three of the most talented girls that we’ve ever had.”
It is true. The junior high edition of the Lady Highlanders now have a target on their backs, but not just for opponents. Mark your calendars next winter to see what is sure to be one of the most exciting middle school teams in East Tennessee play.