BY JESSE SMITHEY MURFREESBORO — Lukas Walls and Avery Treadwell capped their high school basketball careers in style Monday during the TSSAA Mr. and Miss Basketball award ceremony at MTSU's Murphy Center. Lukas Walls, a 6-foot-3 senior from … [Read more...]
DIVISION I GIRLS STATE: McMinn Central gets zoned out, 56-37, against defending-champion Westview in 2A Championship
BY JESSE SMITHEY MURFREESBORO — By the most generous of estimates Saturday night, Westview High School girls basketball coach Brian Haskins figured that his team played man-to-man defense for maybe two minutes this entire season. Two minutes. … [Read more...]
DIVISION I GIRLS STATE: Karina Bystry (27 points) leads McMinn Central past Gibson County and into Class 2A Championship Round
BY JESSE SMITHEY MURFREESBORO — When the McMinn Central girls' basketball team visited its area elementary schools earlier this week for a state-tournament sendoff, the Chargerettes received cards from some of the kids around Englewood. One … [Read more...]
DIVISION I GIRLS STATE: Elizabethton Lady Cyclones fall in DOUBLE OT to undefeated Jackson South Side (33-0) in 3A state semifinals
BY JESSE SMITHEY MURFREESBORO — Before both teams left the court Thursday following a 84-76, double-overtime thriller in the Class 3A state semifinals, Jackson South Side coach Brent McNeal sought out Elizabethton seniors Lina Lyon and Renna … [Read more...]
DIVISION I GIRLS STATE: McMinn Central free-throw shooting proves key in Class 2A state quarterfinal win over Gatlinburg-Pittman
BY JESSE SMITHEY MURFREESBORO — Johnny Morgan, the longtime McMinn Central coach with more than 1,000 wins to his credit, still got a little nervous before the Chargerettes' Class 2A state quarterfinal Thursday. But it had nothing to with the … [Read more...]
Greenback announces Zack Rayl as head football coach
BY JESSE SMITHEY The search for a new head football coach at Greenback concluded officially on Wednesday. The school announced Zack Rayl as its new head football coach. Here’s what we know. … [Read more...]
DIVISION I GIRLS HOOPS: Bearden Lady Bulldogs rally from 16 down but Bradley Central wins at buzzer; 57-game win streak snapped
BY JESSE SMITHEY MURFREESBORO — All win streaks ultimately reach an end, and Class 4A defending champion Bearden's 57-gamer met a heartbreaking one Wednesday morning. After not making a first-quarter field goal and after falling down by as many … [Read more...]
DIVISION I GIRLS HOOPS: Sevier County runs into giant-sized opponent at state; Bearettes fall to Bartlett, 57-37, in 4A quarterfinal
BY JESSE SMITHEY MURFREESBORO — Tried as they might, Sevier County's girls basketball program had no real way to simulate in practice the opponent it wound up facing Tuesday in a Class 4A state quarterfinal. Sure, the turnaround from Saturday's … [Read more...]
DIVISION I GIRLS HOOPS: Elizabethton Lady Cyclones oust Dyersburg Trojans in Class 3A state semifinals
BY JESSE SMITHEY MURFREESBORO — A teary-eyed Renna Lane, the 5-foot-11 forward from Elizabethton High School, sat in the press room last year at MTSU's Murphy Center following a first-round state tournament loss to Upperman and made a proclamation … [Read more...]
DIVISION I GIRLS HOOPS: Greeneville Lady Greene Devils fall to Livingston Academy, 63-60, but closing in on elusive state tourney win
BY JESSE SMITHEY MURFREESBORO — Greeneville girls' basketball coach Annette Watts wasn't afraid this season to test her group against the state's elite. Bearden. Bradley Central. Gatlinburg-Pittman. CAK. Alcoa. Catholic. Didn't matter. … [Read more...]