Sports
December 17, 2025 by Bill Howard, Correspondent
Last Tuesday night, Dec. 9, Farragut High School’s boys’ basketball team fell way behind in the first half on the road at Oak Ridge High School. The Admirals fought back ferociously but fell short in the end.
Again on the road last Friday night, this time in Lenoir City, FHS quickly made it clear it wouldn’t repeat what it had done against the Wildcats.
The Admirals jumped on the Panthers from the start and played a nearly flawless first half, leading 44-23 at halftime. LCHS picked it up a bit in the second half, but Farragut still won comfortably, 76-58.
“We played more like a team tonight,” FHS coach JP Burris said. “We were really good in the first half. We shared the ball, we got out and ran in transition.”
The Admirals’ first quarter was any coach’s dream. High-flying offense and stingy defense led to a 15-point lead after one, 24-9. FHS scored the game’s first nine-points – all on three-pointers – and later used a 7-0 run to score 11 of the period’s final 13.
Farragut continued to pour it on in the second quarter, outscoring LC 14-5 over the first three minutes to lead 38-14. They managed only six the rest of the way but still had a commanding 21-point halftime lead.
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December 17, 2025 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Knoxville — As it prepared for its game Saturday morning, Dec. 13, coming off a long road trip the previous day, the Hardin Valley Academy boys basketball team was mired in frustration in the midst of a three-game losing streak.
But the Hawks got off to a fast start in an 85-43 victory over Kingston as they answered an early wake-up call for the Turnkey Hardwood Classic at Webb School of Knoxville.
Hardin Valley put this one against the Yellow Jackets early as it opened a 17-0 lead when Kristian Oliver knocked down a three-point jumper less than midway through the first quarter.
From there, the Hawks would cruise to victory and snap a three-game losing streak.
“We took out three games worth of frustration against Kingston,” Hardin Valley coach Andy Arendt said. “We’re a young team; and when we’re not facing a physical mismatch, like we are most of the time in (Class) 4A, we’re usually pretty good and we usually play pretty well.”
The Hawks (6-5 overall, 0-3 in District 4-4A) entered the contest at the Lee Athletic Center following a tough 78-70 district loss on the road against league newcomer McMinn County Friday night, Dec. 12.
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December 17, 2025 by Bill Howard, Correspondent
It was a second straight District 4-4A road win for Farragut High School’s girls’ basketball team last Friday night, Dec. 12, at Lenoir City.
The Lady Admirals started the game hot, 10 straight points on consecutive layups by junior post Trinity Curry, followed by consecutive threes by senior guard Lily Mullins, and never looked back.
Typical ebb-and-flow scoring runs by both teams characterized the rest of the game. A late-game push by Lenoir City High School made it interesting, but the outcome was never seriously in doubt. FHS won 46-39 to improve to 5-4 overall, 3-0 District.
“We’re fighting, which is good,” FHS coach Jason Mayfield said. “We’re getting a lot of value out of the people that we got. We’re just trying to put it all
together.”
The first quarter ended with FHS leading 16-8. In the second, another pair of layups by Curry gave the Lady Admirals a 22-9 lead with 5:58 left, the Lady Panthers then went on a 9-3 run over the next 3:44 to pull within seven, 25-18, with 2:14 left.
Yet more layups, again by Mullins and Curry, made it 29-18 at the half.
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December 17, 2025 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Knoxville — High school basketball, at its core, is a tournament sport, and Bearden High School boys basketball coach Jeremy Parrott takes opportunities to put his teams in tournament situations.
Last week, Parrott and the Bulldogs played four games in five days, and Bearden won all four of the contests, all against quality competition, in impressive fashion
“The biggest takeaway from all of this is that we played multiple games over back-to- back days,” Parrott said. “Basketball is a tournament sport and in (postseason) tournaments, you have to play on back-to-back days.”
With last week’s four victories, the Bulldogs kept their perfect record intact, improving to 12-0 overall and 3-0 in District 4-4A.
On Saturday night, Dec. 13, Bearden defeated Austin-East, 82-50, in the Battle of the Ville at Knoxville West High School.
The Bulldogs had a balanced scoring attack against the Roadrunners (6-7) as four Bearden players posted double figures in the scoring column with Justin Nordin leading the way with 26 points.
Sean Capshaw added 14 points while Brendan Murphy had 12 and Damian Collum finished with 10.
“We’re getting production from all over the floor,” Parrott said. “We have several guys scoring but we’re trying to prepare to make changes on the fly and that’s what helps us about playing back-to-back games on multiple days.”
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December 17, 2025 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Cookeville — It was a busy week for the Bearden High School girls basketball team as the Lady Bulldogs won three games in dominant fashion.
Bearden (10-1 overall, 3-0 in District 4-4A) closed out last week with a win over a defending state champion in the Midstate Saturday, Dec. 13. The Lady Bulldogs had little trouble with Memphis Business Academy as they posted a 73-35 victory at a tournament in Cookeville.
“They have a good program and they won a state championship in a smaller classification,” Bearden coach Justin Underwood said. “But we played really well.”
In Saturday’s win, it was the Lady Bulldogs’ trio of guards who shouldered the bulk of the offensive load. Senior and Missouri signee Natalya Hodge scored 24 points while Emma Rainey added 19 and Riley Hunt finished with 12.
“I think we had a good week. We played three games in six days,” Underwood said. “Nat, Emma and Riley, any of them can take over a game.
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December 17, 2025 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Knoxville — A slow start proved problematic for the young Hardin Valley Academy girls basketball team on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 13.
But the Lady Hawks fought through their struggles and put up a valiant effort against Alcoa, one of the area’s top teams in a 62-47 loss to the Lady Tornadoes at the Turnkey Hardwood Classic at Webb School of Knoxville.
Alcoa (5-1) darted out to an 18-8 lead in the first quarter and never trailed after the opening frame.
But the Lady Hawks (4-6) were playing their second game away from their home court in less than 24 hours.
Despite the loss, Hardin Valley coach Jennifer Galloway was upbeat following the game, which was contested at the Haslam center.
“Alcoa is a great team and they’re very, very physical and I felt like that we responded to that” Galloway said. “We did a lot of good things.
“We’re getting better at different things. They put pressure on us and we started to attack and there were times when we did well.”
Alcoa extended its advantage to 34-18 by halftime but HVA didn’t wilt or go away.
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December 17, 2025 by Bill Howard, Correspndent
Farragut High School’s girls basketball team rallied from an early deficit and closed strong Tuesday night to earn a 60-55 District 4-4A win at Oak Ridge, avenging last season’s regional tournament loss.
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