Sports
Senior point guard pours it on Tornadoes
November 26, 2025 by Bill Howard, Correspondent
It was a strong start to the new season for Farragut High School’s boys’ basketball team last Thursday night at Lynn E. Sexton Gymnasium.
It was an even stronger start for Parker Lane.
The senior point guard poured in 33 points – 15 in the first quarter alone – to lead the Admirals to a 73-62 win over Alcoa High School. Lane drained eight of 13 shots from beyond the three-point arc.
“It’s amazing,” Lane said. “We’ve been looking for this all off-season. That’s a tough team, that’s a good team. We’re really excited to get this win.”
“Really proud of our guys,” FHS coach JP Burris said. “Parker played out of his mind. He takes those shots because he’s earned them. He’s a testament to hard work and consistency.”
Parker’s first-quarter output – which included four treys – gave the Admirals a 27-19 lead at the end of the period. A 16-6 advantage in the second quarter, which included a 14-4 run to the end - put Farragut up 43-25 at intermission.
Lane wasn’t without help on offense. And defense, according to Burris, was equally vital.
Fellow senior Reid Vining scored 17 points and hauled in 14 boards. Senior Britton Lewis chipped in 15 points. The team effort wasn’t lost on Burris.
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November 26, 2025 by Bill Howard, Correspondent
In the first half of its season-opening game against Alcoa High School last Thursday night, Farragut High School’s girls’ basketball team played well. The half ended with the Lady Admirals leading 36-24.
Unfortunately for FHS, there was a second half.
The Lady Tornadoes came out strong in the third, tied it at 37 with 3:21 left then carried that momentum to a 62-56 win in Lynn E. Sexton Gymnasium. In the gruesome third quarter, Alcoa outscored Farragut 18-5.
“They came out in the third quarter and kicked us in the mouth a little bit,” FHS coach Jason Mayfield said. “We kinda ran out of gas (in the second half), but I was proud of the effort. Really good team, Alcoa. They’re gonna have a lot of success this year.”
In the first quarter, the Lady Admirals led 12-11 with 2:23 left but then finished the frame on a 9-2 run to lead 21-13 at the end.
A 7-2 FHS run to start the second gave the Lady Admirals a 28-15 lead. AHS then scored nine of the next 12 to cut it to 31-24, but the final five points – a 3 by senior all-courter KJ McNealy and a layup by senior post Trinity Curry – gave Farragut a 36-24 halftime lead.
“We didn’t guard very well in the first half,” AHS coach David Baumann said. “We finally played the way we wanted to in the second half.”
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November 26, 2025 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Fountain City — Veteran Hardin Valley Academy girls basketball coach Jennifer Galloway knows her team may experience some growing pains during the 2025-26 season.
The Lady Hawks are one of the area’s youngest squads as they don’t have a senior on their roster.
“We have a really young team,” said Galloway, who is the only coach who the Lady Hawks have ever had since the school opened in 2008. “And we’re going to make young-team mistakes.
“What we try to do is make sure that when we make a mistake is try to make sure that it’s not a double mistake.”
The Lady Hawks had some errors in their season opener at Knoxville Central Thursday night, but they overcame their miscues to notch a 41-39 victory over the host Lady Bobcats in the season opener for both teams.
Hardin Valley (1-0) held a 29-23 advantage heading into the fourth quarter and it built a 10-point as it scored the first four points of the final frame. The Lady Hawks appeared poised to cruise to a season-opening win.
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November 26, 2025 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Fountain City — Even in defeat, Hardin Valley Academy boys basketball coach Andy Arendt had high praise for his team.
“I’m excited about our team this season,” Arendt said after the Hawks came up on the short end of a 75-58 decision at Knoxville Central Thursday night in the 2025-26 season opener for both teams. “We’re a young team and we did some good things.
“And they’re a really good and well-coached basketball team.”
The Bobcats (1-0) may have nabbed a seemingly lopsided victory, but it was Hardin Valley that got off to a fast start as Kristian Oliver made five 3-pointers in the opening quarter, enabling the Hawks to seize the upper hand early. They were clinging to a slim 17-13 advantage late in the frame before Central closed things out in the first quarter with a 7-1 run. The surge allowed the Bobcats to take a 20-18 lead.
And from there, Central never surrendered the lead.
“They have some good shooters and they started off fast and we were
able to withstand that,” Central first-year coach JP Payne said. “I think they got ahead, 17-13, and then we got the lead and we never gave it up after we started doing a better job finding the shooter.”
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Both focus on fundamentals, defense
November 26, 2025 by Alan Sloan
KNOXVILLE — Bearden High School boys basketball redefined excellence in team defense in it’s season opener versus Greeneville at BHS Thursday night, Nov. 20.
The visiting Green Devils scored only 14 points — total.
Bearden would go on to win twice more last week in easy fashion.
Meanwhile, the Lady Bulldogs were almost as dominant in their three wins.
BHS boys win 3
The Bulldogs beat GHS 65-14, then won twice more Saturday, Nov. 22, besting Knoxville Central (76-30) and Grace Christian (77-34) at Carter High School during a Hall of Champions Playday.
“All of 13 guys played in all three games,” BHS head coach Jeremy Parrott said. “The scoring was pretty balanced. We’ve tried to focus on defense and fundamentals early in season. Just tried to do the little things right.
“Everybody’s really contributed in all three games,” he added.
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