Sports
January 28, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Jason Mayfield celebrated a career milestone Friday night.
Mayfield, Farragut High School’s veteran girls basketball coach, captured his 300th career win as the Lady Admirals toppled Oak Ridge, 55-35, before a spirited crowd at FHS’s Lynn E. Sexton Gymnasium.
It was a landmark victory for Mayfield but he didn’t take all the credit.
“This just means that I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve had some really good players, too,” he said.
Early on, it appeared Mayfield and the Lady Admirals might not be able to celebrate as the young Lady Wildcats got off to a fast start out of the gate and held a slim 16-13 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
But in the second stanza, Farragut’s defense found another gear and surrendered just two points and outscoring Oak Ridge, 12-2, over that eight-minute stretch and opening a 25-18 advantage by halftime. The Lady Wildcats’ only offense was a field goal by Evaiya Mitchell, who led Oak Ridge with 10 points in the game.
“We got off to a little bit of a slow start,” Mayfield said.
Following the lethargic beginning, the Lady Admirals (18-7 overall, 7-1 in District 4-4A) began to methodically pull away and eventually establish control of the contest as they got an offensive spark from a player seeing her first significant playing time coming off an injury.
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January 28, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Knoxville — Defense and rebounding netted the Farragut Middle School boys basketball team a spot in the 2026 Knox County Middle School Basketball Conference Class AAA Tournament late last week.
The Admirals overcame some offensive struggles as they defeated Powell, 38-24, Friday night in the tournament semifinals at Bearden Middle School. The victory earned Farragut a berth in the upcoming state sectional tournament.
The Admirals, the No. 1 seed from the West Division, will play East Division champion Knoxville Halls, which eliminated the host Bruins in Friday night’s other semifinal tilt.
Time and site for the championship contest were not available at press time and will be determined when Knox County students return to school following the weekend’s winter storm. Classes were canceled on Monday, Jan. 26, due to inclement weather.
Farragut coach Shane Wells said the title game likely would be contested the day the students return to school.
In Friday’s game, Farragut had its share of offensive woes but still managed to come out on top against Powell, a team that is traditionally among one of the county’s best squads.
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Webb guard keys win over Catholic
January 28, 2026 by Jake Nichols
KNOXVILLE — For weeks, last Thursday’s Catholic-Webb boys game had been primed as a potential Game of the Year candidate.
All the factors were there: a packed crowd, teams filled with high-profile recruits and plenty of notable attendees. In other words, it was the basketball version of a heavyweight bout.
And Webb guard Brayden Hazelbaker threw the biggest punches of the night.
The Maryville transfer poured in 35 points, 18 in the first quarter alone, to lead the Spartans in a 78-73 win over the Irish on Jan. 22. In the process, he kept Webb atop the statewide standings in Division II-AA.
“Just the confidence he played with,” Webb boys coach Ricky Norris said when asked about Hazelbaker. “He was with us his freshman year and then came back, and he has done a great job in figuring out how to fit in with his teammates. He found his offense and we started feeding him.”
After trailing by as many as 10 in the second half, Catholic cut Webb’s lead to one three different times in the final four minutes.
Eastern Kentucky signee Cade Murphy was the catalyst, hitting two layups with a pair of free-throws in-between to electrify the audience. He wound up finishing with 19 points, leading an Irish team that also saw 18 from Michigan signee Malachi Brown.
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January 28, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
In overcoming a 10-point second-quarter deficit, Farragut High School boys basketball team captured arguably its biggest win of the season Friday night.
The victory now has the Admirals’ perched in second place in the District 4-4A standings behind Kingston Pike rival Bearden.
Farragut notched a comeback win against Oak Ridge, prevailing against the Wildcats, 73-67, before a packed and spirited house at FHS’s Lynn E. Sexton Gymnasium and handing Oak Ridge its third consecutive loss.
Oak Ridge (11-9 overall, 4-4 in the district) got off to a fast start, opening a 22-14 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Wildcats continued to hold the upper hand early in the second stanza as they began the frame with a flourish and extended their advantage to 31-21 midway through the quarter.
The Admirals (16-7, 6-2), however, would respond and close out the first half with a 10-0 run, knotting the contest, 31-31, by halftime. The Admirals pulled even when Britton Lewis knocked down a 3-point shot inside the final minute of the first half.
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January 28, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Halls/Crossroads — Farragut Middle School’s girls basketball team saw its 2025-26 season come to an end last week with a loss in the Knox County Middle School Conference Class AAA Tournament quarterfinals.
The Lady Admirals endured a rough second quarter on its way to suffering a season-ending 33-24 loss to Halls on Wednesday, Jan. 21, at Halls Middle School.
The contest was a close affair out of the gate with the Lady Devils manufacturing just enough offense to open a slim 9-7 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
In the second stanza, things came unraveled for the Lady Admirals as they scored just two points during that six-minute span.
After halftime, the two teams played evenly and Farragut even outscored the Lady Devils, 9-6, in the fourth quarter; but it was too little, too late for Farragut against Halls, the league’s Class AAA East Division Champion.
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January 28, 2026 by Dan Harrelson, Correspondent
Bearden boys basketball improved its record to 24-1 in the 2025-26 season. The Bulldogs defeated Hardin Valley Academy, 79-48, on Jan. 23.
Bearden was led by four guards who combined for 56 points against the Hawks.
Senior guard Sean Capshaw led Bearden in scoring with 19 points. Junior guard Brendan Murphy also scored 17 points for the Bulldogs while senior guard Justin Nordin finished with 13 points and senior guard Carson Asbaty had seven points.
“They are a real cohesive group,” Bearden head coach Jeremy Parrott said. “They work well and play well together. We have a really good culture.
“The strength is our perimeter play. We have several guys who can put it in the hole and defend at a high level. When you have size and strength at the perimeter position, it’s always a good recipe. If you could choose between an overly big team of posts or great guards, you’re going to pick guards about every time.”
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January 28, 2026 by Dan Harrelson, Correspondent
Bearden (17-3) won a home district girls basketball game, 65-34, versus Hardin Valley Academy on Jan. 23.
The Lady Bulldogs were led by senior guard Emma Rainey. She led all scorers with 17 points. Senior guard Natalya Hodge also scored 15 points, while junior guard Riley Hunt totaled 14 points for Bearden.
Hodge signed with Missouri and head coach Kellie Harper on Oct. 12, 2025. Harper played for the Lady Vols from 1995-99, winning three national championships (1996-98) under Pat Summitt. She also served as Tennessee’s women’s basketball head coach from 2019-24, compiling a 108–52 (53-24 SEC) record. Harper led the lady Vols to four NCAA Tournament appearances in five seasons. The 2020 NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Junior guard Riley Hunt also scored 10-plus points for Bearden, scoring 14 against the Hawks. Senior center Katie Foster recorded eight points in the contest for the Lady Bulldogs.
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January 28, 2026 by Jake Nichols
KNOXVILLE — On Jan. 6, both Christian Academy of Knoxville basketball teams picked up district wins over Concord Christian School — though each one came by single digits.
Seventeen days later, on Friday, Jan. 23, each Warrior program flipped the script on Senior Night.
Abby Williams’ girls program won 55-27, a stark contrast to their 54-47 win over the same CCS team a couple weeks prior. And, J.D. Johnson’s Warriors ran away with an 80-40 victory after beating CCS 54-50 in the previous matchup.
In the girls’ game, Lexi Hammock led CAK with 15 points while Maddie Braden totaled 12 for the Warriors.
Emory Thomas paced Concord with 7 points, and Kiran Keeton and Brooklyn Brown scored 6 each.
Hammock did go down with a right ankle injury at the 5:21 mark of the fourth quarter, as she moved around on crutches after the game with her lower leg wrapped in ice.
“Obviously she’s an integral part of our program and who we are,” Williams said of Hammock. “She rolled her ankle a couple times this year, so we are hopeful it’s just a sprain.”
The CAK girls coach added her team did a good job of setting the tempo, especially on a Senior Night that celebrated Colie Thompson and Sophie Carroll.
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January 28, 2026 by Jake Nichols
HARDIN VALLEY — According to K.J. McNealy’s father, the Farragut senior plays best when she’s mad.
McNealy had good reason to be frustrated on Tuesday, Jan. 20, as the Lady Admirals trailed Hardin Valley by 11 in the second half just a few days after a blowout loss to rival Bearden.
So McNealy promptly took that chip off her shoulder and channeled it into her game, scoring 21 points in the second half and overtime in a thrilling 50-47 win.
The Grand Canyon signee finished the night with 29 points in total — just four shy of her career-high of 33 — including a pair of clutch 3-pointers to force the first and second overtimes.
“I missed the free throws, so I knew I had to make up for it in some way,” McNealy said with a smile. “I know they all trust me to shoot, and Trinity (Curry) set some great screens to get me open.”
Reagan Sheridan added 14 points for the Lady Admirals while Audrey Riehn and Holly Lindsey scored 15 and 14 points, respectively for the Lady Hawks.
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January 28, 2026 by Jake Nichols
HARDIN VALLEY — Coming into last week, the Farragut boys basketball team looked to shake off the previous week’s rivalry loss to Bearden.
The Admirals did that in a big way, dispatching Hardin Valley 81-61 for a district win on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
The win kept FHS in the running for second place as they ran away from a Hardin Valley team that had beaten Oak Ridge 70-63 just a few days prior.
“Coach (Andy) Arendt and his team had a massive win Friday, so I had a lot of concern about where we would be because they’ve played so well at home lately,” Farragut coach J.P. Burris said. “But we had a good start and the guys really responded to practice well on Sunday and Monday. Our guys knew what was on the line, and this was a big one.”
Reid Vining led Farragut with a career-high 29 points while Parker Lane totaled 25 on the night.
Meanwhile, Mike Fritts scored 17 points for HVA with Kymani Smith at 16 points and Kristian Oliver with 12 points.
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