Sports
West Valley Middle School shines at Nationals
February 18, 2026 by Jake Nichols
When people use the term “best two out of three,” they typically mean whoever wins two out of three times during a competition.
The West Valley Middle School dance team took that term literally, finishing as the best team in two different categories at the Universal Dance Association’s national championships at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Feb. 6-7.
Their results led the way for local teams, as multiple local organizations competed at the Orlando, Florida, competition.
WVMS finished as the top team in Gameday and Pom with a third-place finish in Jazz.
The Gameday title meant even more than one would think, as WVMS had come in second in that category each of the last three years.
“Especially for Gameday, it’s something we’ve been working for these last few years trying to figure out what would take us from getting second to finally coming in first,” head coach Catherine Brasfield said. “To see that come together and pay off was really exciting.”
This marked the team’s first national title since 2021, and it was Brasfield’s first title as head coach in her fourth year with the program.
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February 18, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Farragut High School’s girls basketball team closed out the 2025-26 regular season with two road victories last week.
Wednesday, Feb. 11, the Lady Admirals traveled to North Knoxville to face Fulton at Jody Wright Arena and escaped with a 63-54 victory over the Lady Falcons, one of the county’s most improved teams.
Farragut left with a hard-fought win, and coach Jason Mayfield said his team might not have notched that victory earlier in the season.
“Those coaches (at Fulton) are doing a good job over there, and they’ve been down the last few years and they’ve played well and they’re not really used to that,” Mayfield said. “This group of girls, they were being tougher than us for a good stretch of the game.
“This is a win that we might not have gotten earlier in the season, around Christmas or even in late December, like the game we lost to Austin-East, so I think we’ve gotten better.”
The Lady Admirals were without junior center Trinity Curry, who suffered a minor injury in a game 24 hours earlier.
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February 18, 2026 by Jake Nichols
With a No. 6 ranking in Tennessee’s Class 3A and a gym named after the current head coach, the Fulton Falcons bring plenty of prestige into any matchup.
But so do the Farragut Admirals, who battled back from a double-digit deficit while pushing Fulton to the brink last Wednesday inside Jody Wright Arena.
Unfortunately for the Ads, that push was not quite enough as they lost to the Falcons 62-57 on Feb. 11.
Farragut whittled a 13-point deficit down to two, 48-46, off a layup and free throw by Britton Lewis with 6:16 to play. But the Falcons responded with a 13-5 run, stretching a lead that withstood one more Farragut push with less than two minutes to go.
“We had our opportunities, just couldn’t get over the hump,” Farragut head boys basketball coach J.P. Burris said. “Had some really tough breaks go against us. I mean, we cut it to two possessions and even one but had some things go against us. We can only control what we can control.”
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February 18, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
West Valley Middle School’s girls basketball team culminated a perfect season over the week with a second consecutive Class AAA State Championship.
The Lady Wolves finished off an undefeated campaign with a 38-24 victory over Mt. Juliet Saturday at Rockvale High School.
“It was really nice that we kept the (Class) AAA (state championship) trophy on the east side of the state for another year,” West Valley coach Josh Ballard said.
The Lady Wolves finished the season with a 33-0 record and won a second consecutive state title, but the accomplishment didn’t come easily as they stepped up their preparation to defend their 2024-25 state title in the summer.
“These kids worked hard. They all worked hard on their own individually, and we practiced hard as a team,” Ballard said. “In the summer, we went to team camps and we played against high school JV teams.
“Playing that schedule and playing Maryville in the sectional really prepared us for this.”
In the championship game against Mt. Juliet, Emery Cooper, a three-year starter for the Lady Wolves, scored 11 points. Janiya Turner added 10 points. Reese Davis and Reese Underwood had seven points each.
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February 18, 2026 by Jake Nichols
This past weekend, 14 Farragut-area wrestlers took part in the Section 1 Class AA meet at West Ridge High School. Of those 14, only four are moving on to the Class AA state tournament in Franklin: Farragut’s Izaac Koga at 175 and Hardin Valley’s Adriel Roland (106), William Wimer (157) and Mikeal Arce (285).
All four battled through their own trials to reach this point in their careers, as they punched their first tickets to the sport’s final weekend.
Koga went 3-1, battling back from the consolation semis — an elimination match — to eventually lock up third place over Dobyns-Bennett’s Rankin Burress. Before that, the second-year wrestler beat Maryville’s Seth Smithson to cement a state trip. He became the only Admiral of six sectional qualifiers to move on to the season’s final weekend.
“It was exciting for me,” said Koga, having dropped into the 175 class after a 90-pound weight loss over the past year. “I didn’t think I’d be able to do it since I just started last year, and I’ve qualified for sectionals both years. I was surprised that I qualified for state in my new weight class, but now I want to be able to place.”
Hardin Valley, meanwhile, has three wrestlers who will take the trip to Franklin next weekend after seven advanced to the sectional round.
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February 18, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Last Monday night, Feb. 9, Bearden celebrated its seniors in fitting fashion with two lopsided victories over McMinn County.
The Lady Bulldogs picked up an 83-37 win, highlighted by 30 points from Natalya Hodge, 12 from Katie Foster, 11 from Riley Hunt and 10 from Emma Rainey.
In the boys game, Bearden won 81-57 behind 17 points from Carson Asbaty, 13 from Justin Nordin and 12 apiece from Sean Capshaw and Theo Mills.
That put both Bulldog teams at a perfect 12-0 in District 4-4A, as they enter this week’s district tournament as the top seeds.
In the girls’ game, Justin Underwood’s squad shot out to a fast start to take a 49-28 lead into halftime.
It was an impressive output given the pregame emotion, as the Lady Bulldog seniors went through handshakes with their moms — the same trend that took hold in Farragut a few days prior.
The moment allowed a deeper glimpse into each BHS player, especially Hodge, who wore a bubbly smile instead of the swaggering scowl she flashes after 3-pointers.
“It was bittersweet,” said Lakisha Dobbins, Hodge’s mother. “This is really the end, you know? The girl has two different personalities on and off the court, so I love the emotion she puts with it.”
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February 18, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
The 2025-26 season ended on a winning note for the Hardin Valley Academy boys basketball team Friday night, Feb. 13.
The Hawks outlasted Knoxville West, 61-55, in the Marble City Community.
The game might’ve landed in the win column for Hardin Valley but Hawks’ coach Andy Arendt was anything but pleased with his squad’s defensive effort against the Rebels (10-19).
“It’s always get to get a win on the road and get a win over here,” Arendt said after Hardin Valley (16-13) led throughout the contest against the Rebels, who are in a bit of a rebuilding mode this season under the direction of second-year head coach Tommy Eggleston, a longtime assistant in the program. “West has good athletes and a great program.
“Offensively, I think we played pretty well, but our defense was terrible and we didn’t do a good job rebounding.”
The Rebels and Hawks were similar heading into the recently completed regular season as both had to replace some key pieces from the previous year but on this night it was a pair of veterans, Jax Sparks and Colin Dyreness who were the key playmakers in the victory.
“I think our two seniors, Jax Sparks on offense and Colin Dyreness on defense, did a good job leading us against a good team, coached by a great guy like Tommy Eggleston,” Arendt said. “He’s one of the best guys around.”
The contest was a close one throughout, with West High holding a narrow 19-16 advantage at the end of the first quarter. HVA had seized the upper hand by halftime as it used a 17-8 second-quarter run to open a 33-27 advantage by the break.
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February 18, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Hardin Valley Academy girls basketball coach Jennifer Galloway used her team’s regular-season finale against Knoxville West to throw in a few new wrinkles to prepare her young team for the postseason.
The Lady Hawks easily defeated the Lady Rebels, notching a 54-38 victory Friday night, Feb. 13, on the road.
“We wanted to do some different things to get ready for the district tournament,” Galloway said after her squad dismantled the Lady Rebels late last week in the regular-season finale for both schools. “It was nice to get a win going into the tournament.”
From the outset, the Lady Rebels appeared to be outmatched as Hardin Valley darted out to a fast start, opening a 14-4 lead by the end of the opening quarter.
The Lady Hawks would maintain control throughout the contest. They never trailed game and extended their advantage to 27-15 by halftime and 41-25 by the end of the third quarter.
Hardin Valley had a pair of players post double figures in the scoring column as Audree Rhien finished with 17 points and Marley Edwards had 15. Alaina Linrbaerry chipped in with nine points.
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