Sports
March 19, 2025 by Staff Reports
MURFREESBORO — Bearden High School’s girls proved to be the better basketball team versus two-time defending Division I-4A state champ Bradley Central for an entire 16 minutes, at least on the scoreboard, taking a 23-21 halftime lead against the mighty Bearettes in the Class 4A State Tournament semifinals.
Of course, it didn’t last, as Bradley woke up in the second half and easily won 66-39 Friday night, March 14, in Middle Tennessee State University’s Murphy Center.
And while the Bearettes went on to cruise past Bartlett and capture the program’s third straight 4A state crown (35-1), Bearden’s season of dominance in District 4-4A, while proving to be alongside Oak Ridge as the two best 4A teams in East Tennessee, saw Justin Underwood’s girls finish tied for third place at state with a final 33-6 record.
Bearden 59 Whitehaven 24
Smothering defense got the Lady Bulldogs out of the gate quickly in the state quarterfinal Thursday night, March 13, drilling Whitehaven 59-24.
Offensively, Tennessee 4A Miss Basketball Finalist Natalya Hodge (winner announced after deadline Tuesday, March 18), star junior point guard, led Bearden in scoring, once again, with a game-high 19 points.
Kendall Anne Murphy, BHS senior wing, added 17 points and a co-team high eight rebounds, while senior forward Aisha Patel scored 10 with eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
Junior guard Emma Rainey finished with eight points for BHS.
The Lady Bulldogs’ defense allowed just seven second-half points to the Memphis school — just two in the third frame.
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Morrison, Raby, freshman on fire as Lady Ads beat BHS, go to 4-0 in 4-4A
March 19, 2025 by Bill Howard, Correspondent
When Bearden High School’s softball team visited District 4-4A rival Farragut Thursday, March 13, the Lady Bulldogs quickly took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning
After that, it was all Lady Admirals.
FHS tied it in their half of the first, then put up four in the second and five more in the sixth. The result was a 12-4 Farragut win that improved its record to 9-2-1, 4-0 in district.
“(Bearden’s Megan) Lawson hit that ball out (two-run home run in the first) and that kind of woke us up — and we responded,” FHS head coach Nick Green said.
“Our team showed a lot of resilience and determination,” BHS head coach Kenneth Boles said. “Even though the outcome wasn’t what you wanted, games like these build character and make the team stronger for the next challenge.”
Elsa Morrison, standout senior shortstop and University of Tennesee signee, hit a two-run triple for FHS in the first, then scored on a throwing error to tie the game.
In the second inning, Farragut catcher Rylee Raby’s two-run home run followed Logan Jameson’s RBI single.
Morrison’s fourth homer of the season made it 7-3 Farragut.
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March 19, 2025 by Bill Howard, Correspondent
A cardinal rule in baseball or softball is: don’t give up the big inning.
Hardin Valley Academy’s softball team violated the rule Tuesday, March 11, at Farragut High School’s Bellamy Field, and the Lady Admirals made their rival pay.
After yielding three runs in the top of the second inning to fall behind 3-2, FHS erupted for seven in the bottom of the third to lead 9-3.
The final was a 13-3 run-ruled, District 4-4A win for Farragut, which improved its record to 7-2-1, 3-0 District.
“They scored early; they actually had the lead,” Lady Admirals skipper Nick Green said. “I started my freshman, Taylor Wolfgram, gave her an opportunity to get some experience.”
Wolfram’s two innings yielded the three runs, all earned. She gave up six hits.
“I told her her start wasn’t bad,” Green said. “If we put that seven up earlier in the game, I’d probably let Wolfram go a little bit longer.”
The seven third-inning runs gave the Lady Admirals all the scoring they’d need.
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March 19, 2025 by Staff Reports
KNOXVILLE — Knoxville Catholic High School didn’t have to look far before announcing Travis Mains as its new boys basketball head coach last week.
Mains led the KCHS Lady Irish to back-to-back Division II-AA state titles in 2022-23 and 2023-24 in his five seasons as head coach, while also guiding the Catholic girls to the state title game in 2021 and state semifinal berths in 2022 and earlier this month.
Mains’ overall record with the KCHS girls was 102-59, and stands at 235-112 overall as a high school head coach.
A native of Gray in Upper East Tennessee near Johnson City, Mains’ coaching experience includes his alma mater, Daniel Boone High School from 2013 through 2018, where he led the girls’ varsity team to their first-ever Division AAA State Tournament appearance. Mains compiled an overall record there of 133-63.
In his last season, the Blazers finished with a record of 30-5. He then stepped away to coach his daughter — soon-to-be 2024 Tennessee Miss Basketball Sydney Mains at KCHS — at the travel ball level.
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March 19, 2025 by
The Soccer Ads went on the road to edge Knox West 2-1 Tuesday, March 11.
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March 19, 2025 by Staff Reports
KNOXVILLE — A lot of Webb School of Knoxville volleyball standouts will have a huge task if ever trying to duplicate the success former Lady Spartans star Nicklin Hames enjoyed from the fall of 2014 through her senior season, named Gatorade Tennessee Volleyball Player of the Year for 2017-2018 while also garnering Under Armour First-Team All-American honors.
All of this while helping Webb claim five consecutive Division II-A state crowns.
However, Hames has her own huge shoes to fill as new Lady Spartans volleyball head coach: that’s because of her mother’s success, Chris Hames, who led her daughter and the other Lady Spartans through that amazing state title streak.
This four-time state tournament MVP —who also was selected as a starter for the United States Girls Youth National Team that competed at the 2017 FIVB Girls’ U18 World Championship in Argentina — enjoyed a stellar major college playing career for national power Nebraska.
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