More of TN’s Substate Clashes to Determine Who’s Boro Bound
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We dive into Cleveland’s return to state for the first time since 2008, Sevier County, North Green, and Gatlinburg-Pittman all returning to state. Cleveland High School (23-9) 40 Blackman (18-9) 38 The Lady Blaze end a streak of 3 consecutive…
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Continue ReadingWe dive into Cleveland’s return to state for the first time since 2008, Sevier County, North Green, and Gatlinburg-Pittman all returning to state.
Cleveland High School (23-9) 40
Blackman (18-9) 38
The Lady Blaze end a streak of 3 consecutive state tournament appearances with their close home loss to visiting Cleveland HS. Cleveland is going dancing for first time since 2008!
(And…it really is a big deal that Bradley County has TWO 4A schools in the state tournament! Glad to see girls basketball alive and well once again in Cleveland TN!)
Once the game action started, the Lady Blaze jumped out on Cleveland quickly, take an early 11-1 lead, and then a 19-11 lead late in the 2nd quarter. But Cleveland took advantage of a couple weird oppurtunties ( a 4 point play and a Blackman technical) to tie the game at 19 at the half.
The Blackman defense worked incredibly hard to keep the ball out of Hursts hands, and limited her to only 5 shots. She still ultimately was ultra effective taking was the defense gave and not forcing the issue. She trusted her teammates on offense, and protected the rim on D. I thought she was great even those the stats aren’t eye popping.
The Cleveland was ultimately dominant in this game, and if you can hold a team under 40 on the road, you’ve got a great shot at winning. I thought Cleveland challenged every shot, and did a fantastic job on Blackman’s ball screen and handoff actions. Cleveland was well prepared.
In the 2nd half, Cleveland jumped up to a three point lead at the end of the third. Blackman’s Amirah Herring Amirah Herring 5'8" | CG Blackman | 2026 State TN hit a huge three however, as the two teams swapped leads. But, the Lady Blaze would only score 1 point after that.
Cleveland’s game plan to key in on Kaelyn Flowers Kaelyn Flowers 5'6" | PG Blackman | 2024 State TN and Lyriq Mastin Lyriq Mastin 5'7" | CG Blackman | 2025 State TN was effective. Mastin’s incredible tourney run came to an end with 15 points, and Flowers scored 12 (the 2 stars still had 27 of Blackman’s 38 points).
Cleveland HS
Callie Brewer Callie Brewer 5'9" | SF Cleveland | 2024 State TN 12 points, 7 rebounds
Lauren Hurst Lauren Hurst 6'3" | PF Cleveland | 2025 State TN 8 points, 2-5 from the field, 1-2 from 3, 3-6 FT, 11 rebounds
Tamiah Tanner Tamiah Tanner 5'8" | SF Cleveland | 2025 State TN 5 points
Laney Copeland Laney Copeland 5'5" | CG Cleveland | 2027 TN ’27 2 points
Emily Patterson Emily Patterson 5'11" | PF Cleveland | 2027 TN ’27 5 points, 3 rebounds
Emma Smith Emma Smith 5'8" | SG Cleveland | 2025 State TN 8 points, 2-5 from 3, 2-2 FTs, 3 rebounds
Dycus Thoughts:
Just a tremendous win for a Cleveland team that has a new coach, lost 7 seniors…..but figured out a way to keep winning when it mattered. AND….next year I expect them to be better as I really like their ’25s and they have a really nice crew of young kids coming up.
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Sevier County (31-3) 69
Bearden (30-4) 55
Both Bearden and Sevier County were carrying 30-3 records heading into their substate matchup. Sevier County won 69-55 Bearden. Sevier County defended their home court with a passion, and gave Bearden its worst loss on the year.
I had an extremely hard time hunting down stats for Sevier County for this game.
Sevier County’s Kinley Loveday Kinley Loveday 5'2" | PG Sevier Co. | 2024 State TN , Cybil Penland Cybil Penland 5'10" | SG Sevier Co. | 2025 State TN , Kaliyah Burden Kaliyah Burden 5'8" | SG Sevier Co. | 2027 TN , Aubree Laney Aubree Laney 5'8" | SF Lakeway Christian Academy | 2024 State TN , Maggie Townsend Maggie Townsend 5'8" | PG Sevier County | 2027 TN all contributed to the win.
Final Stats for Bearden:
Natalya Hodge Natalya Hodge 5'7" | CG Bearden | 2026 State TN 21 points @natalyahodge2
Kendall Anne Murphy Kendall Anne Murphy 5'9" | SF BEARDEN | 2025 State TN 12 points @kendallmurphy_1
Aisha Patel Aisha Patel 6'0" | PF Bearden | 2025 State TN 11 points @aishapatel8507
Rachael Wilhoit 5 points @rachael_wilhoit
Lindsay Wilson Lindsay Wilson 5'6" | SG Bearden | 2024 State TN 3 points @lindsaywilson02
Amanda Parker Amanda Parker 6'1" | SF Bearden | 2024 State TN 3 @amandap2024
Dycus Thoughts:
Sevier County simply dominated this basketball game, and their abundance of senior leadership and 1,000 scorers paid off. It’s really hard to bet against them, but now Sevier has Bartlett on Wednesday morning. Bartlett has won 13 of 14, and as always, has multiple college kids. Bartlett also beat Sevier Co by 20 (57-37) last March, and Bartlett’s Carrington Jones Carrington Jones 5'8" | CG Bartlett | 2024 State TN and Akya Woods Akya Woods 5'8" | SG Bartlett | 2025 State TN are playing superb.
North Greene (26-10) 33
Midway (22-8) 31
In a matchup of two of my favorite A teams, North Greene pulled out a nail biter over Midway. I’ve enjoyed watching both squads: North Greene has the Twin Towers, and Midway has Caywood and the perfect group to complement her.
The Lady Waves were up two (26-24) heading into the final quarter, but two tough buckets from Hannah Miller Hannah Miller 6'1" | PF North Greene | 2025 TN and Haley Bailey (the Twin Towers) gave the Lady Huskies a 28-26 lead that they’d never relinquish.
The North Greene Lady Huskies are going to the state tournament for a remarkable 5th straight year. They will face Greenfield at 4:00 CT Wednesday.
Hailey Bailey Hailey Bailey 5'8" | SF North Greene | 2024 State TN had a game high 13 points. Hannah Miller Hannah Miller 6'1" | PF North Greene | 2025 TN also almost had a double double, and did a fantastic job protecting the rim.
Midway Final Stats:
Abbie Parks 10 points, 3 rebounds
Kyleigh Cawood Kyleigh Cawood 5'6" | PG Midway | 2026 TN 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals
Addison Armes Addison Armes 6'0" | SF Midway | 2025 State TN 6 points, 3 blocks, 2 rebounds
Tatum Collier 3 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals
Kali Kile 2 points, 4 rebounds
Gatlinburg-Pittman (33-3) 67
Meigs Co (22-11) 27
Meigs started the gave nice defensively vs Gatlinburg-Pittman in the first quarter, but it didn’t take long for GP to assert their dominance. GP started the game on a 7-0 run, Meigs answered with an Alexis Kranz jumper and Lila Brown free throw to make it 7-3 with 3:00 left before GP ended the quarter on a 12-2 run to take a commanding 20-5 lead.
Gatlinburg Pittman led 45-16 at the half, 59-23 after three and outscored Meigs 8-4 in the final running-clock fourth quarter to reach the 67-27 final.
Meigs had a successful 22 win year, but are losing some key seniors. They do have some youngsters ready to step up into bigger roles, and it’s likely that Alexis Kranz, Lila Brown, Taylor Mahone, Ainsley King Ainsley King 5'10" | SF Meigs Co. | 2026 State TN and Kaydence Schaumburg will see bumps in production.
As for Gatlinburg Pittman, they were simply dominant, and are ready to begin the state tournament. This game was never in question.
Gatlinburg Pittman Stats:
Nya Burns Nya Burns 5'7" | CG Gatlinburg-Pittman | 2026 State TN 18 points, Maddy Newman Maddy Newman 6'2" | C Gatlinburg-Pittman | 2024 State TN 15 points, Leah Stinnett Leah Stinnett 5'8" | SG Gatlinburg-Pittman | 2024 State TN 9, Maliyah Glasper Maliyah Glasper 5'6" | CG Gatlinburg-Pittman | 2026 TN 7, Addi Wear Addi Wear 5'5" | PG Gatlinburg-Pittman | 2026 TN 6, Trinity Whaley Trinity Whaley 5'6" | SF Gatlinburg-Pittman | 2024 State TN 5, Graycee Valentine 3, Ella Stinnett 2
Meigs Stats:
Julia Howard Julia Howard 5'11" | SF Meigs Co. | 2024 State TN 8, Alexis Kranz 7, Ainsley King Ainsley King 5'10" | SF Meigs Co. | 2026 State TN 6, Lainey Fitzgerald 3
Dycus Thoughts:
Really nice to see Nya Burns Nya Burns 5'7" | CG Gatlinburg-Pittman | 2026 State TN ’26 get going for 18. GP has proven that in the scoring department, both Newman and Glasper can take over a game. Burns is good enough to get hot and win you a quarter or two. Same with Leah Stinnett Leah Stinnett 5'8" | SG Gatlinburg-Pittman | 2024 State TN . I really like this team’s depth and versatility heading into the AA state tourney.