sms hoops teams bounce back

After a full week of middle school hoops action, the Seymour Middle School Eagles and Lady Eagles have wins in their last two outings against Sacred Heart (Friday) and Northview (Monday) after a disappointing showing at county and league foe Sevierville Middle last Thursday night.

Seymour boys head coach Scott Norman said his club’s 46-27 loss to the Cubs in Sevierville Thursday evening was due, for the most part, to his club’s lack of depth compared to the talented and deep Sevierville line-up.

“We just ran out of gas,” said Norman, who has guided the Eagles to either a first or second place league finish in eight of the last nine years.

The Eagles hung close through the game’s first two periods before the Cubs took advantage of their strength in numbers while pulling away for the 19-point win in the third and fourth quarters.

The Eagles were paced by Logan Jenkins’ 16 points in the losing effort at Sevierville.

Seymour was able to get back on track just 24 hours later with a 38-32 victory over Sacred Heart. Jenkins again led the Eagles’ charge with 12 points, while Ben Wisler and Ryan Bennett contributed 11 and six points, respectively, in the Eagles’ Friday night win.

Seymour pushed its overall record to 3-4 on the young season with a 41-31 victory over Northview on Monday night of this week. Monday’s win also makes the Eagles 1-1 in league play with Thursday’s loss at Sevierville being the lone setback.

In the win over Northview, Wisler led the way with a game-high 19 points for the Eagles. Jenkins chipped in eight points, Bennett finished with seven and Taylor Overton contributed six points in the SMS victory.

If the Eagles felt bad on the bus ride back to Seymour Friday night, it’s a safe bet the Lady Eagles felt much worse, considering the Seymour girls blew a double-digit first half lead before falling 47-39 to the Lady Cubs.

The Lady Eagles looked like juggernauts in the first few minutes of the first varsity contest of the evening at Sevierville Middle School Friday night, racing out to a 12-0 lead midway through the first stanza.

The Savvy Sevierville squad showed no panic though, gradually chipping away at the visitor’s advantage through the rest of the first half—Sevierville held Seymour to just five total points in the second quarter—before ultimately pulling away down the stretch to claim the key league win.

With Seymour leading 15-10 at the conclusion of the high-scoring first stanza, the Lady Cubs continued to battle back, outscoring Seymour 14-5 in the second period and trimming the Lady Eagles’ halftime advantage to 25-24.

The Lady Cubs kept the pressure turned up in the third as the Lady Eagles failed to get settled into an offensive groove. Sevierville extended its lead to 39-33 at the end of three and held off a late Seymour charge to collect the win.

Sevierville’s balanced attack was paced by Carly Pippen’s 10 points. Madison Pickel and Caroline Miller each scored nine points for the Lady Cubs.

Seymour was led by Kerigan Newport’s 14 points. Cydnee Harrell finished with nine points for the Lady Eagles and Madison Coker had seven points. Newport and Harrell each connected on a pair of treys in the losing effort Thursday in Sevierville.

The Lady Eagles tried to make up for their disappointing offensive effort Thursday with a fireworks show Friday in a 48-22 thumping of Sacred Heart.

Nine different Lady Eagles scored in the win led by Harrell’s 14 points and Christina Slay’s nine points. Harrell connected on three shots from behind the 3-point arc against Sacred Heart.

Brittany Seagle scored all five of her points in the fourth quarter, as did Sara Cook (4), Kasey Norman (3) and Kelsey Davis (2).

After holding a 34-22 lead at the end of the third, the Lady Eagles went on a tear to finish the game on a 14-0 run.

Newport, Taylor Lolley and Jordan Ballard each added four points for the Lady Eagles.

In Seymour’s 51-17 Monday night bashing of Northview the Lady Eagles’ offense saw 10 different players tally in the final scorebook.

Ballard finished the night with a game-high 14 points for the Lady Eagles, including three buckets from behind the 3-point arc. Ballard scored 10 of her team’s 12 second quarter points.

Slay also made a big difference against Northview, tallying nine first quarter points to help her club get off to a commanding 19-4 start. The Lady Eagles’ rangy center finished with 13 points on the night.

Harrell finished with 6 points, Lolley and Seagle each had four points, Newport added a first-quarter trey, while Kelsey Davis, Kasey Norman, and Madison Coker each contributed two points in the Lady Eagles’ Monday night win. Sara Cook chipped in a third-quarter free throw to finish with a point and round out Seymour’s scoring.