How Gatlinburg-Pittman basketball is on ‘revenge tour’ after TSSAA state tournament win

MURFREESBORO — The Class 2A state quarterfinals is where Gatlinburg-Pittman girls basketball season came to a close last season. 

“Last year was a heartbreaker,” said Miss Basketball finalist Maddy Newman.

Katie Moore, Lady Highlanders coach, still recalls the pangs of disappointment after falling to McMinn Central. That loss, however, served a positive purpose. It became the driving force for her team to be better this season. 

“I feel like we have a lot of unfinished business (from) last year,” Moore said. “We jokingly call it the revenge tour … that elite eight game, we had to get that (today) because it was on the tour.”

Gatlinburg-Pittman took down Smith County 54-46 at Middle Tennessee State’s Murphy Center on Thursday. It advances to the state semifinals for the third time in school history. 

Maddy Newman, a Tennessee Tech signee, scored a game-high 21 points along with 10 rebounds and three steals for Gatlinburg-Pittman (35-3). She made 8-of-13 field goals. Senior Leah Stinnett had 10 points. 

Senior Airyn Enoch had 15 points for Smith County (22-12). 

Moore’s thinking ahead of the game was that the Lady Highlanders could only beat themselves. Along with being motivated, her team believed it was better team it was a year ago. That showed as they were comfortable from the start, putting up 19 points in the first eight minutes.

“I definitely think they came out with a different type of confidence and kind of calmness,” Moore said. 

Gatlinburg-Pittman’s experienced guards were a major factor in the team’s overall composure and ability to execute, said Moore. 

The Lady Highlanders returned all their backcourt players and have sophomore Maliyah Glasper who missed her first year due to a torn ACL. She had seven points, three rebounds and three steals off the bench. 

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Starting sophomore guard Nya Burns who had seven points, six rebounds and four steals said that guard depth is top-notch and acclimating with Glasper this season was not an issue. 

“Having Maliyah back is very helpful,” Burns said. “(We) have played with each other before so we have that chemistry.”

Gatlinburg-Pittman’s revenge tour doesn’t have plans on ending in the semifinals. The final date is the championship game, which Burns feels confident in. 

“(We) worked so hard this season,” Burns said. “We deserve to win that gold ball and so we’re just gonna keep fighting until we get there.”

Toyloy Brown III is a Knox News sports reporter. Email toyloy.brown@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter, @TJ3rd_.