Basketball Game Preview: Gatlinburg-Pittman Highlanders vs. Alcoa Tornadoes

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Previous Games

01/31/25 - Away	47-59 L
01/17/25 - Home	59-68 L
02/28/24 - Away	68-53 W
02/20/24 - Away	50-53 L
02/08/24 - Home	66-54 W
+ 5 more games

Gatlinburg-Pittman and Alcoa are an even 5-5 against one another since January of 2023, but not for long. The Gatlinburg-Pittman Highlanders will take on the Alcoa Tornadoes at 7:30 p.m. on Monday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the two teams will really light up the scoreboard.

If Gatlinburg-Pittman beats Alcoa with 70 points on Monday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two games with that exact score. Gatlinburg-Pittman breezed past Pigeon Forge to the tune of 70-38 on Saturday. The Highlanders have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 contests by 22 points or more this season.

Gatlinburg-Pittman's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Chloe Mejias, who went 7-for-10 to rack up 16 points and five steals. What's more, Mejias also posted a 70% field goal percentage, which is the highest she's achieved since back in February of 2024. Addi Wear was another key player, going 7-for-13 on her way to 16 points and three steals.

Gatlinburg-Pittman was working as a unit and finished the game with 17 assists. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their assist total in three consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Alcoa earned a 66-55 victory over Maryville last Friday. Given the Tornadoes' advantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 26th, while the Red Rebels are ranked 94th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Gatlinburg-Pittman's win bumped their record up to 19-11. As for Alcoa, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 12 of their last 14 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 19-5 record this season.

Gatlinburg-Pittman came up short against Alcoa in their previous matchup back in January, falling 59-47. Can Gatlinburg-Pittman avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.