Robbinsville

The Robbinsville Middle School Black Knights gathered on the court with their runner-up plaque after the conference-tournament finale Jan. 19 at Murphy.

Middle school Knights drop tournament finals to Braves

Kevin Hensley

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Murphy – The Black Knights pushed their season to its latest possible game: the Smoky Mountain Conference tournament finals. But Robbinsville’s dance partner in the Jan. 19 title showdown was Cherokee, a team that had its number during the regular season.

All Cherokee’s Alexis Smith could do was look on as Desta Trammell took flight for a second-half bucket Tuesday at Cherokee. Trammell had 42 points at Swain County on Jan. 19 and her 23-point evening at Cherokee pushed her to 1,603 career points. Photo by Kevin Hensley/sports@grahamstar.com

Lady Knights left with questions, very few answers

Kevin Hensley

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Cherokee – The only Smoky Mountain Conference team that has had the Lady Knights’ number this year is the Cherokee Braves. Robbinsville (10-7, 4-2) entered Tuesday’s rematch with the first-place Braves, full of optimism that the Knights had the right game plan in place after the first outing Dec.

Lina Pagan (left) and Yeika Jimenez Diaz’s love for basketball has came full circle, with both playing against each other at the collegiate level – something neither could have dreamed would be a reality while growing up in Puerto Rico. Photos by Kevin Hensley/sports@grahamstar.com

Aprovechando el momento

Kevin Hensley

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Athens, Tenn. – They competed against each other before coming to the United States. So it is only appropriate that Yeika Jimenez Diaz and Linaysha Pagan dress out in opposing uniforms today. Their story is unlike any you have ever heard.

Exhausted, Koleson Dooley (220) rises to a knee after securing a 3-2, sudden-death overtime win over Swain County’s Blake Sain on Jan. 19. Dooley went to overtime with Sain during the James Orr Invitational on Jan. 14 and went to ultimate-tiebreaker in Saturday’s conference Tournament. Dooley triumphed on all three occasions. Photo by Kevin Hensley/sports@grahamstar.com

Conference conquered

Kevin Hensley

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Robbinsville – When a program has won 25 Smoky Mountain Conference titles in just 46 years of existence, the term “powerhouse” is certainly applicable. But this year was supposed to be different, critics said. Of the six state champions Robbinsville Wrestling produced last year, just two returned.

Donovan Carpenter glances down at his handiwork in the closing seconds of Tuesday’s comeback victory at Cherokee. Carpenter’s dunk resoundingly affirmed a 58-48 win for the Black Knights. Photo by Kevin Hensley/sports@grahamstar.com

Slow and steady wins the race

Kevin Hensley

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Cherokee – It was time to take the Braves to school.

Robbinsville Middle School Principal Tonia Walsh (right) leads a tour of officials Tuesday, including county project manager Jason Marino, county finance officer Becky Garland and interim county manager Kim Crisp (from back). Photos by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

$4.5 million well spent

Randy Foster

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Robbinsville – School officials officially unveiled the new Robbinsville Middle School addition Tuesday, a $4.5 million structure intended to relieve overcrowding at the high school/middle school complex off Sweetwater Road.

Crews begin to extract a Toyota Highlander from Lake Santeetlah around 5 p.m. Jan. 19, after the SUV crashed into the water during the early-morning hours. Jose Alfredo Moreno-Romero, 23, passed away in the accident, while the driver and a rear-seat passenger managed to escape. Photo by Randy Foster/news@grahamstar.com

County rocked by fatal SUV crash into lake

Randy Foster

Thursday, January 26, 2023

In this photo from the Feb. 9, 2017 edition of The Graham Star, Freddy Romero erupts in jubilation after securing the state dual-team, championship-clinching pin for the Robbinsville Black Knights. Romero was honored before Jan. 19’s match against Swain County and Andrews.

Don't adjust your sets; that's a basketball score

Kevin Hensley

Friday, January 20, 2023

Murphy – Well, that’s one way to send a message to the rest of the field. Robbinsville (No. 3 seed, 9-4) shutout Swain County (No. 6) in the first half of the Smoky Mountain Conference Middle School Tournament quarterfinal Monday, heading into the locker room with a 35-0 advantage at the break.

The Lady Knights’ collaboration of Katie-Lyn Gross, Kensley Phillips, Zoie Shuler and Delaney Brooms (from left) broke the 4x400, indoor-track school record Jan. 11 at Swain County, clocking in with a time of 4:34.98. The previous mark was 4:45.20, set by Ashlyn Waldroup, current coach Kaitlyn Carringer, Meghan Myler and Shawnda Martin during the 2015-16 season. Photo by Kevin Hensley/sports@grahamstar.com

400 meters, 4 segments: 1 record obliterated

Kevin Hensley

Friday, January 20, 2023

I’ve often called the 4x400 relay the “most exciting five minutes in sports.” Maybe it is because after three-plus hours, the competition draws a track meet to a close. Maybe it is because it comes after the single-longest track event of the day: the 2-mile run.

Brock Adams takes flight Monday at Highlands. Robbinsville’s senior point guard was one of three Black Knights to reach double digits in the victory. Photo by Kevin Hensley/sports@grahamstar.com

Ain’t no mountain high enough

Kevin Hensley

Friday, January 20, 2023

Highlands – From the opening tip, it was all Robbinsville. With Friday’s trek to Hiwassee Dam postponed due to inclement weather, the Black Knights’ only action of the week came at another Little Smoky Mountain Conference school Monday: a trip to Highlands.