How Carsyn Swaney led Heritage to first TSSAA girls basketball state tournament win in 28 years
MURFREESBORO ― Heritage senior Carsyn Swaney spent the bus ride from Maryville to Murfreesboro Wednesday watching film on Portland ahead of Heritage's TSSAA girls basketball state tournament quarterfinal.
But Swaney's thoughts weren't too far away from her future home court she'll be playing on.
On the same iPad she used to break down's Portland's defense, she watched Middle Tennessee State crush Kennesaw State in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA women's tournament. Swaney broke into a smile when thinking about what's to come.
"That part of my life is coming," the 3A Miss Basketball finalist said after leading Heritage to a dominant 60-36 win over Portland in the TSSAA Class 3A quarterfinals Thursday at Murphy Center. "Right now I'm focused on my time here at Heritage and finishing that right."
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"I watch almost every single (MTSU) game on ESPN Plus," Swaney said. "I'm just ready. I like their style of play."
Swaney had 22 points, three rebounds and four assists. Chloe Heath added 21 points as Heritage (33-2) advanced to the semifinals and will play South Gibson at 4 p.m. Friday. It's the first state semifinal appearance for the Lady Mountaineers since 1997.
It's the second straight trip to the Glass House for Swaney and Heritage. The Lady Mountaineers lost to Cocke County in last year's quarterfinals, 55-53. She had 21 points in that game, so she's grown comfortable on the Blue Raiders' campus.
"I'm always going to want to play well here," Swaney said. "And if I want to play (at MTSU) I have to envision myself out there, on the court, and think about 'what can I do to help?'"
Swaney will play for a Tennessee coaching legend in Rick Insell, who has led MTSU's program since 2005. Insell is also a legendary high school coach in Middle Tennessee, having led Shelbyville to 15 state championship games and a TSSAA-record 10 titles in 28 seasons.
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"Carsyn is one of those program changers," Heritage coach Rick Howard said. "You only get so many of those in your coaching career. She's been a joy to coach and I'm going to miss her. Rick's getting a really good player."
Swaney has been an anchor for Howard's program for the past four years. The Mountaineers won 50 games during her freshman and sophomore seasons, but failed to make the state tournament losing to Bearden in the region semifinals in 2022 and the sectional to Sevier County in 2023. Last year it advanced to state for the first time since 2000, before the quarterfinal heartbreaker against Cocke County.
"That's why my focus right now is still with Heritage," said Swaney, who eclipsed 2,000 career points and is the school's second-leading scorer all time. "We have to be ready to play (Friday) because it's going to be a much tougher game. I'm excited about playing at MTSU, but we have more games to play this week."
Cecil Joyce covers high school sports and MTSU athletics for The Daily News Journal. Contact him at cjoyce@dnj.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @Cecil_Joyce.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: TSSAA basketball state tournament 2025: Carsyn Swaney leads Heritage
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