Skylar Walden and The King’s Academy Lady Lions faced the Knoxville Catholic Fighting Irish in a non-district game on Monsignor Philip Thoni Court on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Knoxville, Tennessee. The TKA girls won 43-39. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
Skylar Walden may be labeled a sophomore on The King’s Academy girls basketball roster, but consider that a technicality, though.
The 2024-25 season was Walden’s third run through high school varsity play — and it was undeniably her best.
The 5Star Preps Girls Underclassman of the Year spearheaded a run to the 2025 Division II-A girls state championship game, the program’s first appearance in a state final since 2020.
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TKA (27-8) unexpectedly finished fourth in its district tournament but regained form in region play and made its march.
By season’s end, the 5-foot-7 Walden had averaged 16.9 points, 4.9 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game.
She finished with 127 made 3s in 35 games, connecting from deep with a 39.4-percent clip.
Walden, a combo-guard, had 24 points in TKA’s state semifinal win over Providence Christian Academy. She had just three points at halftime on 0-for-3 shooting. She wound up making 7 of 8 shots from the floor after the half to propel TKA in that 57-36 win.
Admittedly, bouncing back so quickly was something Walden learned to do in time; making 180s didn’t come as easily for her as an eighth-grader playing against varsity competition two years ago.
“For us, she does everything for us. But this year, we saw her get a little more aggressive,” TKA coach Dante Turnipseed said. “Not forcing shots. But making plays happen. Not just her getting her own shots but helping other people get shots. She led us in assists. And her leadership.
“I told her all year, you’re not a sophomore; this is your third year playing. You need to be a leader on this team. I think she brought that mental toughness she brings all the time. It helps us.”
Walden showed significant levels of mental fortitude in the title game, as she overcame an 0-for-9 shooting start to finish with 22 points and nearly authored a comeback win against Webb-Bell Buckle. TKA fell in the championship round, 66-59. Still, the Lady Lions’ appearance there was a far cry from the play they displayed in two district-tournament losses a month prior.
Those defeats turned out to be blessings in disguise, per Walden.
“So we always joke around on the team with Dante and our other coaches, saying like, ‘We play better when our backs are up against the wall.’ … We joked around about it, but it honestly was true. We do play better that way,” she said. “After that (last district tournament) game, you have to play a harder team now to move on. It’s win or go home.
“When we had to play Notre Dame (in first round of region play), riding the bus down there together, you could just tell we were all ready for the game. We were all much more locked in and focused for the game.”
Walden, undoubtedly, turned heads at state and college recruiters have paid attention, as well.
But that college choice is still months upon months away. For now, Walden is working. She’s developing her mid-range game, her attacks to the basket and her speed and agility.
“Right now, I’m working on my speed and quickness,” Walden said. “Because I feel like for me, being a smaller guard, it definitely is a bigger thing for me to be as fast as everyone else. I’m not going to be taller than everyone else. So being as fast as everyone else and having a quick first step is going to be a big thing for me.”
Added Turnipseed: “Coaching that kid, whatever you tell that kid to do, she’s going to try her best to do it. She’s willing to be coached and keep pushing.”
With Walden’s game growing and her knowledge of the game on the same ascent, eventually those two paths will intersect. And when it happens, watch out, Turnipseed said.
“I told her that when her skill set meets her I.Q., she’s going to get even better. I think she’s still learning the game and playing a little bit faster. I think she has high skill and high I.Q. But she uses one or the other. I told her that when she puts both of those together, you’re going to be even better. She’s learning to do that.
“She’ll come to me during a game or practices and say, “I see this happening.” But now she needs to see that while it’s going on in real time. You can see her thinking it, but you can see that one thought taking just a bit too long and now that pass is not open or that shot is not open. … She’s only going to get better at this. I don’t think she’s peaked yet. She has two more years of this left. I can only imagine what her senior year is going to look like if all that comes together.”