Ads rally past Hawks
For three quarters of its District 4-AAA game against rival Hardin Valley Academy, Farragut High School’s boys basketball team struggled to find its offensive rhythm. But the Admirals managed to manufacture enough points to nab a crucial home league victory.
“We’ve been talking about making winning plays and we’ve talked about winning tight games,” Farragut head coach Jon Higgins said after his Admirals outlasted the Hawks 46-41 at FHS’s Lynn E. Sexton Gymnasium Friday, Jan. 5. “Even when our offense was awful, we still played pretty good defense.”
Farragut’s offense wasn’t merely abysmal in the first half — it was nearly non-existent. The Admirals [8-9 overall, 2-5 in the district] scored just eight points over the opening 16 minutes.
Hardin Valley [7-10, 1-6], however, didn’t fare much better. But the Hawks scored enough to have a 13-8 lead at halftime.
“We struggled offensively. Both teams really struggled offensively,” HVA head coach Shane Chambers said. “It was 13-8 at halftime and we missed a few shots.”
After the break, both teams found some offensive rhythm. The two squads combined to score 32 points in third frame and the Admirals pulled to within 28-25 by the end of the quarter. FHS got a spark from Chris Dalton, Caleb Thompson and Nick Stedham, each of whom had four points in the frame. Tharrin Shuler added a 3-pointer.
Luke Moeller, Ads senior post, came off the bench in the fourth quarter and made the most of his opportunity. He scored two points, blocked a shot and had a crucial offensive rebound while Farragut made its comeback run.
The Ads were 13-for-16 from the foul line over the final eight minutes, while the FHS defense forced the Hawks into multiple turnovers.
“This was ugly but it was a big win because it was a district game and a rivalry game,” said Ethan Sherrill, FHS senior guard who scored all six of his points in the fourth quarter.
Dalton, who finished with eight points, agreed. “That first half was pretty rough,” he said. “We came out in the second half with a different mindset and we played better.”
Stedham, senior post, scored eight for Farragut. Thompson and Robby Geron each finished with six.
Hardin Valley senior Jordan Ewing led all scorers with 10 points.
“We had our opportunities in this game,” Chambers said. “But we had a few turnovers and things didn’t go our way against their press.”
