Upset bid by Admirals quashed in 3rd period
Jon Higgins’ Farragut High School boys basketball team did one thing it couldn’t afford against a tough District 4-AAA foe.
“We lost focus mentally and we lost focus defensively,” Higgins said after the Admirals seemed to sleepwalk through the second half of a 65-39 loss to Maryville Friday night, Jan. 11, in FHS’s Lynn E. Sexton Gymnasium. “Against Maryville you just can’t do that. They’re too good and they just shoot too well.”
Also losing in overtime at William Blount Tuesday, Jan. 8, “It’s been a tough week, but the mistakes we made were mistakes of our own making,” the Admirals skipper added, as FHS fell to 7-14 overall, 3-6 in district after the loss to MHS. The Red Rebels improved to 19-1, 9-0.
Though Maryville jumped out to an early 17-8 lead, the shots didn’t fall for the Red Rebels early in the second quarter and Farragut took advantage. Saish Malluri gave the Ads a 23-22 lead with a 3-point shot midway through the quarter.
With the Red Rebels up 29-25 up at the break, it was all downhill from there.
Maryville came out sizzling and went on a 13-0 run to start the third quarter, as MHS junior marksman Joe Anderson knocked down three consecutive long-range jumpers. He scored a game-high 22 points.
“It can be close and, all of a sudden, in two minutes we can go on a 12-0 run,” Maryville head coach Mark Eldridge said. “That’s what happened.”
Freshman Dillon Atwell led the Admirals with 12 points. Senior Will Brown added 11 and junior Robby Geron finished with seven.
