In decisive fashion, FHS ends Hawks’ hoop season
KNOXVILLE — Farragut High School’s boys basketball team came up on the wrong end of a 67-58 decision to top-seeded Maryville in the District 4-AAA Tournament semifinals Friday night, Feb. 21.
But the Admirals are headed to the Region 2-AAA Tournament thanks to a dominant 73-50 quarterfinal win against rival Hardin Valley Academy Thursday, Feb. 20, at Bearden, ending the Hawks’ 2019-2020 season with a 13-15 record.
The Ads boasted a balanced scoring attack, as Noah Pack led the way with 15 points. Robby Geron added 13, while Jake Wallace scored 12. Isaiah Smith finished with eight and Kaleb VanAcker added six points. Ryan Neal and Carter Mayfield chipped in with five points each.
Against the Red Rebels, “We played against the best team in our district, they’re the No. 1 seed, and we battled with them,” said Smith, a sophomore who scored 12 points (including six over the final eight minutes of the contest).
The Admirals (16-16 before playing William Blount in the 4-AAA tourney consolation game, after deadline, Tuesday, Feb. 25), were led by 10 points apiece for Geron and Wallace against Maryville.
“We battled throughout the entire game and we’re playing better,” Admirals skipper Jon Higgins said. “We’re playing well, but tonight we just didn’t make enough plays.
“Maryville is a great basketball team and we had too many turnovers. We didn’t get the 50/50 balls ... you have to get those balls if you’re going to beat a team like Maryville,” he added about MHS< which played No. 2 seed Bearden in the 4-AAA tourney title game Feb. 25.
The Admirals will return to action Saturday, Feb. 29. They’ll be on the road against either Powell or Oak Ridge, from District 3-AAA, in the Region 2-AAA Tournament opening round.
