After 1 win in Belle tourney, Higgins still upbeat about Ads
Despite seeing his team suffer a tough loss Saturday afternoon, Nov. 28, Farragut High School boys basketball head coach Jon Higgins was upbeat.
And why not?
Higgins’ Admirals had spent 17 days in quarantine and couldn’t start their season until Friday, Nov. 27, due to COVID-19 concerns surrounding the program.
“I think with where we are, the last two days have been good for us,” Higgins said after Farragut came up on the short end of a 64-59 decision against Morristown East on the final day of the Belle Building Group Farragut Thanksgiving Tournament Saturday. “After what we’ve been through the last 17 days, we just needed to play some games.”
The Admirals, who went 1-2 over the holiday weekend, shut down all activities for more than two weeks due to the pandemic.
Once they finally opened the 2020-21 campaign, Farragut lost to Knoxville Central 74-71 in overtime Friday morning. Later in the day, FHS picked up its first win of the season after routing Tennessee High of Bristol 80-47.
Against Morristown East (4-3), Farragut took an 8-6 lead early after junior Elisha Brabson’s slam dunk with 4 minutes, 45 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
But Morristown East closed the frame with an 11-4 run and opened a 17-12 lead.
The two teams slugged through an even second stanza, as the Hurricanes held a 26-21 advantage at halftime.
Morristown East opened the third quarter by scoring 11 consecutive points — all from guard Kyle Cloninger, who expanded his team’s lead to 37-21. His flurry of points featured a long-range three-point jumper.
The Admirals, however, battled back after a scoring drought that lasted nearly three-and-a-half minutes.
Carter Mayfield ended the dry spell with 4:34 left in the frame when his field goal made it 37-23.
By the end of the quarter, Farragut trimmed its deficit to 44-34.
The Ads scored first in the final frame as Mayfield and Isaiah Smith scored consecutive buckets, which pulled FHS to within 44-38 with seven minutes to go in the contest.
The Hurricanes then used a 9-2 run to pull away and open a 53-40 lead.
Farragut, however, didn’t go away. The Hurricanes never lost command, but the Admirals battled. Mayfield buried a 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds remaining in the game to close within five points.
Mayfield and Dillon Atwell each scored 15 points for Farragut. Smith added 11, while Brabson and Ryan Neal scored seven points each.
“Our defense could’ve been a little better, but I thought we communicated well,” Mayfield said. “But we did a good job and we just didn’t back down.”
Morristown East’s balanced attack was led by Micah Simpson’s 22 points. Braden Ulic added 18 and Cloninger finished with 14.
