‘Bad four or five minutes’ late dooms Farragut boys at West
KNOXVILLE — A late rough stretch spelled defeat for the Farragut High School boys basketball team in its District 4-AAA opener Friday night, Dec. 4, at Knoxville West High School.
“We had a bad four or five minutes,” Admirals head coach Jon Higgins said after FHS came up on the short end of a 76-64 decision against the Rebels. “They had a stretch of four or five minutes where they really got to us and it was really our own undoing.
“We had turnovers and we allowed them to get out in transition,” he added. “When you let West get out in transition, you only make things harder for yourself.”
West used a balanced attack and opened a 16-12 lead by the end of the first quarter. From there, the Rebels held the upper hand, but the Admirals were able to hang around thanks to some clutch baskets from junior guard Ryan Neal and sophomore wing Dallas Carbaugh, who was playing in his first varsity district game.
Neal tied the game 21-21 when he scored midway through the second quarter. After the Rebels regained the lead, Carbaugh knotted the game at 27-27 with 1 minute, 8 seconds to go before halftime. West regained the upper hand and held a 31-27 advantage at the break.
Farragut found itself in an uphill battle all night long, but the Ads (1-3 overall, 0-1 in District 4-AAA) took a 47-46 lead when Neal made a bucket with 2:41 remaining in the third quarter.
But the Rebels (2-0, 1-0) answered and regained the advantage, holding a narrow 50-49 lead by the end of the frame.
West dominated the fourth quarter and never surrendered the lead over the final eight minutes. Farragut did pull to within 57-55 when Carter Mayfield converted a pair of free throws with 4:15 to play in the game.
Things then came unraveled.
“We had a couple of unforced turnovers and led to a couple of easy baskets,” Higgins said. “When you let them get those in transition, you only make the game harder for yourself.”
While the Rebels made the Admirals pay dearly for those miscues, West outscored Farragut 19-9 down the stretch and claimed the victory by making 11 of 13 free throws in the waning moments.
West’s Baker Dance scored the game’s last five points from the foul line.
Still, the Admirals had a chance late and pulled to within 64-62 when Carbaugh scored with 1:38 left.
Dillon Atwell, junior guard, led FHS with 15 points. Carbaugh added 14, while Mayfield had 11 and Neal 10.
“I thought Dillon played well. I thought Dallas Carbaugh played exceptionally well for a sophomore playing his first district varsity game,” Higgins said. “I thought Ryan Neal gave us a lot of good minutes, and I thought Jack Carasso (senior post) gave us a lot of good minutes.”
Despite the loss, Higgins said he was “really encouraged about where we’re headed as a program.”
Rebel Will Biven had a game-high 21 points.
