Behind 4 in double figures, Bearden downs Farragut
KNOXVILLE --- Bearden High School boys basketball head coach Jeremy Parrott was happy to see his team just have the opportunity to play Friday night, Jan. 29.
He was even happier to have his full complement of players in a 79-57 BHS District 4-AAA victory over Kingston Pike rival Farragut.
“I thought we played pretty well, considering that we didn’t get to play earlier this week,” said Parrott, whose Bulldogs pulled away after the rivals slugged through an evenly matched first quarter, which ended 16-16.
“This is the first time that we’ve had everybody back,” Parrott added about his Bulldogs, improving to 21-1 overall and a perfect 11-0 in district. “... We’ve had guys miss games over the last three weeks due to contact tracing.”
Bearden had four players post double figures in the scoring column. A.J. Pruitt led the way with 16 points against Farragut (8-9, 6-5). Elijah Bredwood added 13, Demias Munsey had 12 and Walker Kyle finished with 11.
Parrott was happy to see his team share the ball with success. “That’s just what we do,” he said. “We’re not flashy. We feed everybody.”
Defensively, however, “We weren’t as aggressive on the ball as I would’ve liked,” he said.
The Admirals hung tough early, as they got a boost from junior wing Elisha Brabson, who scored all nine of his points before halftime.
FHS opened an early 8-3 lead, as the contest remained close until late in the second quarter. Bearden closed that stanza by scoring the last five points to take a 42-33 lead at the half.
“We had a rough stretch there in the second quarter, “ Ads head coach Jon Higgins said.
Farragut got a game-high 17 points from senior post Jack Carasso. “Jack played well tonight for us. He got some opportunities and he was able to take advantage of them,” Higgins said. “I hate that he got in foul trouble early in the third quarter.”
Ryan Neal scored 16. Isaiah Smith had eight.
