Grabbing control quickly, MHS avenges loss to Ads

MARYVILLE — Coming off one of its most impressive wins, 66-62 at Maryville during the final week of the regular season, Farragut looked to repeat that feat 11 days later.

But in the District 4-AAA semifinals Saturday, “I thought tonight, defensively, we were really good,” Red Rebels head coach Mark Eldridge said about his team’s man-to-man defense. “I thought everything they did was tough.”

Jumping ahead 16-6 after one frame and 30-16 at the half, “We wanted to stick it in the paint tonight (on offense) and we did,” Eldridge added, as his No. 2-seeded Red Rebels (19-8) claimed a 62-41 win versus the No. 3-seed Ads (12-12) at MHS Feb. 20. “... Or we kicked it out and found shooters all night.”

Scoring all 10 of FHS’s second quarter points, All-4-AAA junior guard Dillon Atwell led all scorers with 26, including five 3-point baskets. “I thought Dillon played well offensively,” Ads skipper Jon Higgins said.

However, as a team, “We didn’t make a lot of shots tonight,” Higgins said. “We made quite a few shots the last time.

“We didn’t grab many rebounds tonight. We grabbed a ton of them the last time,” he added. “Maryville played a lot harder than we did tonight.”

Jack Brown, All-4-AAA senior post, scored a team-high 21 for the Red Rebels.