Solid FHS revenge with Rogers means win No. 200 for Mayfield
With the return of standout senior point guard Keeleigh Rogers from injury, Farragut High School girls varsity hoops capped off a special night at home Monday, Dec. 13.
Thanks to its four-game winning streak, culminating with a 59-42 victory against a Sevier County team that beat them by 9 points on the same court 23 days prior — inside FHS’s Lynn E. Sexton Gymnasium — head coach Jason Mayfield reached a milestone as Lady Admirals skipper.
Monday’s win was his 200th as Farragut head coach. “I told the people that have asked me, ‘That’s just a reflection of a lot of good players when you have 200 wins,’” said Mayfield, in his 11th season guiding the FHS varsity girls program. “It’s a cool accomplishment — but we’ve got higher goals than that.”
While senior wing Avery “Ace” Strickland pumped in a game-high 23 points, Rogers added 19 — 15 in the second half — to help lead the Lady Admirals attack.
The difference Monday versus a 48-39 Scvier County win at FHS Saturday, Nov. 20?
“Not to make it simple, but Keeleigh Rogers,” Mayfield said. “That’s basically the difference. She gives us a little bit of everything.
“The things she can create defensively, and she rebounds really well for us,” the coach added about Rogers.
While the senior “had four turnovers; she holds herself to higher expectations than that,” Mayfield added, “Having her out there on the court makes all the difference.”
As for other top efforts, “Annalise Bishop did a great job on Sevier County’s best player, (freshman Cybil) Penland,” he said about the Lady Ads junior guard against the Smoky Bearette guard who scored half of Sevier County’s 24 first-half points.
Assigned to Penland in the second half, Bishop “absolutely shut her down ... Annalise dd a fantastic job,” Mayfield said.
Senior wing Ashlyn Sheridan added nine points for FHS while senior post McCall Willis had four.
Bishop and Annie Priest, Lady Ads freshman point, each scored two.
While the Smoky Bearettes’ record fell to-2 overall, Farragut improved to 8-3.
