Tough roads for FRA teams at Webb
Against Franklin Road Academy Friday night, Dec. 17, at home, Webb School of Knoxville’s boys’ basketball team built big first-quarter and halftime leads before cruising in the second half, winning 67-47 in the 5 Star Preps Classic.
Spartans head coach Ricky Norris had mixed reviews of his team’s performance that improved their record to 8-1.
“I thought we were good in stretches,” he said. “We didn’t have the consistency that we would like. I thought we gave up too many plays on our defensive end where they got easy looks. I thought defensively we gambled too much and gave up some baskets we shouldn’t have. But overall it’s a pretty good night.”
Senior guard Luke Lentz’s 10 points in the first period led Webb to a 20-7 lead after one. The Spartans finished the quarter on a 12-2 run. Lentz topped all scorers with 21 by game’s end.
Four Webb players drained the long ball in the second period as Webb built the lead at half to 37-18.
“I thought offensively we had (good) stretches against the zone,” Norris said. “We moved the ball pretty well and got in the paint when we needed to before we shot threes. Overall a good night, but we can definitely improve.”
“We gave up some easy buckets, but we’ll fix it and come back strong,” said Lentz, who transferred to Webb last year from Bearden. “We lost some focus as a team. We gotta come out at halftime every game and play like it’s zero-zero.”
The Spartans’ balanced scoring included 12 points from Lukas Walls and eight from Markeis Barrett. Eli Vickers added six.
R.J. Casey led FRA with 18 points.
“They’re fun to watch,” Panthers head coach John Pierce said. “They got really good players and they execute really well. ... We were just outmatched today.”
It was a classic tale-of-two-halves game when Franklin Road Academy’s girls’ basketball team visited Webb School of Knoxville Friday, Dec. 17.
The Lady Spartans outscored the Lady Panthers by four in the second half. Unfortunately for FRA, Webb’s halftime lead was 29. The 65-32 win by the girls in green improved their record to 5-4.
“It’s a really nice win for us tonight against a team that has a lot of tradition,” Webb head coach Shelley Collier said. “We were happy to see a lot of people contribute tonight. We had a balanced scoring attack. Our tempo was good. We needed this tonight.”
“We’re learning and they’re a little bit ahead of us,” FRA head coach Chris Hart said. With 32 seconds left in the first quarter, Webb led 20-0 behind an attacking offense and a swarming defense.
It was 38-9 at halftime.
Webb’s Meeyah Green led all scorers with 20 points. Madelyn Ladd got 15, 13 in the runaway first half. Senior Shae Berry added 10.
“We kept the tempo up, we were pushing the ball,” Berry said. “Defensively we sat down and guarded.
“When you’re playing a team like that you can’t let up,” she added. “It makes you grow as a team when you’re together and excited and playing good defense.”
