A sweep of Dawgs
Dominic Vanacker jumper gives Farragut a 52-50 win at Bearden
KNOXVILLE — It was a classic, dramatic basketball finish between bitter rivals that could only intensify the rivalry going forward.
With 2.9 seconds left in the game, Farragut High School’s sophomore guard Dominic Vanacker hit a short, running 8-foot jumper to give the Admirals a wild 52-50 comeback win over archrival Bearden at BHS Friday night, Jan. 27.
The victory, clinching the Ads’ regular season sweep of the Bulldogs, improved the FHS District 4-4A record to 5-2, 15-10 overall, entering the week. Bearden fell to 3-4, 15-8.
“The team had faith in me and I just took the last shot, and it went in,” said Vanacker, who led Farragut with 17 points. Parker Lane, freshman point guard, added 14. Tyson Pirtle, BHS senior post, led all scorers with 19.
“It’s definitely exciting for me, but more so for our players and our staff,” Admirals’ first-year head coach J.P. Burris said. “We’ve gone through a lot this year, handled a lot of adversity. They never quit. I think they’re starting to learn each other.”
“They made one more play than we did,” Dawgs head coach Jeremy Parrott said. “We just didn’t make enough plays to win a tight ballgame.”
The lead see-sawed in the first quarter and ended with FHS leading by two, 15-13. In the second, Farragut maintained its lead until the 4:09 mark, when it led 22-18.
That’s when Bearden went on a 10-0 run that gave them a six-point lead, 28-22, with 2:25 left in the half. It would be the biggest lead either team would have the entire game.
Vanacker’s jumper and Claudio Song’s free throw cut the BHS halftime lead to three, 28-25.
Nelson Karnowski’s three-point play with 2;52 left in the third gave Bearden its second six-point lead, 39-33. But the Ads scored the period’s final five points, with the Bulldogs up one, 39-38.
Back and forth went the momentum in the final period. Four times the score was tied, the last time at 50 with 1:05 left when Bearden freshman guard Justin Nordin hit a short jumper.
“Our guys are resilient,” Burris said. “Dom had a great game. Credit to Claudio, he came in and played huge minutes for us.”
