FHS boys No. 2 seed
Time and again Thursday night at home, Farragut High School’s boys’ basketball team looked like it was going to run away from Morristown East.
But the Hurricanes refused to cooperate, repeatedly hanging around and fighting back. Only when Admirals sophomore guard Dominic VanAcker hit a lay-up with 19 seconds left could FHS be assured of a victory Feb. 9.
The 67-62 win on Senior Night concluded the Admirals’ regular season at 18-11. Finishing 7-3 in District 4-4A, Farragut is the No. 2 seed in this week’s start to the 4-4A Tournament at FHS.
The Admirals will play the winner of No. 3-seed Hardin Valley (6-4) versus 4-4A winless Heritage, No. 6 (0-10), in a semifinal beginning at 7:30 p.m., Saturday.
Farragut 67 MEHS 62
“Credit to them, they wouldn’t go away, hit a lot of really tough shots,” said JP Burris, FHS head coach.
“There’s a lot that goes into Senior Night,” the coach added about his Admirals. “These guys deserve to be celebrated for everything they’ve done their four years here.”
“Proud of our guys’ effort, especially in the second half,” Hurricanes head coach Alden Collins said. “It took a lot of effort to keep up with Farragut. They killed us on the glass.”
Down 8-3 with 4:48 left in the first, the Admirals scored 13 straight points to go ahead 16-8. The lead was 19-12 at the end of one.
Up by seven with 6:01 left in the half, Farragut ran off nine straight, and the lead was 34-18. A 7-2 run by East to end the half made the score 36-25.
Farragut built the lead to 15 late in the third, but the ‘Canes got it down to 12 at the end of three, 55-43.
An 8-2 run to start the fourth by MEHS brought the ‘Canes to within five, 57-52 with 5:16 left. The teams traded baskets and FHS led 64-58 with 1:47 to go.
Four straight by East made it a two-point game, 64-62 with barely a minute to go. In the last minute the Admirals got a free throw from Aiden VanAcker, a stop on the defensive end, and Dominic VanAcker’s lauyup to close it out.
The ‘Canes’ Kyle Cloninger led all scorers with 23. Dominic VanAcker was high for FHS with 17. Senior forward Dallas Carbaugh and freshman point guard Parker Lane each added 13.
“We didn’t play our best, but we fought through it and on Senior Night getting a win felt really nice,” Carbaugh said.
