Admirals rally past Karns
KARNS — Farragut High School boys’ basketball team’s 62-59 win on the road at Karns Friday night, Jan. 5, exemplified an age-old coach’s dictum: play ’til the end.
Trailing for more than three quarters, the Admirals took their first lead with 6:11 left in the game, momentarily lost it, then regained it and held on for the win.
For FHS head coach James Burris, it was gratifying to finally pull out a close one.
“First game we’ve won when it’s been three possessions or less,” Burris said. “We locked in a lot better on the defensive side in the second half, especially down the stretch.”
Farragut fell behind 7-0, and trailed 16-6 at the end of one quarter. Simon Tutus’ tip-in with 1:48 left in the half gave the Beavers a 34-23 lead.
But the Admirals closed the half on a 7-0 run — six coming on three lay-ups from sophomore point guard Parker Lane — to cut KHS’s halftime lead to 34-30.
“We talked about being more efficient on the offensive end (at halftime),” Burris said.
Both teams had scoring runs in the third, which ended with the Beavers leading 46-41.
In the dramatic fourth, the Admirals took their first lead, 49-48, on senior forward Berkley Naro’s lay-up with 6:11 left. The Beavers took the lead right back, 50-49, on Bubba Faulkner’s two free throws.
But over the next four minutes FHS outscored KHS 10-3 to lead 59-53 with 1:55 to play. The Ads points came from a three by Aidan VanAcker, a jumper and lay-up by Nero and a three-point play by Lane.
Dom VanAcker, junior wing, led Farragut with 19 points. Aiden VanAcker and Naro each had 13 while Lane added 11. Aiden VanAcker grabbed nine rebounds. “We came out in the second half and got motivated,” Dom VanAcker said. “This is a much-needed win.”
Karns’ speedy point guard Chris Bozeman led all scorers with 23.
