A solid 2nd in Dist 4-4A, Lady Admirals top HVA; boys fall twice in OT
It was either team’s game for three quarters Thursday night, Feb. 1, when Farragut High School’s girls basketball team hosted District 4-4A foe Hardin Valley Academy.
In the fourth quarter, the Lady Admirals took care of business on both ends of the floor. The result was a 56-45 district win for Farragut (14-11, 7-1)
“Our offense, we weren’t really executing in the first half,” Farragut head coach Jason Mayfield said. “Second half was much better. I’d say we got a lot more offensive rebounds in the second half.”
“They hit a couple shots (in the fourth quarter) and then we came down and we didn’t hit those shots,” said Lady Hawks head coach Jennifer Galloway, whose team is 12-11 overall, 4-4 in district. “And they got those rebounds and put ‘em back in. I think rebounding was a factor.”
FHS point guard Jaci Neubert led her team with 19 points. “We kept on pushing like we were supposed to,” Neubert said about the Lady Ads’ fourth-quarter effort.
Sophomore KJ McNealy, FHS’s reliable post player, added 14 points and grabbed 13 boards. Lady Hawks guard Kamryn Butcher was high for HVA in points with 19.
HVA 71 Farragut 67 OT
When Farragut’s boys basketball team led visiting Hardin Valley Academy 57-47 Thursday night with only 2:47 to play, it appeared the game was in the bag for the Admirals. The Hawks’ Bryson Frey had other ideas.
Over the next 46 seconds, Frey scored seven points to bring HVA to within three. A 6-3 Hawks’ run to close the fourth quarter knotted the score at 60 and forced overtime, in which Hardin Valley (12-13 overall, 1-7 in District 4-4A) prevailed 71-67.
HVA’s Barron Scheetz led all scorers with 22. Dom VanAcker led Farragut (7-18, 1-7) with 18. Aiden VanAcker added 13.
“I was really proud of the toughness that our guys displayed,” Hawks head coach Andy Arendt said. “I felt like tonight we had a breakthrough. They understand what wins: toughness.”
“We just kept going back to the screen and roll until they could stop it,” Frey said. “We never quit, ever.”
“Another game where we had our opportunities and we didn’t take advantage of it down the stretch,” FHS head coach J.P. Burris said.
In overtime, the Ads were down 66-65 with 1:47 to play. A travel gave the ball to HVA, which hit three free throws on its next two possessions to lead 69-65 with 30 seconds left. A layup by FHS’s Britton Lewis made it 69-67 with 13.5 seconds to go, but the Hawks closed it out with two more free throws.
WBlount 81 FHS 80 OT
It was almost a complete opposite finish for the Ads two nights later when hosting William Blount, trailing by 10 points late before a rally forced overtime. But the Govs (3-6 in 4-4A) got a game-winning 15-foot jumper by star forward Grady Robertson at the OT buzzer to edge Farragut 81-80.
While star forward Caden Windle scored a game-high 37 for WBHS, Dom VanAcker had 28 — five three-point baskets. Ads sophomore guard Parker Lane added 24, including some big late points, and senior post Berkley Naro scored 19.
