Wasting no time, Ads crush William Blount
In the first quarter alone, FHS had runs of 8-0 and 11-0, interrupted only by a goal-tending call. The 19-2 stretch gave the Admirals a 20-point lead after one, 28-8. Only in the fourth quarter did the onslaught let up. The result was a dominating 81-27 win.
“We played well defensively and shared the ball,” FHS head coach J.P. Burris said. “We did a good job of getting out and running in transition.”
The Admirals did a good job in every aspect of the game. Almost every basket was either a lay-up or a trey, in which FHS drained nine. Their defense was tenacious and opportunistic.
“Farragut‘s a good team, well-coached … they do a really good job,” Governors head coach Kevin Windle said. “They’ve got a nice team; I think coach Burris is one of the best around.”
The third scoring run of the first half, 8-0, started late in the first period and ended with 7:12 left in the second. The score at that point was 32-8.
After a single free throw by Blount at the 6:45 mark, FHS ran off yet another 10 in a row to lead 42-9 with still 5:42 before half. The score at half was 50-15.
“We did what we were supposed to do on the defensive end, which led to us getting some good offensive possessions,” Burris said
The good offensive possessions kept coming throughout the third. Ten straight to start the period — a trey, two lay-ups and another trey — made it 60-15 with 6:22 left. A three by Blount was followed by six straight by Farragut.
After three periods, the Ads led by a whopping 50 points, 73-23. They took their foot off the gas a bit in the fourth as Burris substituted widely.
“We had four starters in double digits which is nice because those guys didn’t get their normal minute count,” Burris said.
Leading the double-digit scorers was junior power forward Britton Lewis with 15. Junior small forward Daniel Lanning got 14 while senior power forward Dom Vanacker added 12. Junior shooting guard Parker Lane scored 11.
“It was a great win,” Lewis said. “I think we had like four people in double digits.
“Easy wins are fun, sure, but I like a close game against a good team,” he added.
The Admirals improved its record to 14-5 overall, 1-0 in district.
As for what attributes contributed to the turnaround, Burris’ answer was two-fold: the hard work of his assistants and the improved maturity and leadership of his players.
“They’ve been huge in the time they’ve put into our program — scouting, film — just done all kinds of phenomenal work in helping us change our culture,” the coach said about assistant coaches Adam Jenkins, Cory Johnson and Randy Swartzentruber.
As for the players, “They’ve done a really good job of taking another step toward maturity, and we have really good leadership through some of our older guys, and they hold each other accountable,” Burris said.
“Our practices and our coaches,” Lewis said about reasons for this season’s improvement. “It’s real good; they’ve changed everything around.”
Friday night, Jan. 17, the Ads travel to rival Bearden for a 4-4A showdown. Opening tip is around 7:30 p.m.
