Cranking up pressure, FHS girls rip Lady Govs
The Lady Admirals could only hope every other district game plays out like the opener versus William Blount.
FHS was dominant in every phase of the game and won going away, 70-33. The 1-0 District record is accompanied by an overall record of 13-6 entering this week.
“Overall just a good effort defensively,” Farragut head coach Jason Mayfield said. “When (junior guard) KJ (McNealy) and (senior guard) Jaci (Neubert) were able to get their normal points and everybody else was able to step up … it was a really good effort.”
“Credit to them,” Lady Governors head coach Lindsey Roddy said. “He’s (Mayfield) been here a long time, getting his team to do what he wants them to do. I thought we played a lot harder in the second half so I’m proud of us for that one.”
A trifecta of three-point shots to open the game — one by senior guard Annie Priest, and two by sophomore wing Gabby Vanacker — gave the Lady Admirals a 9-0 lead barely three minutes into the game. They never looked back.
McNealy’s two lay-ups to finish the first quarter — with FHS leading 19-7 — was part of a 10-0 run that went into the second. With eight of those 10 by McNealy, Farragut led 25-7 with 6:41 left in the half.
Three lay-ups and a pair of treys — the treys coming from junior guard Anna Corum — put the Lady Admirals’ halftime lead at 37-13. The only question then was the final margin of victory.
“The first goal is to start the district with a win,” Mayfield said. “Win the district and see where we go from there.”
A 6-0 run to start the third quarter — five coming from Priest on a three and a lay-up — put the lead at 30, 43-13 with 5:34 left in the quarter. The Lady Governors tried to fight back with an 8-3 run that cut FHS’s lead to 46-21 with 3:08 left in the quarter.
But the rest of the third, and the entire fourth, was all Farragut. The final three points of the third — part of an 8-0 FHS run that extended into the fourth — put the score at 51-24 after three.
At one stretch in the fourth quarter, from 5:49 to 4:08, Neubert outscored Blount 7-2 by herself. Mayfield substituted widely in the final period.
“William Blount’s a good team,” Priest said. “I think we caught ‘em on an off night. We were shooting really well tonight and it’s hard to beat us when we’re shooting like that.”
Neubert, one of four Lady Admirals scoring in double figures, led all scorers with 14. McNealy and Vanacker each got 12; Priest added 10. Ally Everett scored 10 for WBHS.
Farragut got significant contributions from a variety of players, including Corum and junior guard Lilly Mullins. The pair combined for 10 points.
“Corum off the bench did a really good job; Lilly can come in and really bother people defensively,” Mayfield said.
Friday night, Jan. 17, the Lady Ads travel to rival Bearden for a 4-4A showdown. Opening tip is around 6 p.m.
