A rerun: like last year’s district title bout, Governors edge Admirals in overtime
With Farragut failing to get off a game-winning shot attempt, ending regulation play tied at 55, the Govs took advantage of three starting Admirals fouling out in overtime, plus one other key reserve, to beat FHS 71-66 Friday night, Dec. 15.
The close loss to district power WBHS is doubling frustrating because it extends Farragut’s losing streak — mostly close losses — to seven games, dropping the Ads to 3-9 overall. The Govs improved to 10-1 overall. This was the first 4-4A game for both teams.
“We had our chances,” said Admirals skipper JP Burris, whose team was led offensively by 23 points from junior wing Dominic VanAcker, 15 from sophomore point guard Parker Lane and 14 from senior post Berkley Naro. “You just keep thinking, ‘hey, we’re going to get over the hump.’ So it’s frustrating.
“But I was really proud of how our guys battled,” he added. “And at our guys’ age, you think about how easy it is for them to just pack it up and be like, ‘Ok, we’ve lost seven games in a row, things aren’t going our way,’” and quitting. “And they haven’t done that, which is a credit to the members that we have on our varsity team.
They battled the whole night. We played really well. We didn’t shoot it at an exceptional rate, which might have been the difference.”
Making things predictably tough for the Admirals was the one-two punch of William Blount star senior forwards Grady Robertson, with a game-high 30 points, and Caden Windle scoring 25.
“We’re very fortunate to come out with a victory,” Govs head coach Kevin Windle said.
Down 11 points three minutes into the second quarter, “I’m proud of our guys with how we overcame some adversity and fought through and did it together,” Windle added.
Adding to the challenge for FHS, “We were playing with the man down because Claudio (Song, back-up senior post) is out with the flu,” Burris said.
“The biggest takeaway I have is that our guys are not packing it up, they’re not quitting,” he added. “... All the things we’ve talked about are still in front of us.
“It’s frustrating for everyone involved because we’ve got a competitive group and people don’t like losing.”
Aiden VanAcker and Britton Lewis each scored five for Farragut, with Tony Spadafora adding four points.
