farragutpress

Lady Admirals show promise versus Alcoa

November 26, 2025 by Bill Howard, Correspondent

In the first half of its season-opening game against Alcoa High School last Thursday night, Farragut High School’s girls’ basketball team played well. The half ended with the Lady Admirals leading 36-24.

Unfortunately for FHS, there was a second half.

The Lady Tornadoes came out strong in the third, tied it at 37 with 3:21 left then carried that momentum to a 62-56 win in Lynn E. Sexton Gymnasium. In the gruesome third quarter, Alcoa outscored Farragut 18-5.

“They came out in the third quarter and kicked us in the mouth a little bit,” FHS coach Jason Mayfield said. “We kinda ran out of gas (in the second half), but I was proud of the effort. Really good team, Alcoa. They’re gonna have a lot of success this year.”

In the first quarter, the Lady Admirals led 12-11 with 2:23 left but then finished the frame on a 9-2 run to lead 21-13 at the end.

A 7-2 FHS run to start the second gave the Lady Admirals a 28-15 lead. AHS then scored nine of the next 12 to cut it to 31-24, but the final five points – a 3 by senior all-courter KJ McNealy and a layup by senior post Trinity Curry – gave Farragut a 36-24 halftime lead.

“We didn’t guard very well in the first half,” AHS coach David Baumann said. “We finally played the way we wanted to in the second half.”

Of the third quarter’s first 16 points, 15 – seven by Brylee Flatt – went to Alcoa, which led 39-37 with 1:54 left. The period ended with the Lady Tornadoes up 42-41. Turnovers and missed shots characterized the period for FHS.

A free throw by McNealy tied it at 42 early in the fourth, but four in a row by AHS made it 46-42, and Farragut wouldn’t recover. Several times throughout the game, the Lady Admirals had trouble inbounding the ball.

“I told the girls we didn’t work on the press offense enough,” Mayfield said. “They (Alcoa) did a really good job … if we could just inbound the ball. Just a matter of us working on it more.”

McNealy was the game’s high scorer with 23. Curry added 21. Flatt had 18 for Alcoa.

“We weren’t boxing out, we weren’t playing with intensity,” Curry said. “The teams we’re gonna play the rest of the year, we can’t have that second half. We gotta make sure that doesn’t happen again.”