Maryville hands Admirals first defeat
It was a battle of unbeatens last Tuesday night when Farragut High School’s boys’ basketball team traveled to play Maryville High School.
Several times throughout the game it appeared the Rebels - no longer a District 4-4A rival – would run the Admirals out of the gym. But FHS hung in, and never stopped fighting.
In the end, the Rebels’ size – typified by 6-9 post Luke Sigmund – was too much. Sigmund not only scored 24 points – 22 on layups or dunks – but was a defensive menace as well, in leading MHS to a 67-54 win.
“We have a team of guys that aren’t gonna back down, they’re not gonna stop playing,” FHS coach JP Burris said. “In the second half we got stops; we just couldn’t score. We missed a lot of shots. Maybe it was tired legs. We don’t have a super defense, but that’s a really good team.”
“There’s no quit in them (FHS),” MHS coach Wes Lambert said. “They stayed active, they stayed engaged … it was a great game for both of us.”
Farragut led 4-2 early, before seven straight by the Rebels gave them a 9-4 lead. Up 9-6, MHS scored five in a row to lead 14-6 before Parker Lane’s trey made it 14-9. Maryville led 16-9 after one.
A 6-2 run to start the second brought the Admirals to within three, 18-15, with 6:33 left in the half; but over the next 3:42, Maryville outscored Farragut 13-5 and led 30-21 with 2:51 left. The halftime score was 37-25, MHS.
The teams almost perfectly traded baskets in the third. A three-pointer by Aiden Foshee with two seconds left brought FHS to within 11, 52-41.
When Britton Lewis hit a layup 22 seconds into the fourth, FHS trailed by only nine, 52-43. But over the next minute and a half, the Rebels promptly outscored the Admirals 8-2, and led 60-45 with 6:10 left in the game.
A 6-2 run by the Admirals over the next three and a half minutes would cut it to 11 with 1:38 left, but FHS would get no closer.
Lewis got 13 for FHS. Parker Lane scored 12 while Reid Vining added 10. Layups and dunks provided 32 of Maryville’s points. Eli Owensby and Jonathan Woodlee each scored 13 for the Rebels.
The Admirals fell to 5-1. “This is a good measuring stick for us,” Burris said. “That team is gonna go to the State Tournament. You wanna work on the things we’re trying to work on for us. What do we need to adjust as we go into district play.”
