Dan Lanning scored 13 points but Farragut fell to Walker Valley in a Class 4A state quarterfinal game Thursday, March 19, 2026, at the MTSU Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Photo by Danny Parker/5Star Preps)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — Senior point guard Parker Lane drove down the right side of the foul lane early in the first quarter of Thursday’s contest against Walker Valley and buried a 12-foot, mid-range jumper, giving Farragut its first points in a state tournament game in more than four decades.
And while Farragut wound up shooting a 45.1-percent clip from the field in its first state tournament game since 1983, the Admirals spent four quarters playing catch up to a Walker Valley team that had had some recent experience in MTSU’s Murphy Center.
Dan Lanning scored 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting, Britton Lewis had 12 on 5-for-10 shooting, but a tough fourth-quarter did in the Admirals’ hopes.
Walker Valley switched to a 1-3-1 zone in the final eight minutes and stymied Farragut’s offense for a 76-58 win.
“I knew that would give them some trouble, at the very least, or slow them down a little bit,” Walker Valley coach Will Campbell said. “We were just trading baskets for a little while.”
The Mustangs (30-3) advance to the state semifinals for the first time since 2009 and will face Whitehaven (29-8) at 4 p.m. Central time on Friday. Whitehaven eliminated Blackman, 71-41, in the first game of the day on Thursday.
Farragut’s season concluded with a 25-12 mark.
But the history it made this season wasn’t lost on the players.
“We were a good basketball team. We beat some teams that no one thought we would beat,” Lane said. “We played with teams that no one thought we could play with.
“That’s just a testament to the six or seven guys who played. Also, we don’t have any kids who’re going on to play college basketball. I think Coach (J.P.) Burris said that every (4A) team (here) has at least one or two college basketball players. But,our team, we’re just a bunch of guys, honestly. But we’re a bunch of guys who’ve played basketball for a long time. And we played well together. So (getting to state) meant a lot to us.”
SmartBank is the proud sponsor of 5Star Preps postseason basketball coverage.
Every time Walker Valley tried to run away with the quarterfinal win Thursday, Farragut responded, showing the same resolve that helped them overcome obstacles throughout the regular season and postseason alike.
Walker Valley stormed to a 13-6 lead early. Britton Lewis and Matthew Dickens constructed a 5-0 run to get Farragut to within two.
The Mustangs raced to a 52-43 lead by the 1:32 mark of the third quarter. Aidan Foshie sank a 3 that sparked an Admirals 6-0 run.
But when Farragut started the first four minutes of the fourth quarter with five missed shots and four turnovers, Walker Valley took seized the opportunity to deliver a knockout punch with a 10-0 run.
Aiding that cause was a technical foul on Farragut coach J.P. Burris with 5:33 left in the fourth quarter. Burris was simply standing towards the end of his bench pleading with an official for a call.
“Apparently I got a coach’s warning for being out of the box in the first half. Sure I stepped on the line on the court, but I didn’t go out on the court. But the possession before that, I think it was Parker (Lane) or Dan (Lanning) drove on the left side and jump-stopped. We’re sticklers on fouls, too. No. 24 started trying to take a charge but there was no contact. And we missed a layup. I was just saying, ‘That has got to be a flop warning,’ which would have given us back possession. They went down. And when they came back, that official in front of us on the baseline, I was just yelling to him: ‘How was that not a flop warning?’ The other official T’d me up. But I’m not out of the box. He said, ‘Well, you’ve already had a warning and you can’t yell at the official.’
“Again, it’s a heated moment. But I didn’t cuss at anybody. I didn’t say anything I felt was inappropriate. I just kept yelling about a flop warning. So, that was a little bit frustrating. I have to do a better job of handling my emotion, because that was right in the middle of that spot where they had built an 8-10 point lead. My technical does not help that. That’s bad leadership on my part. During the course of my coaching career, I feel like I’ve earned some technicals a lot better than that one. It is what it is. It’s my first time here as a coach. I have to learn how things work. The officials here are different than the ones back in East Tennessee.”
Still, Walker Valley missed the two technical free throws — but got an offensive rebound and a layup for a 13-point lead with 5:13 remaining.
Foshie hit a 3 to cut the Farragut deficit to 12 with 2:55 to play, but Farragut got no closer.
“They did a good job of responding there when we talked at the end of the first quarter. ‘We’re past the wow factor. We’re settling in. Play hard. Play together. Be a family. All the things we’ve done the last six months,” Burris said. “It just felt like we ran out of steam as the game wore on in the second half.”
GAME HIGHLIGHTS — click here.
POSTGAME INTERVIEWS — click here.