Annalise Bishop (3) scored nine points and the Farragut Admirals defeated the Rossview Hawks, 50-38, in a TSSAA Class 4A state tournament quarterfinal at Murphy Center on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — Of the eight teams in the 2022 Class 4A state tournament bracket, the Farragut girls’ basketball team was the lone newcomer to the experience this week.
And for one half Wednesday night, the rookies played like three-time defending state champs.
For the other, well, the Lady Admirals hung on for dear life.
Nevertheless, with the game in limbo midway through the fourth quarter, Farragut answered the call in its first state tournament quarterfinal and knocked off Rossview, 50-38.
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Senior guard/wing Avery Strickland scored a game-high 17 points and had seven rebounds. Her 3 with 4 minutes, 25 seconds, remaining broke open a two-point game and triggered a closing 10-0 run.
Farragut (27-8) will face one-loss Cookeville (32-1) at 2:45 p.m. Central on Friday in a semifinal at MTSU’s Murphy Center.
“I told them before the game that when I got here yesterday, I unloaded all my stuff (at the hotel) and put it in the drawers,” Farragut coach Jason Mayfield said.
“I wasn’t planning on leaving until the weekend, until Saturday.”
The Lady Admirals led comfortably by 15 in the early minutes of the third quarter. That story changed by the fourth, though, when Rossview trailed just 36-33 — thanks to 11 rebounds in the third quarter, six points on second chances and eight points off transition opportunities.
Annalise Bishop, a junior guard who entered the game averaging 3.9 points for Farragu, banked in a runner at the 6:38 mark in the fourth to make Farragut’s lead 39-33. She finished with nine points.
But Rossview kept coming. The Hawks hit a three and also got a steal and transition score near the halfway point of the fourth that cut their deficit to 40-38.
Mayfield didn’t call timeout; rather, he trusted his senior leaders.
And they rewarded his faith.
Strickland’s 3 at the 4:25 mark broke open the game. Senior forward Keeleigh Rogers added two foul shots 48 seconds later. And senior forward Ashlyn Sheridan scored on a layup off an assist from Strickland that made it a 47-38 game with 1:43 to go.
“Well, we knew we had to do the little things (to win). We had to stop the ball. We had to be on help side (defense) a lot,” said Strickland.
“We just had to do all the little things, and I’m really proud of us for doing it.”
Farragut executed the ideal start of starts, one that had to settle any possible nerves they might have had.
Strickland, who is Farragut’s leading scorer at 18.2 points per game and who has made the most 3s among Farragut players, hit her first 3-point attempt of the game and went 2-for-4 from the 3-point line in the first half.
Her 3 with 7:17 left in the second quarter triggered an 8-0 run that increased Farragut’s lead to 21-9.
“Honestly, hitting that first one, I was like, ‘OK. We’re good. Let’s go,'” said Strickland. “That’s how I felt.”
Rossview cut Farragut’s lead to just five on a pair of free throws with 1:28 left in the half. The Hawks had already banked in a 3 and dialed up the defensive pressure to get back into it.
Bishop went on a personal 5-0 run before the break to bump the lead to 28-18. She cut to the bucket and scored with 38 seconds left in the second quarter and then added a 3-point play with 4 seconds left on the clock to recapture some momentum by the half.
“Her toughness — she’s quiet. Doesn’t say a lot. She’s just tough,” Mayfield said of Bishop. “She’s like a silent assassin or something. I didn’t even know she had nine (points). I knew she played really well and her defense is outstanding.
“That’s a player, too, that didn’t really play any meaningful varsity minutes last year. Steps in immediately, at the beginning of the summer, and we’re like, ‘OK. We’re good with Annalise.’ Because of the work she puts in.”
All told, Farragut shot 45.5 percent in the first two quarters to 26.3 of Rossview.
Ashlyn Sheridan’s 3 from the corner in the first minute of the third moved Farragut’s lead to 15 points, but the momentum halted soon after.
Rossview went on a 10-2 run over the next five minutes to cut score to 35-28 Farragut with 2:08 left in the third.
The Lady Admirals led just 37-33 heading into the fourth.
“We had a stretch there in the third quarter where we didn’t rebound very well. That’s really how (Rossview) got back in the basketball game,” said Mayfield. “So once we fixed that, everything was somewhat smooth after that.”
5STAR PHOTOS: Farragut Lady Admirals vs. Rossview – March 9, 2022