Boys Basketball: Farragut doesn’t let up against Thornton

Updated: December 5, 2011 10:01PM

Farragut coach William Nelson has been on his team to not ease up when the Admirals are working with a lead.

So when Farragut jumped out to a 34-20 halftime lead at Sunday’s McGinnis Jump Ball Showcase at Thornton, senior Deonte Terrell made sure the lead stuck.

Scoring 11 points as part of a key second-half run and finishing with 22 overall, Terrell led Farragut to a 71-45 win over host Thornton.

“Coach (Nelson) always talks about how we’re a first-half team, and the second half we lighten up,” Terrell said. “We had to jump (on the lead) and make sure we’re a four-quarter team, play both halves hard.”

John Carter, Lavell Boyd and Rashawn Stimage had 11 points apiece for Farragut (2-1) to go along with Terrell’s 22 points. Edward Buie was the only double-digit scorer for a Thornton squad still seeking its first win with an 0-5 start.

“I don’t know what to say,” Thornton coach Troy Jackson said. “We have a lot of guys without varsity experience. I don’t know if it’s a talent separation or combination of that and inexperience. We’re not going to give up. We’ll keep plugging, and see what happens.”

Thornton trailed 41-34 following two Marvin Jones free throws, but Terrell went to work. The senior led a 28-11 run to close out the game.

His effort included two dunks, one a ferocious two-handed slam and the second a one-handed effort after a hard drive down the lane. Terrell also added two three-point plays as part of the quarter-plus run.

His motivation? Simple. He has a season-long dunking contest with Stimage, who added one of his own on an alley-oop from Carter.

“Just trying to make sure I beat him,” Terrell said with a smile. “We have a contest who will have more dunks this year.”

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