Knoxville Catholic has gone 7-1 against Farragut recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The two teams will compete for holiday cheer at 8:00 p.m. Knoxville Catholic knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past eight games -- so hopefully Farragut likes a good challenge.
Last Tuesday, the stars were shining brightly for Knoxville Catholic in a 77-60 victory over King's Academy. Given the Fighting Irish's advantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 13th, while the Lions are ranked 155th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Carson Asbaty
| 12/17/24 vs King's Academy | 2 |
| 12/14/24 vs York Institute | 10 |
| 12/07/24 @ King's Academy | 2 |
| 12/05/24 @ West | 2 |
| 12/03/24 vs Bradley Central | 2 |
| 11/21/24 @ Providence Christian Academy | 7 |
Knoxville Catholic relied on the efforts of Carson Asbaty, who dropped a double-double on 15 points and ten assists, and Cade Murphy, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 14 rebounds. Asbaty is also crushing it when it comes to steals: he's grabbed at least two every time he's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Finn Kerschbaum, who went 5 of 11 on his way to 14 points.
They weren't the only one working in the assists department: Knoxville Catholic was working as a unit and finished the game with 22 assists. That's the most assists they've posted since back in December of 2023.
While Farragut didn't have the best season last year (they finished 7-22), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They walked away with a 58-47 win over Lenoir City on Friday.
Farragut's win came from a few key players Knoxville Catholic will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Dominic Vanacker, who dropped a double-double on 17 points and 11 boards. He is becoming a predictor of Farragut's success: when he posts at least eight boards the team is 6-1 (and 1-2 when he doesn't). The team also got some help courtesy of Parker Lane, who went 5 of 10 on his way to 14 points and six rebounds.
Farragut's record is now 7-3. As for Knoxville Catholic, they pushed their record up to 7-1 with the victory, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season.
Thursday's match will pit two of the most dominant forwards against one another: Murphy and Vanacker. Murphy has been dynamite this season: he has averaged 25 points, 2.4 steals, and 10.1 boards on 52.6% shooting. For his part, Vanacker has averaged 20.3 points, 2.9 steals, and 6.6 rebounds on 55.9% shooting.
Everything came up roses for Knoxville Catholic against Farragut when the teams last played back in January of 2019, as the team secured a 72-45 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Knoxville Catholic since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
