Lady Falcons Outscore Seymour 16-6 in the 4th Quarter and Claim District Title 42-36

Fulton girls claim first 20-win season, district title: Big fourth quarter helps beat Seymour, 42-36 (KNS Article):

All of those long winters of despair for the once-woebegone Fulton High School girls' basketball program finally got pushed way back in the Lady Falcons' rearview mirror Monday night against Seymour in the District 3-AA championship game.
The host Lady Falcons battled past Seymour 42-36 as Fulton claimed its first 20-win season and first district tournament title in school history.
"There have been a lot of people wear the uniform - this has been a long-time coming," Fulton coach John Fisher said with a smile.
Fulton (20-7) outscored Seymour 16-6 in the fourth quarter as it beat the Lady Eagles (19-8) for the third time this season.
Tournament MVP Jasmine Lewis of Fulton scored six of her 11 points in the final 49 seconds as she provided clutch play in the waning moments.
Seymour had pulled within 35-34 on a layup by Tiffany Miles with 1 minute, 10 seconds to play.
Victoria Dailey led Fulton in scoring with 12 points and played a big hand in 15 costly Seymour turnovers.
"Victoria Dailey brought energy all night long, especially on defense," said Fisher.
"Our gameplan going in was to pressure them and it worked."
Seymour coach Andy Rines agreed that his team's inability to handle Fulton's full-court defensive pressure was a huge key.
"We just had too many unforced turnovers," said Rines.
"We haven't done that all year. For whatever reason we couldn't throw it or catch it. If you can't do that you can't win basketball games."
That was particularly true in the second quarter as Fulton - which trailed 16-15 at the 6:20 mark - scored just two points the rest of the half.
The Lady Falcons, who hit just one of 11 field goals and missed all four of their free-throw tries during the last 6:20 of the half, weathered the storm thanks to Seymour floor miscues.
Call it a missed opportunity for Seymour as the Lady Eagles led just 21-18 at the half.
"Offensively, we just shot ourselves in the foot again and again," said Rines.
Morgan Rogers contributed seven points and five rebounds for Fulton. Bre Hall netted six points and was a defensive terror. Mariah Goss chipped in four points and six rebounds.
For Seymour, freshman post Christina Slay pulled down 14 rebounds and scored nine points. Ashleigh Elliott hit three 3-pointers for nine points while Monica Rogers scored eight.
Both teams advance to first-round Region 2 games Friday night.
Fulton plays host to Christian Academy of Knoxville at 7 o'clock while Seymour entertains Stone Memorial.
Stone Memorial edged CAK 59-53 Monday night in the District 4-AA consolation game.
"We get a home game in the first round of the region and the regional tournament is a whole new game," said Rines.
For Fulton, Fisher said the trick is to be focused heading into regional play after breaking new ground for the program.
The Lady Falcons have never won more than one game in regional play.
"We're going to enjoy this tonight and go back to work Tuesday," Fisher said.
"We've got other goals out there."

Six Falcons Honored as All-District 3-AA: Fisher Coach of the Year, Lewis Player of the Year

Six Fulton Falcon basketball players from both the boys and girls teams have been nominated as All-District 3-AA for their outstanding efforts throughout this season. In addition to the six players receiving All-Star honors, Girl's Basketball coach John Fisher was selected as the District 3-AA Coach of the Year. Jasmine Lewis was also selected as the Girl's District Player of the Year.

District 3-AA Awards

Boys:

James Gallman

Jalen Steele

Robert Boyd

Girls:

Player of the Year- Jasmine Lewis

Victoria Dailey

Bre Hall

Two Falcon Legends Named to Vols All-Century Team

Former Fulton Falcons Ron Widby and Bill Justus have been named as a members of the Tennessee Volunteer basketball All-Century team. George Ronald "Ron" Widby, who graduated from Fulton High in 1963, lettered in Football, Basketball, Baseball and Golf for the Falcons and Vols, and was named a college All-America in football and basketball. Widby is also a member of the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. Widby is considered by many to be one of Tennessee’s most gifted athletes of all time. Widby was Tennessee’s last Vol to letter in four different varsity sports. Widby led the Vols to basketball SEC championship in 1967. On the night of Widby’s final home basketball game, he scored 50 points against LSU, a school record that stood for twenty years until it was finally broken by Tony White. After leaving Tennessee Widby went on to play for in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers. Ron played in Super Bowl V and Won a Super Bowl Ring in Super Bowl VI. Ron was also chosen to the Pro Bowl in 1971. Widby kicked an 84 yard punt which is still a Dallas Cowboy record today. Not only was Ron a professional football star but he also played ABA basketball for the New Orleans Buccaneers and later Widby even made the Senior tour as a professional golfer.

Bill Justus was a High School All-American in football and basketball at Fulton High School in Knoxville, attended the University of Tennessee and became a basketball standout. He was named All-SEC (in 1967, '68 and '69), an NCAA Academic All-American in '68 and an NCAA All-American in 1969. Justus continues to hold three NIT free throw records as well as three single game NCAA Madison Square Garden free throw records. He played in the East-West College All-Star Game in 1969 before being drafted by Philadelphia (NBA), Denver (ABA) and the Dallas Cowboys (NFL). Justus traveled extensively after college teaching ball-handling and shooting skills for Converse at coaches' clinics and basketball camps throughout the U.S. Since taking up competitive tennis after age 30, he has won numerous amateur USTA tournament championships. Justus, who lives in Nashville, was inducted into the Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.

Tennessee Basketball All-Century Team:

Dane Bradshaw 2004-2007

A.W. Davis 1962-1965

Mike Edwards 1970-1973

Dale Ellis 1979-1983

Ernie Grunfeld 1973-1977

Allan Houston 1989-1993

Reggie Johnson 1976-1980

Billy Justus 1966-1969

Bernard King 1974-1977

Chris Lofton 2004-2008

Bernie Mehen 1940-1942

Dyron Nix 1985-1989

Ron Slay 1999-2003

Herman Thompson 1953-1957

Gene Tormohlen 1956-1959

Paul “Lefty” Walther 1944-1949

C.J. Watson 2003-2006

Tony White 1983-1987

Ron Widby 1964-1967

Carl Widseth 1952-1956

Lady Falcons Clinch District 3-AA Title

Fulton's Lewis hits a winner (KNS Article)

Guard Jasmine Lewis upped her intensity down the stretch - just in time for Fulton High School.

The senior led the Lady Falcons to a comeback 45-43 victory against Seymour (15-5) to claim first place outright in District 3-AA on Friday.

Lewis hit a jumper with four seconds left to break a 43-43 tie for Fulton (16-6).

Seymour had time for one more shot, but guard Ashleigh Elliot's attempt was blocked as time expired.

The Lady Eagles had the lead the entire game until the final possession.

Lewis finished with 20 points, including 18 in the second half, and her team's final 13 points in the third quarter.

Fulton coach John Fisher said the plan was to go to Lewis.

"She is a really tough player, we wanted to give her the ball and she came through," Fisher said.

Up five with 3:30 left, Seymour tried to play keep-away to run the clock out. After a possession lasting over a minute, the Lady Eagles' Tiffany Miles was called for an offensive foul.

With the ball back, Lewis went to the basket immediately, scored and drew a foul.

Seymour had several costly mistakes down the stretch. A turnover with 50 seconds left allowed Fulton to tie the game at 43. On the ensuing possession Seymour was fouled but missed both free throws setting up Fulton's game-winning shot.

Lady Eagles Fall in Last Four Seconds (Seymour Herald)

The Lady Eagles led most of the game, and if they could have held on four seconds longer, would still be in contention for first place. Instead, the Falcons stole the lead in the final seconds at 45-43 and the Lady Eagles never got a chance to get it back, making Fulton the district champions.

Seymour had a substantial lead at the half, winning 23-14. With only 1:33 to go in the game, they were still winning by 6 points, but turnovers and fouls would plague the Lady Eagles in the final 90 seconds, as they had for most of the fourth quarter.

The Falcons tied it up off of two foul shots with 43 seconds left in the game. They were excellent from the line in the fourth quarter, hitting nine out of 10 free throws. Conversely, Seymour only hit two of seven in the fourth quarter.

Fulton pulled ahead with four seconds to go, and despite their best efforts, Seymour could not get a shot off before the buzzer.

"Bottom line is this, Fulton hit their free throws and we did not. We would have won the game if we hit free throws in the fourth quarter," said Coach Andy Rines.

"We're not going to go as far as this team has potential to go if we do not do a better job of knocking down free throws," Rines continued. "It's got to get better or we're in trouble."

However, despite being disappointed with his team's free throw shooting, he thought they played hard. "I thought our effort was great. I can't fault our effort. We played very hard. Fulton is an outstanding team and Jasmin Lewis is a great high school player- very difficult to defend."

Three Football Falcons Sign Letters of Intent

Today, three Fulton Falcon Football players from the Class of 2009 signed college Letters of Intent. All signed with colleges in the state of Tennessee. Here are the details:

Vincent Johnson (6-7, 290 lbs) Off/Def Lineman- signed with the Austin Peay State Governors (Clarksville, TN) of the Ohio Valley Conference. APSU is coached by Rich Christophel.

Courtland Styles (6-3, 203 lbs) WR/Safety- signed with the Cumberland University Bulldogs (Lebanon, TN) of the Mid-South Conference (NAIA). CU is coached by Dewayne Alexander.

Matthew Blasco (6-1, 291 lbs) Offensive Lineman- signed with the Maryville College Scots (Maryville, TN) of the USA South Atlantic Conference (NCAA Div III). MC is coached by Tony Ierulli.