For the first time in over 30 years, the Frank Hughes School boys’ basketball team celebrated a District Tournament Championship on Friday, February 17 by defeating the Perry County Vikings, 62-50. FHS will advance to the Region 6A tournament by hosting McEwen on Saturday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m. on the FHS campus. This FHS team also tied with Perry County for 1st place in the regular season, both having identical 7-1 district records. The current record for this FHS team is 22-6.
The District Tournament was hosted at West Carroll High School in Atwood, TN, and the FHS Lions played Hollow Rock-Bruceton in the semi-finals on Tuesday, February 14. The Lions jumped out to a 44-24 halftime lead as Aiden Dicus scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the first half. During the second half, the Lions continued to push the lead over the Tigers and ran away with an 84-52 win, as all 12 Lions saw significant action during the contest. Leading scorers for FHS were A. Dicus-21, Weston Lineberry-17, Ethan Nance-12, Maliki LeGrande-10, Alex Ronchetti-6, Devin Dicus-4, Konnor Lineberry-3, Levi Tuck-3, Alex Shamer-2, and Dawson Culp-2. Senior Carson Beckham played valuable minutes and contributed significantly in the other statistical categories. With the win, the Lions advanced to the Championship game against the Perry County Vikings.
The Championship game featured the regular season co-champs, as these two teams split home court wins during the regular season. Both crowds were anticipating a great re-match, and neither team disappointed. The Vikings jumped out a 12-10 first quarter lead, as neither team could find the rhythm on offense. The Lions then battled foul trouble during the 2nd quarter, as several lineups were used to keep the contest close as the Lions took a slim 22-20 halftime lead into the locker room. The Lions came out on fire in the 3rd quarter, outsourcing the Vikings 19-13 and extending their lead to 41-33. During the 4th quarter, the Lions converted several lay-ups and key jump shots, going on a key 9-0 run, scoring 21 total points to win the contest 62-50. Several Lions saw action during the Championship contest. Scoring for the Lions were Weston Lineberry-16, Aiden Dicus-12, Maliki LeGrande-12, Ethan Nance-10, Alex Ronchetti-7, and Carson Beckham-5. Also seeing action, playing great defense and securing several key rebounds, was Alex Shamer.
FHS All District Season Team members are Ethan Nance, Maliki LeGrande, Weston Lineberry, and Aiden Dicus. FHS All Tournament Team members are Aiden Dicus, Carson Beckham, Alex Ronchetti, and Weston Lineberry, Tournament MVP. District 12A All-Academic Team members are Carson Beckham and Alex Shamer. District 12A Coach of the Year: Coach Chad Love.
The Lions are thankful for all the support from students, faculty, parents, families, and community during this time. The cheer squad has done a phenomenal job all year leading our student section and pepping up our crowd during our games! We look forward to having a full gym this Saturday at 7:00 for our Region 6A first round game. Come out early and cheer on our FHS boys’ team as they fight to advance!—Submitted
