Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lady Cardinals Move To Semifinal
FARMINGTON GIRLS DEFEAT HOT SPRINGS
FARMINGTON — Senior guard Cameron Journagan hit two clutch free throws and Farmington survived two 3- point attempts to defeat Hot Springs, 58-55, at the State 5A girls basketball tournament Friday.
This was the opposite ending of a 5A State semifinal meeting between the two schools during the 2015 tournament with Hot Springs winning, 51-48, when a last- second Farmington 3-point attempt bounced off. This time the shoe was on the other foot with Farmington torching the nets from 3-point land. The Lady Cardinals made 9 total 3-pointers, answering each challenge Hot Springs threw at them.
“We rebounded as well as we could have,” said Farmington coach Brad Johnson. “We were the most undersized team in the tournament. Our girls were very tenacious on the boards. Kaylee Brown didn’t score a lot of points for us down there, but she played really well, overall. The things she had to do defensively and on the boards, she was matched up against someone a lot taller than her most of the time.”
The Lady Trojans fought hard to stay in the game after a pair of technical foul free throws put Farmington ahead, 49- 43. Farmington in-bounded but an offensive foul turned the ball back over to Hot Springs. Keyneso Hunter’s shot off the glass was followed by Ariana Guinn taking a lead pass and scoring in transition to cut Farmington’s lead to 49-47.
Consistent 3-point shoot- ing saved the day for Farmington and sophomore sharpshooter Madisyn Pense came through in a big way busting a trifecta from the right wing. Imani Honey answered with a trey for Hot Springs, making the score, 52-50. Then Guinn and Hunter fought over a rebound and wound up going out of bounds, leading to a Farmington free throw. The Lady Cardinals then drew a crucial charging foul against Nya Moody with 2:45 to go. Farmington capitalized with another 3-pointer, this one by senior Claudia Oxford, to widen their cushion to 56-50, only to give up a traditional 3-point play to Hunter.
In a hotly contested game, Moody, a 5- feet-11 sophomore, blocked a Farmington layup. The Lady Cardinals in- bounded under their own basket but Guinn stole the ball. After a time-out, she scored to pull the Lady Trojans to within, 56-55. Hot Springs had a chance to take the lead after a Farmington traveling violation, but missed a shot and Farmington tied up the rebound. Working against full-court pressure, Makenna Vanzant got open, then gave up the ball to Journagan, who was fouled and hit both shots of the 1-and-1 to give the Lady Cardinals a 3-point lead with 16.7 seconds remaining.
The Lady Trojans missed their initial 3-point attempt by Hunter and Guinn got the long rebound. She tried a desperation deep 3-pointer that didn’t go and Farmington won, 58-55, as time expired.
The game featured a see-saw battle in the first three quarters. Farmington held a 16-14 lead after the first quarter before Hot Springs went ahead, 26-25, at the half. Farmington went ahead for good on Vanzant’s 3-pointer early in the third, but the game remained close. Kiah Beauford cashed in on a 3-on-1 fast-break opportunity with a 3-point play, cutting Farmington’s lead to 36-35 midway through the third. Farmington would outscore Hot Springs, 20-15, in the period, taking a 45-41 lead at the end of the third. Pense had four 3-pointers, forcing Hot Springs to guard her on the perimeter.
Farmington, No. 3 seed from the 5A-West, made six 3-point shots in the second half in beating the 5A South champion Hot Springs at Panther Arena in Magnolia. The Lady Cardinals (24-7) faced Little Rock Parkview Saturday in a semifinal for the right to play for the 2017 state championship to be held at Hot Springs this weekend.