Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Too Many Weapons
FARMINGTON’S ARSENAL PACKS SCORING PUNCH
FARMINGTON — Siloam Springs just couldn’t cover all of Farmington’s weapons, losing 67-40, to Farmington (19-3) at Cardinal Arena Friday, Jan. 26.
“We did a great job on Madsyn Pense, but Makenna Vanzant is just a phenomenal player and they had some other kids step up and hit some clutch shots,” said Siloam Springs coach Tim Rippy. “We were trying to make their other players beat us and they did.”
Farmington sophomores Joelle Tidwell (15) and Audrey Culpepper (12) combined with classmate Vanzant, who topped the Lady Cardinals with 16, for 43 points. As the Lady Panthers keyed on Pense Tidwell consistently positioned herself in the post throughout the game and Culpepper popped out on the wing twice to sink 3-pointers during a 12-4 Farmington run over the last 2:29 of the first half. She also had a layup off an assist from Alexis Roach, playing against her former team for the second time this season. Culpepper had 10 points during the run, which she started with a full-court play.
“That gave us some separation,” said Farmington coach Brad Johnson. “We did a good job of converting turnovers into points. We were efficient offensively all night. We shared the basketball, we spread it around. When the kids are playing like that offensively, they’re a lot of fun to coach.”
“Joelle Tidwell had maybe her finest basketball game she’s ever had at the high school level. “Culpepper had 12 points and some big threes. Camryn Journagan is Camryn Journagan. Every night she gets us 8 to 10 points and 6 or 7 rebounds. She played real efficiently. Roach came on late.”
Vanzant rebounded and pushed the ball up the floor, throwing a lead pass to Tidwell, who, in turn, delivered the ball to Culpepper with a cross-court pass. Rippy admitted he wanted his perimeter defenders to come out on Culpepper after she hit the treys, but realized that left someone else open.
“You can’t cover everything,” Rippy said. “Farmington has a lot of weapons.”
Johnson pointed out that despite the physical brand of defense employed against Pense she maintained her composure and didn’t force things, didn’t get rattled and found other ways to create an impact on the game.
“We played tonight without Chloe Price. She is recovering from concussion symptoms,” Rippy said. “The trainers made the best decision to hold her out tonight.”
No Siloam Springs player reached double figures. Hadlee Hollenback had 9 points.
FARMINGTON 67, SILOAM SPRINGS 40
S. Springs 11 9 10 10 — 40 Farmington 20 16 11 20 — 67 Farmington (19-3): Makenna Vanzant 7-16 1-1 16, Joelle Tidwell 6-8 3-3 15, Audrey Culpepper 5-7 0-0 12, Camryn Journagan 4-11 1-2 10, Alexis Roach 3-3 1-2 8, Madisyn Pense 2-7 0-0 4, Eliza Ball 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-54 6-8 67. Siloam Springs (5-9): Hadlee Hollenback 4 1-2 9, Morgan Vaughn 4 0-0 8, Shelby Johnson 4 0-1 8, Jael Harried 3 0-0 7, Kenlie Noel 1 1-2 3, Madison Pharr 1 0-0 3, Brooklynn Buckminster 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 2-5 40.
3-Point Goals — Farmington 5-15 (Culpepper 2-4, Roach 1-1, Journagan 1-2, Vanzant 1-5, Ball 0-1, Pense 0-2). Siloam Springs 2 (Harried, Pharr). Rebounds — Farmington 30 (Vanzant 8). Assists — Farmington 21 (Vanzant 7). Steals — Farmington 15 (Vanzant 6). Turnovers — Farmington 13.