Lady Cardinals Railroad Prairie Grove

HARRISON — Farmington shook off all effects of a loss to Harrison Feb. 8 to set up a rematch nearly a week later by railroading Prairie Grove, 60-23, at district Wednesday, Feb. 13.

Lady Cardinal coach Brad Johnson endeavored to transform the girls’ mindset after the disappointing loss to Harrison at Cardinal Arena on Feb. 8. Had Farmington won, the Lady Cardinals would have claimed a share of the 4A-1 Conference title along with Harrison and Pea Ridge.

“There’s a lot of positives. Like I told them, ‘it’s never fun to lose,’ but there’s a lot of really positive things coming out of that,” Brad Johnson said. “Mistakes that we made are easily correctable. Finishing layups and making free throws is something that we know that we can do.”

Facing rival Prairie Grove on Harrison’s home court, the Lady Cardinals had all guns blazing unleashing a full-court press and jumping out to a 15-0 lead in the first 3:46. Senior Madisyn Pense, who went scoreless in her previous game, stroked a trey out of the gate and Farmington never looked back.

Prairie Grove started a pair of freshman, Trinity Dobbs, a 5-6 guard; and Olivia Kester, a 6-0 post; in hopes of slowing Farmington down with a new look. Both girls gave an effort, but Farmington was not to be denied staking a claim for a Regional berth.

The Lady Tigers didn’t rotate on Joelle Tidwell and she knocked down a 3-pointer to cap Farmington’s 15-0 outburst.

Senior Emily Grant banked in a basket for Prairie Grove’s first score with more than half of the first quarter gone. She connected again around the two minute mark and classmate Larisha Crawford went coast-to-coast finishing with her left hand to give the Lady Tigers back-to-back buckets.

Farmington dictated a fastpaced tempo and scored twice in 23 seconds. Audrey Culpepper hit for three followed by Pense’s steal and outlet to Vanzant, who pushed the ball up the court then dished to Tori Kersey for a short jumper.

Grant remained defiant with a 3-pointer of her own, but Prairie Grove trailed 25-9 at the end of the first quarter and never got in the game.

Farmington blanked Prairie Grove for the first 7:16 seconds of the second quarter until Lexie Madewell nailed a baseline pull-up jumper, but that only made the halftime score 38-12. Vanzant’s trifecta less than 30 seconds into the third gave the Lady Cardinals a 41-12 lead and shortly thereafter Farmington scored again to activate the sportmanship rule with a running clock in the fourth quarter. Farmington led by as many as 42 points before Grant sank a 3-pointer and Crawford banked a shot in the lane to make the final 60-23.

With the win Farmington advanced to the tournament semifinals where regular season 4A-1 Conference champion, Harrison (21-4), awaited. Prairie Grove 9 3 6 5 — 23 Farmington 25 13 15 7 — 60 Prairie Grove (9-14): Emily Grant 5-12 0-2 13, Larisha Crawford 3-5 1-2 8, Lexie Madewell 1-2 0-0 2, Logan Meadors 0-1 0-0 0, Jasmine Wynos 0-2 0-0 0, Trinity Dobbs 0-3 0-2 0, Jordan Sugg 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 9-28 1-6 23.

Farmington (20-6): Alexis Roach 6 1-1 13, Trinity Johnson 4 0-0 10, Makenna Vanzant 3 2-2 9, Madisyn Pense 3 0-0 7, Joelle Tidwell 3 0-0 7, Audrey Culpepper 1 0-0 3, Eliza Ball 1 0-0 2, Tori Kersey 1 0-0 2, Madison Earnheart 1 0-0 2, Amelia Fuqua 1 0-0 2, Camila Gurrola 1 0-0 2, Kaci Drain 0 1-2 1. Totals 25 4-5 60.

3-Point Goals — Prairie Grove 4-10 (Grant 3-5, Crawford 1-2, Sugg 0-1, Dobbs 0-2). Farmington 6 (Johnson 2, Pense, Tidwell, Vanzant, Culpepper).

Rebounds – Prairie Grove 15 (Grant 4), Farmington 22 (Vanzant 4). Assists – Prairie Grove 4 (Crawford 3), Farmington 19 (Vanzant 5). Steals – Prairie Grove 0, Farmington 15 (Pense 4). Blocks — Prairie Grove 1 (Kester), Farmington 2. Turnovers — Prairie Grove 23.