Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lady Cardinals Snare Shiloh’s Shooting
FARMINGTON — Farmington wanted to take something away from Shiloh Christian’s triple threat offense and did with pressure defense, diminishing Shiloh’s outside shooting to secure a 59-53 win on Tuesday, Feb. 2.
“They’re so dynamic from that 3-point line and we were hoping that we could add some pressure and maybe try to get in their legs a little bit and see if we could get some shots to fall short and give us a chance to get some defensive rebounds and push out in transition,” said Farmington coach Brad Johnson. “It took its toll on our kids too, at the same time, but our kids are kind of used to playing that way and there’s moments within this league where we’ve got to create pace. Teams are doing a better job of trying to get us slowed down at both ends of the floor and so we’re using our defense right now to really kind of be the catalyst for our offense and I think our kids are doing a good job with it.”
Shiloh’s 6- 3 center Anna McCredy (18), along with big guard 5-11 Hailey Tunnell (17), combined for 35 points, but the Lady Saints’ third option didn’t factor into the outcome. Outside of Tunnell’s trio of 3-pointers the rest of the Lady Saints (14-6, 4-4) only made one trey, largely due to Farmington’s constant pressure forcing Shiloh to play faster than they wanted to.
“It’s important this year you just got to find a way to get wins. They don’t necessarily have to be aesthetically pleasing, they can be ugly,” Brad Johnson said. “I think we scrapped around, we made plays, we played through some turnover issues, but I thought our effort was really good and it had to be because they’re a talented team and they’ve got multiple pieces that can score on you offensively and they’re a tough defend.”
Senior forward Tori Kersey racked up 10 field goals, scoring a game-high 23 points, and guard Carson Dillard added 11 to pace the Lady Cardinals. Megan Hernandez added 10 points for Farmington (15-4, 7-2), which asked Shiloh to play the boys’ game first as a favor to Brad Johnson, who returned from the funeral of his longtime friend and first basketball coach, David Arden Rector, 76, of Dardanelle, in time for the girls’ game.
Brad Johnson expressed his appreciation to Shiloh Christian for accommodating his request.
“That was a real classy thing to do,” he said.
Trying to gauge how much the switch to a later start may have affected the Farmington girls’ mindset provided a good tune-up for postseason.
“We’re creatures of habit a little bit, but one way we try to look at it is you can find the positive thing that happens and when you get to postseason you don’t really know what your time slot’s going to be.”
“We’re creatures of habit a little bit, but one way we try to look at it is you can find the positive thing that happens and when you get to postseason you don’t really know what your time slot’s going to be,” Brad Johnson said. “This is just kind of a trial run at that and it’s an opportunity to practice playing at a little bit of a later time.”
The Lady Saints competed well in the absence of head coach Bryan Rooney, who missed the game because of covid-19 issues. Assistant coaches Lynette Washington and Madison Hart ran the show, managing McCredy’s early foul trouble and never allowing Farmington to pull away.
McCredy went to the bench with two early fouls and was scoreless in the first quarter. Shiloh’s defense wasn’t the same without her and Farmington took advantage, opening up an 18-8 lead with a 10-4 run that began midway through the period. Hernandez started the run with a putback and Mazzi Carlson capped it by using a stepover maneuver to score in front of the rim.
The assistants subbed McCredy back in to start the second quarter and Shiloh stayed close using a 6-1 run to trim Farmington’s lead down to 25-19. Farmington played for the last shot and Trinity Johnson drilled a trey with 3.5 seconds left, giving the Lady Cardinals a 28-19 halftime lead at home.
Farmington’ s lead ballooned to 13 points off Dillard’s spin move and bank shot that stretched the margin to 36-23 at the 4:41 mark of the third. The Lady Saints concluded the quarter with McCredy scoring in the paint and trailed 46-37 going into the fourth quarter.
Farmington arrived at its largest lead, 51-37, off consecutive assists by Kersey, who kicked the ball out to Dillard for a three, and then fed Trinity Johnson for a layup.
Tunnell hit a 3- pointer for Shiloh, but Trinity Johnson passed to Hernandez for an easy basket. That was enough to offset a 13-6 Shiloh run over the last 5:23. McCredy scored 6 quick points, then drew two fouls and exited with her fifth personal coming on an offensive foul with 2:04 to go.
She wasn’t the only person to leave. A Shiloh Christian fan got ejected by the referees with 14.3 seconds remaining and the game virtually in hand with Farmington leading 59-51. Tunnell’s layup in the final seconds was of little consequence with the Lady Cardinals shutting the door on another key 4A-1 Conference win.
“(Kersey) has great hands and a feel for the game, especially around the rim,” Brad Johnson said. “She’s made a routine her whole career of making difficult shots from difficult angles and that was on display tonight.”
“On the offensive end we got a little quick-triggered and rushed some things early,” Brad Johnson said. “But we really settled in and got to where we were moving the basketball. We’re at our best when the ball’s touching the paint and it’s going inside-out and when we can get out and run. For the most part our transition was pretty good all game, especially in the second quarter on into the second half.”
Brad Johnson
Farmington Basketball Coach
FARMINGTON 59, SHILOH CHRISTIAN 53
S. Christian 8 11 18 16 — 53 Farmington 18 10 18 13 — 59 Farmington (15-4, 7-2): Tori Kersey 10 3-5 23, Carson Dillard 4 1-2 11, Megan Hernandez 4 2-2 10, Trinity Johnson 4 0-0 9, Morgan Brye 2 0-0 4, Mazzi Carlson 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 6-9 59.
Shiloh Christian (14-6, 4-4): Anna McCredy 7 4-5 18, Hailey Tunnell 7 0-0 17, Acie Thurlby 3 1-2 7, Delaney Roller 2 0-0 4, Lauren Wyand 1 2-2 4, Ryli Russ 1 0-0 3. Totals 21 7-9 53. 3-Point Goals — Farmington 3 (Dillard 2, Johnson), Shiloh Christian 4 (Tunnell 3, Russ). Rebounds — Farmington 37, Shiloh Christian 37. Assists — Farmington 11, Shiloh Christian 9. Steals — Farmington 7, Shiloh Christian 6. Blocks — Farmington 2, Shiloh Christian 2.