Farmington girls squeeze past Gravette 72-67 in overtime
FARMINGTON — A strange sequence occurred, flip-flopping the score, with Farmington taking a 68-67 lead over Gravette in overtime on Trinity Johnson’s free throws on the way to claiming a 72-67 girls basketball win.
Leading up to that, momentum shifted back-and-forth in crunch time. Trinity Johnson’s foul shots gave Farmington (114, 3-2) a 63-60 lead with 33.7 seconds left in regulation. Kaylan Chilton’s 3-pointer tied the game with 16 seconds to go. Farmington missed a running layup, but Gravette (9-4, 2-2) was called for traveling with the rebound granting Farmington a chance to win. However, Trinity Johnson’s three rimmed out at the buzzer and the contest went into overtime.
Lizzie Ellis scored driving to the basket and tacked on a freethrow 13 seconds into the bonus session. Farmington couldn’t answer. Dalacie Wishon posted up and drew a foul, making 1-of2 charity shots and Gravette went up by four at 67-63.
At the 2:13 mark, Tori Kersey banked in a shot and converted an old-fashioned 3-point play, drawing the Lady Cardinals within 67-66. She missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Gravette went on offense, seeking an opportunity to extend its lead when a peculiar twist played out.
Gravette appeared to turn the ball over by throwing it out-ofbounds in the right corner, but an official ruled he stopped play prior to that because one of the Lady Lions had blood on her uniform. Farmington fans expressed their frustration, as did coach Brad Johnson, wanting possession of the ball.
The jersey was quickly wiped clean and Gravette coach Will Pittman attempted to send his player back into the game. Officials didn’t allow that and assessed Pittman a technical foul.
Trinity Johnson sank both technical shots to push Farmington
ahead, 68-67, with 1:31 remaining in overtime. The Lady Cardinals in-bounded and ran the clock down to 27.9 seconds working against intense pressure before Gravette fouled. Carson Dillard made 1-of-2 free throws and Farmington led 69-67. Gravette missed a 3-point shot and the rebound went out-ofbounds. Possession was awarded to Farmington and as the Lady Cardinals in-bounded at the far
end, Pittman was hit with a second technical foul and ejected.
Trinity Johnson all but iced the game by nailing both free throws with 9.7 seconds left. Kersey added a free throw to set the final, 72-67.
“Winning games like this against a good opponent that goes right down-tothe-wire is part of the evolution of our team,” said Farmington coach Brad Johnson, who’s changed his squad into a full-court pressure defensive unit over the previous two weeks.
“Our kids found a way to win. Gravette is a very good team. They made us pay for every miss.”
Pittman said he wasn’t sure what happened with the second technical, explaining what he said was nothing more than “We were trying to foul.”
When asked if his comment might have been misinterpreted, Pittman said, “Absolutely not.”
“All of our girls played great. They played their tails off. They played hard enough to win,” Pittman said. “Their coach did a terrible job. I took the game away from my own team.”
The Lady Cardinals grabbed a 36-28 halftime lead. Gravette responded with a 16-8 run in the third quarter to even the game.
“After that it was backand-forth,” Brad Johnson said. “That’s what’s going to happen when you’ve got two good girls basketball teams.”
Farmington outscored Gravette 9-4 in overtime to seal a 4A-1 Conference win important for postseason seeding.
Kersey scored 23 points to lead four Farmington players in double figures, followed by Trinity Johnson with 16, Megan Hernandez with 13 and Dillard with 12. Shylee Morrison (24) and Kaylan Chilton (22) combined for 46 points for the Lady Lions.
Farmington shot 49 percent from the field to 42 percent for Gravette. The Lady Cardinals were solid behind the 3-point line at 37 percent, while Gravette suffered through a 20 percent showing. Farmington shot 62 percent from the free-throw-line while Gravette shot 73 percent.