Gentry girls fall on senior night
GENTRY — Farmington coach Brad Johnson expected a battle in Friday’s 55-33 win at Gentry, saying both teams would probably try to take away the other’s top scorers.
Gentry (19-7, 9-2) honored its seniors — highlighted by the career achievements of senior guard Alyssa McCarty, who broke into the Lady Pioneer starting lineup as a sophomore averaging 12.6 points-per-game and shooting 56.7 percent at the free-throw line. McCarty’s foul shooting improved to 70 percent as a junior, which helped bump her scoring up to 15.8 points per game. Going into Tuesday’s games, McCarty was shooting 69 percent at the free-throw line and averaging 17.7 points through the first 26 games of her senior season.
None of those numbers were hidden from Farmington’s radar or its game plan.
“There are no secrets at this point,” Johnson said prior to tipoff that was prolonged as Gentry celebrated senior night. “Whoever’s better at finding their second option will be the most successful.”
That prediction proved prophetic with the Lady Cardinals bottling up McCarty, limiting her to 9 points, and blanking the Lady Pioneers for the first six minutes.
Farmington (25-1, 11-0) proved adept at finding its second, third and fourth options in the first half with leading scorer Jenna Lawrence held to a single field goal. Reese Shirey and Zoey Bershers scored 11 points apiece for the Lady Cardinals with J’Myra London adding 10. They carried the scoring load in the first half.
When the Lady Cardinals did find their No. 1 option, Lawrence came through in a big way, scoring 16 points in the second half and powering the Lady Cardinals as they outscored the Lady Pioneers, 32-15, over the final two quarters to pull away in a key 4A-1 Conference girls basketball showdown at Gentry.
Lawrence and Shirey combined for all but two of the Lady Cardinals’ third-quarter points, with Farmington orchestrating a 21-9 run over the third quarter to expand a 23-18 halftime advantage into a 44-27 cushion going into the fourth quarter.
The Lady Cardinals gradually built an 8-0 lead on Bershers’ 3-point play with 3:20 elapsed in the first quarter.
“Sooner or later we got to hit a shot,” said Gentry coach Toby Tevenbaugh, while watching the Lady Pioneers miss their first six shots.
McCarty sank a pair of free throws to get the goose egg off the scoreboard but the Lady Pioneers didn’t get their first field goal until Shelby Still put in her own rebound and drew a foul, converting a 3-point play with eight seconds left in the first quarter.
Farmington led 11-6 at the end of the first quarter. Gentry scored seven straight points with McCarty beating the shot clock with a 10-foot runner, Kaitlyn Caswell driving for a bucket, then busting a 3-pointer on McCarty’s dish. The 7-0 mini run reduced Farmington’s lead to 13-12 with 4:38 showing in the second quarter.
Bershers broke the Gentry spree with a 3-point play for Farmington.
The margin fluctuated between seven and four points until Emma Tevenbaugh drained a three on McCarty’s assist. McCarty sank the front end of a 1-and-1 but couldn’t make the second free throw.
Shirey saw London breaking open to the basket and delivered a pass that put the Lady Cardinals up 23-18 at halftime.
Gentry wasted an opportunity to make up some ground in the third. Farmington only had two baskets in the first two and half minutes, both off steals and lefthanded layups by Shirey and London. Caswell scored for Gentry at the 6:18 mark to keep the Lady Pioneers within 27-20 but Gentry turned the ball over on an offensive foul 40 seconds later.
“We’ve had one shot and five turnovers,” Toby Tevenbaugh said, exhorting the Lady Pioneers to take care of the ball.
That’s when Lawrence got going. She knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and scored 13 points in the third. The Lady Cardinals outscored the Lady Pioneers 11-6 over the final eight minutes to secure the win.
Caswell finished with nine points while Shelby Still added seven for Gentry.