Ambitious Farmington routs first foe
FARMINGTON 48, CAMDEN FAIRVIEW 29
MORRILTON — Surviving and advancing isn’t what Farmington is shooting for during this week’s Class 4A boys state tournament.
The Cardinals have something else on their minds.
“We said early in the week that we don’t want to just survive,” Farmington Coach Johnny Taylor said. “We want to thrive and advance. That’s what we want to do, we want to thrive.”
Farmington didn’t have much trouble thriving Wednesday afternoon in its 48-29 victory over Camden Fairview in its tournament opener at Devil Dog Arena.
Freshman guard Layne Taylor had 17 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals for the Cardinals (21-5), who were disruptive on defense and got just about anything they wanted on offense to put an end to Camden Fairview’s season.
“Defensively, I thought we did a great job of adjusting our zone and tilting over towards their good ones,” Taylor said. “[Christian] Strahan is as good as any kid we’ll see because he can really play. [Daylon Jackson] is a great inside-out guy, and [Jaden Bates] has had some big games for them this year.
“So I thought we did a great job of cheating over with our zone.”
Strahan, Jackson and Bates combined for 4 field goals and 15 points for Camden Fairview (10-12), which was held scoreless on 0-of-8 shooting in the first quarter. Farmington also forced six turnovers during that time frame while establishing a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter.
“We expected [Farmington] to press, but they didn’t really do that on us,” Camden Fairview Coach Josh Nix said. “But that 3-2 zone gave us some issues. We missed some shots that dug us a hole that we had a hard time getting out of. And when they get a lead like that, they’re a tough team to come back on.”
Farmington was just as effective offensively. The Cardinals shot 22 of 36 (61.1%) and had three other players score at least seven points. Junior forward Mateo Carbonel and sophomore forward Caleb Blakely finished with 8 points each while junior forward Carson Simmons tallied 7 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals.
Camden Fairview, which finished 9 of 38 (23.6%) from the floor, scored the final eight points of the second quarter to get within 24-14 at the half. Nix’s team was still down 26-16 early in the third quarter until a three-pointer from senior forward Roman Carlson started a 12-0 run that gave Farmington a 22-point lead.
The Cardinals coasted from that point on and can now shift their focus toward Mills, one of the reigning Class 4A co-champions.
“We’ve got to try to keep it up,” Taylor said. “We know who we’ve got next. Coach [Raymond] Cooper does a great job at Mills, and we’re going to have to play well and try to thrive.”
BLYTHEVILLE 63, DARDANELLE 47
A 14-0 run to start the fourth quarter finished off a victory for Blytheville (274) over Dardanelle.
Brian Jones had 18 points, Lamont Jackson ended with 17 and Ty’Reonn King added 10 for the Chickasaws, who weathered a huge third-quarter rally from Dardanelle (23-6). Johnny Anderson also had nine points and 13 rebounds.
Marteez Jackson scored 22 points for Dardanelle, but the senior was saddled with foul trouble for most of the game. He picked up two fouls in the first quarter, then added a third with 5:59 to go before halftime. Jackson stayed in the game for most of that second quarter and helped Dardanelle stay within 27-17 at intermission.
Braden Tanner finished with 12 points for the Sand Lizards.
Dardanelle had a 16-2 run to start the third to grab a 33-29 lead. The Chickasaws responded by scoring 12 of the final 18 points of the quarter before putting together their 14-point rally to take charge.