Berry helps propel Cards past Comets
CLASS 4A FARMINGTON 70, MILLS 53
FARMINGTON — A championship caliber team is one with options when its star player is not having his best game.
Farmington showed again Saturday it’s a championship caliber team, and it was Jaxon Berry who led the way.
Berry scored 26 points and shined on defense end to lead Farmington to a 70-53 victory over Mills in a Class 4A boys state semifinal game at Cardinal Arena. Farmington will play for the Class 4A state championship Thursday after being eliminated in the semifinals last season by Blytheville.
Layne Taylor led Farmington with 27 points, but he was stuck on 13 points for a while when Berry emerged to push the Cardinals to leads of 4032 at halftime and 50-44 after three quarters. Berry then began the fourth quarter with two free throws as Farmington continued to pull away.
Maddox Teeter contributed 10 points for Farmington (352), including two three-pointers in the second quarter when Mills had the lead.
“Jaxon Berry was phenomenal the entire game,” Farmington Coach Johnny Taylor said. “He did it all — offensive rebounding, scoring, ball-handling. Defensively, he was great. Maddox hit a couple of huge shots in the first half and his ability to rebound was huge. Layne didn’t have his best night, but Mills had a lot to do with that.”
Layne Taylor was still able to score and he followed a short jumper with a threepoint play on an aggressive move to the rim to put the Cardinals ahead 60-50 in the fourth quarter.
Mills Coach Raymond Cooper was not at courtside to watch the final seconds after he received a second technical foul and was ejected from the game. Cooper credited Farmington for winning the game before criticizing an official he did not name.
“That referee gave me a technical foul for calling timeout, and he called a five-second call when the guy was 10 feet from him,” Cooper said. “He’s the same referee from when we played Magnolia for the state championship a few years back, when he lit us up in the second half of that Magnolia game.
“So I get the same guy and it’s pretty much the same result. I really don’t get into talking about referees, but there’s a pattern with a certain guy.”
Joseph Bell scored 14 points and Zaylin Rowland had 10 to lead Mills (24-10), which advanced to Saturday’s semifinal game after beating Jonesboro Westside 73-59.
Mills went on a 15-0 run to start the second half against Jonesboro Westside and the Comets fared well in the third quarter after falling behind by 10 points. Rowland turned a steal into a basket and Bell converted a three-point play to cut the Farmington lead to 46-44. But that’s when Berry took over with five consecutive points to help stretch the Cardinals’ lead to 50-44 after three quarters.
Berry scored three consecutive baskets to give Farmington a 31-30 lead and prompt a Mills timeout with 2:09 left before the half. The Cardinals led 40-32 at halftime.
LITTLE ROCK CHRISTIAN 53, BROOKLAND 43
JJ Andrews scored 23 points and Landren Blocker 16 to lead Little Rock Christian past Brookland.
Jameel Wesley added 12 points for the Warriors (27-7).
Tyler Parham scored 20 points for Brookland (28-6), which trailed by 16 points in the third quarter.
Little Rock Christian, the defending 4A state champion, led 19-12 in an intense but low-scoring first half. The scoring picked up in the third quarter when Wesley made two three-pointers and Andrews added a third. The Warriors led 32-16 after Blocker stole a pass and drove for a dunk.
Brookland got to within 38-34 behind the hot hand of Parham, who scored 17 of his 20 points in the second half.
CLASS 1A NEVADA 53,
THE NEW SCHOOL 45
Kavion Coleman scored 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and led Nevada in its comeback win over The New School on Saturday in the Class 1A boys semifinals.
The Blue Jays (30-7) outscored the Cougars (37-5) 22-8 over the final 8 minutes after The New School built a 24-19 halftime lead and had a 37-31 cushion to start the fourth quarter.
Cardiare Adair added 10 points for Nevada. Jaiden Wilson had 26 points, including six three-pointers, and was the only player in double figures for The New School.
MARKED TREE 46, BRINKLEY 44
Landon Lewis’ three-pointer with 1:07 remaining pushed Marked Tree past Brinkley.
Lewis’ shot completed a comeback for Marked Tree (34-3), which outscored Brinkley (27-4) 15-10 over the final 8 minutes.
Jonah Walker had 17 points and Ladarius Brown 10 for Marked Tree. Mitchell Hicks finished with 17 for Brinkley, while Christian Williams added 15, including eight of the Tigers’ 10 fourth-quarter points.