Farmington shoots down Mills this time

BLYTHEVILLE — One late push from its junior standout enabled Farmington to prolong its dream season.

Layne Taylor scored nine consecutive points over a two-minute span in the fourth quarter to quell a Mills rally and catapult the Cardinals into the semifinals of the Class 4A boys state tournament with a 49-40 victory in front of a packed crowd at Chickasaw Arena.

Taylor, a 5-11 junior, notched 19 of his 27 points in the second half for Farmington (35-0), which got the test head coach Johnny Taylor expected from the Comets.

“Raymond Cooper is always going to have his team ready to play no matter who’s in front of them,” Taylor said of Mills’ longtime coach.

“[Thursday] was no exception, and they made it tough, really tough. For us, we’ve been here the last two years in the Elite Eight, trying to get to the Final Four, and I thought we played with some nerves.

“I did a poor job of coaching the guys, too, because I stayed on them. But at this point, when the hay’s in the barn, you’ve got to get off of them and let them play.”

Layne Taylor did exactly that over the final two quarters, albeit against some stout defense.

Mills ( 20- 14), which knocked the Cardinals out in the second round of the 2021 state tournament, threw multiple defenders at the high-scoring guard and rarely allowed him to get any clean looks at the basket in the first half. Still, Farmington maintained a lead by limiting the Comets to one-shot possessions more times than not despite not getting many extra opportunities itself.

“Josh and Caleb Blakeley, Jaxon Berry, Kaden Hughes, those guys did a phenomenal job pursuing rebounds,” Coach Taylor explained. “They’ve done that for us all year, and that helps when shots are falling. We didn’t shoot it nearly as well as we wanted to, but hopefully, we were saving our bullets for Saturday.”

There was plenty of those for Layne Taylor, who had four of his team’s eight points during a third quarter that saw the Farmington hold Mills to just 1-of-10 (10%) shooting. The Comets sprinted back quickly in the fourth and sliced a 10-point, 32-22 deficit in half following five consecutive points, highlighted by a twisting 16-footer from Q.J. King.

But Taylor responded with a back-door basket immediately following a timeout to start his personal 9-0 run to put the Cardinals back in charge. He ended up with 14 points in the quarter to ease Farmington into Saturday’s semifinals in a highly anticipated matchup with the host team.

“We didn’t play as well as we wanted, but hey, we’re happy to be among the last four standing,” Coach Taylor said.

Anthony Hester scored 13 points, and Keaton Cross added 12 for Mills.

BLYTHEVILLE 70, MORRILTON 47

Rashaud Marshall scored 22 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked 3 shots as Blytheville (33-1) outlasted the Devils Dogs with a big second half in front of a huge crowd.

T.J. Jackson had 15 points, and KeSean Washington ended with 11 for the Chickasaws, who jumped out to a 20-6 lead in the first quarter but had to settle for a 29-26 halftime advantage. Blytheville busted out in the third quarter by scoring 20 of the first 25 points, capped by a four-point play from Jackson, and led by at least 16 points for the entire fourth quarter to cruise.

B.J. Woodruff connected for 15 points for the Devil Dogs. JaCorey Mosley had 13 points for Morrilton (24-10), while Markel Swinton added 9.