Farmington pulls away late for win

4A-1 GIRLS

GRAVETTE — The final score indicated a runaway victory for Farmington’s girls, but their 4A-1 Conference game against Gravette was anything but that Friday night.

The Lady Cardinals finally found some breathing room during the first four minutes of the fourth quarter as they pulled away for a 63-43 victory over the Lady Lions in Lion Arena.

It was the first meeting between the two teams this season, with a rematch set for next month to close out league play. However, Farmington Coach Brad Johnson said he won’t be surprised if they cross paths again during postseason play.

“It was a really good game — two really good teams,” Johnson said. “That Gravette team is going to make a run in the state tournament. You can mark that down — I’ll stand on that.

“This won’t be the only time we see them. We have them again in conference play, but I fully expect to see them in the postseason if we both get there.”

Farmington (21-1, 4-0) led 26-14 at halftime and 29-17 after a Zoey Bershers free throw. But Brooke Handle hit back-to-back three-pointers to pull Gravette (13-5, 3-1) within 29-23 less than a minute later. The Lady Lions trailed 38-30 after Alexa Parker’s three-pointer, but Marin Adams’ three-pointer and a bucket by Kaycee McCumber made it 43-30 to start the fourth quarter.

It was 45-33 after another Parker three-pointer with 6:53 remaining when Farmington took over, with Reese Shirey leading the charge. The senior guard hit 3 three-pointers as part of a 14-0 run, with her third shot beyond the arc giving the Lady Cardinals a 59-33 cushion.

“Coach trusts me if I have an open shot to hit it,” Shirey said. “In the first half, I wasn’t hitting them. In the fourth quarter, they left me open. One shot led to another.

“I finally felt like we settled down in the fourth quarter. Emotions were high in the first half, but in the fourth quarter we finally got into our groove.”

Shirey finished with 19 points to lead Farmington, followed by Adams with 15 and Bershers with 13. Parker and DaLacie Wishon each had 10 points for Gravette.

BOYS FARMINGTON 83, GRAVETTE 30

Layne Taylor had 12 of his gamehigh 28 points in the first quarter and sparked Farmington’s fast start en route to a rout of Gravette.

Farmington (18-2, 4-0 4A-1) ran off 14 unanswered points for a 21-2 lead late in the first quarter and was never threatened. The Cardinals rolled on to a 48-15 halftime edge and owned a 69-23 advantage after three quarters.

Mason Simpson was the only other Farmington player in double figures with 15 as 10 players scored at least two points. Jace King had five points for Gravette (10-4, 4-1).