Taylor carried Farmington past Pea Ridge
Layne Taylor wiped his hand across his nose and checked it for blood after getting smacked in the face.
Seeing no red on his hand, Taylor stepped to the freethrow line and knocked down a pair of free throws to complete a 28-point night as the junior guard led unbeaten Farmington to a 75-57 win against Pea Ridge in 4A-1 Conference action in Cardinal Arena Tuesday night.
Taylor scored nine of his 28 points from the freethrow line including seven in the fourth quarter when the Cardinals (14-0, 2-0 4A1) held off a late Pea Ridge charge.
“Coach was on me tonight for settling instead of getting in the lane,” said Taylor. “I was trying to impact the game by getting in the lane and getting my other shooters involved. When I’m not making shots, I have a lot of guys around me who can score the ball.”
Taylor got off to a torrid start, scoring 14 points in the first quarter. But he went cold over the final three quarters from the floor, but he was able to get in the lane and draw fouls.
“I have to play better off two feet and go up strong,” he said. “I’ve worked on that my whole life, just trying to have a good base and going up strong.”
Farmington went on an 11-2 run to end the first quarter to take a 19-10 lead, then dominated the second quarter to extend the lead to 36-19 at halftime.
The Cardinals got major point production from senior guard Caleb Blakely, who scored 14 points and provided big rebounding at both ends of the floor.
“Caleb played great tonight,” said Taylor of his backcourt mate. “We’ve been trying to get him to do that all year. [Pea Ridge] was sending two at me and he was able to catch and shoot. We work on that day in and day out.”
Pea Ridge (9-5, 1-1) battled with the Cardinals the entire way. The Blackhawks, who opened conference play with a win against Gentry last Thursday, had three players score in double figures. James Bledsoe led the way for the Blackhawks with 14 points, and Bric Cates and Zion Whitmore each scored 11.
“We did a good job of staying in there and battling,” said Pea Ridge coach Trent Loyd. “I thought that we should have been even closer, we just missed too many free throws. So if we can find a way to tighten that up, I like seeing that effort defensively. I know the score doesn’t show it, but I thought we really battled defensively. And offensively we did a great job of being the aggressor.”
Farmington’s scheduled game Thursday at Little Rock was canceled and the Cardinals were off until Dec. 27 when they opened play in the Mountain Home Tournament against Junction City.
Pea Ridge will also took some time off for the holidays and returned to the court for a tournament at Episcopal Collegiate in Little Rock starting Dec. 28.
GIRLS Farmington 75, Pea Ridge 27
The Lady Cardinals raced to a 26-2 lead in the first quarter and rolled from there to a 4A-1 Conference win Tuesday at home.
Senior Jenna Lawrence led three Farmington players in double-figures with 18 points. Zoey Bershers scored 14 and Morgan Uher added 12 for the Lady Cardinals (12-1, 2-0).
Reilly Ingram scored 6 points to lead Pea Ridge (86, 0-2).