Gravette 3-D Lions Outplay Farmington Cardinal Boys

FARMINGTON — Three dimensions of Gravette’s offense were displayed as the Lions’ floorgame opened up Farmington’s defense in a 62-45 loss sustained by the Cardinal senior boys on Jan. 10.

The Lions consistently were able to drive into the paint, draw the attention of the defense, then dish to the open man. Their transition game was fueled by Cardinal turnovers.

“We are struggling to find our identity right now,” Farmington coach Beau Thompson said.

Thompson emphasized the team must value the basketball.

“Until we do that, I don’t have the answer,” Thompson said.

Mercy and grace was not on the agenda as Kyle Bilderback asserted himself in the third stanza. The senior drained consecutive 3-point shots from the same spot and added a 2-point field goal prompting a Farmington timeout after Gravette extended their advan- tage to 39-25 with just inside three-and-a-half minutes to go in the period.

“They are a great offensive team,” Thompson said, in reference to the Lions.

The contest remained a 12-point game most of the way thereafter. Farmington’s best chance to get back in it came on Josh Muller’s trifecta off a screen, narrowing the gap to 46-37 with 6:39 remaining. The score could have been even closer, but Farmington missed a pair of foul shots just prior to the play.

Over the next 4:12, Gravette responded with a 10-4 run to put the game away. Jeremy Mcgarrah scored eight points in the period for Gravette. Jimmy Hollingsworth hit a 3-pointer for Farmington with 2:14 left, but by then the game was out of reach. Gravette claimed the win by a 62-45 score.

“Right now, we don’t value the basketball enough to beat a team in a close game,” Thomp- son said, adding the Cardinals have been struggling with this every game.

Gravette had balanced scoring with Mcgarrah and Johnathan Pollreis leading the way with 14 points apiece. Bilderback and Alex Lovell contributed nine each and Terence Pierce had eight.

Farmington had three players in double figures topped by Alex Dellett with 12, while Jared Martin and Muller had 10 apiece. Chase Garner scored seven; Hollingsworth, 5; and Bryson Duffy, one.

Thompson said the bottom line is, if the Cardinals get a shot off every time, they have got a chance to win.