Junior Cardinal Squads Topple Tigers

FARMINGTON — The Farmington Cardinals and the Prairie Grove Tigers junior high basketball teams laced up the sneakers on Thursday in a 4A-1 matchup held at Myrl Massie Gym in Farmington.

And as usually the case, when the Cardinals and Tigers tussle, it’s the fans who are treated to an exciting pair of contests. Thursday proved no different as each game came down to the wire, with the Cardinals hanging on for victory in each contest.

In the girls action Farmington edged out a 29-26 win, while the Cardinal boys dispatched their neighbors to the west 42-37.

Junior Girls Farmington 29, Prairie Grove 26

Prairie Grove’s Mattie Hartin tallied 4 points early in the opening period, while teammates Ashley Cox and Megan Reynolds contributed 4 and 2 points respectively to help Prairie Grove forge a 9-6 lead.

Farmington got 3 points each from Trish O’Connell and Taylor Smith, allowing the Cardinals to stay within one possession going into the second frame.

Cardinal guard Kaylee Brown and post player, Tori Hamley, each tallied 4 points in the second period, helping Farmington outscore the Tigers 10-3 in the stanza. Mattie Hartin’s 3 pointer midway through the frame was Prairie Grove’s only points in the period. Hamley’s inside bucket with 1: 50 left, gave the Cardinals a 16-12 lead at intermission.

A pair of quick buckets from Cox and Hartin tied the contest at 16-16. Later in the stanza, O’Connell stroked a 3- ball putting Farmington back up, 20-18. Camree Bartholomew closed out the period with a free throw and a trifecta which put the Tigers on top, at 22-20, heading into the fourth quarter.

The Tigers led 26-25 in the final minute of the contest, however a missed freethrow on a 1 and 1 attempt, allowed Farmington to take the 27-25 advantage after Hamley converted an inside basket on the other end of the floor. O’Connell, who led all scorers with 11 points, iced the contest with 2 freebies from the charity stripe, bringing the final score to 29-26.

“We told the kids that this would be a battle, and it was,” said Cardinals’ coach Jessica McCollough. “We also told them that these are the fun games, these type of games are the reason you play basketball.”

Scoring for Farmington were: O’Connell, 11; Hamley, 6; Brown, 6; Tevebaugh, 3; and Smith, 3.

Prairie Grove got points from Mattie Hartin, 7; Reynolds, 6; Bartholomew, 6; Cox, 5; and Taylor Hartin, 2.

Junior Boys Farmington 42, Prairie Grove 37

Farmington’s Matt Thomas scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in the fourth period to lead the Cardinals to victory over the Tigers.

Thomas had 6 points in the opening period, but was countered by Prairie Grove’s Gavin Heltemes who scored 7 points in the frame which helped the Tigers forge a 12-12 tie after the opening period.

Matt Wilson scored 7 points in the second period and the Cardinals outscored the Tigers 9-2, giving them a 21-14 lead at the break. Brice Waggle scored the other bucket for the Cardinals in the period.

In the third period D.J. Strong’s old fashioned 3-point play with 2:44 to go cut the Cardinals lead to 23- 19. Farmington then closed out the frame with a 7-2 run, giving them a 30-21 advantage heading into the final stanza.

Thomas shouldered most of the scoring burden in the fourth frame for Farmington, with Justice Hobbs adding a basket to their 12 point total. Prairie Grove’s Daniel Young got the Tigers within 3 points with 1:19 to play after a pair of free-throws, however, the Cardinals outscored Prairie Grove, 6-4, over the remaining time, giving Farmington the 43-37 victory,

Scoring for Farmington were: Thomas, 20; Wilson, 9; Hobbs, 9; and Waggle, 4.

Prairie Grove got scoring contributions from Heltemes, 14; Strong, 8; Soehner, 6; Rush, 3; Young, 2; Bradley, 2; and Ellis, 2.