Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Loss Fuels Lady Cardinals’ Hunger
SPRINGDALE — A 63- 58 season-opening setback at 7A Springdale Har-Ber on Nov. 19 only sparked Farmington’s hunger for a win as the girls basketball season kicked off last week.
Tayton Hopkins scored the first points of the season for the Lady Cardinals with a pull-up jumper in the paint for a 2-0 lead before Har-Ber went on a 14-4 run to seize control.
This pivotal spurt early in the game helped to seal the outcome. Bailey Schalk’s 3-point play at the 7:23 mark of the opening frame got the Wildcats on the scoreboard before Haley Maxwell answered with a pair of free throws for Farmington. Har-Ber’s Carlye Bohannan then spun out of control and threw up a wild shot but was bumped and drew a foul making both charity shots but that was the end of the lead see-sawing back-andforth.
A turnover led to a Har-Ber lay-in and after Farmington’s Tahlon Hopkins notched a running lay- up, Har-Ber’s Jacie Higgins scored twice when a loose ball came to her in front of the basket and on a back cut following another Farmington turnover. The buckets were sandwiched around Bohannan’s 3-pointer and with 5:04 left in the first quarter Farmington trailed 14-6.
The Lady Cardinals fashioned a 10- 4 run of their own to trim Har-Ber’s lead to 21-18. Tahlon Hopkins’ free throws were followed by a Maxwell trifecta when Tayton Hopkins’ stole the ball and started a fast-break by passing to Tichina Scales, who saw Maxwell trailing the play and open at the top of the key.
Maxwell and Tayton Hopkins combined to make 3-of-4 foul shots and Taylor Smith collared an offensive rebound on the weak side drawing a foul and cashing in at the line.
“I told them they showed a pretty high level of maturity to play their way back into the game,” said Farmington coach Brad Johnson. “Har- Ber is a very good basketball team.”
Har-Ber scored the final five points of the period to go up 24-18 and enjoyed home court advantage. Foul calls hurt Farmington over the middle two quarters. Maxwell’s bucket with 13 seconds left in the first-half was waved off allowing the Wildcats to hold a 40- 31 cushion. Tahlon Hopkins’ free throws narrowed the gap to 44-39 but she was twice whistled for an away-from-the-ball foul on offense in the third stanza and had to sit out.
Har-Ber led 56-46 at the end of the third but the Lady Cardinals fought back with a 12-4 run. Trish O’Connell nailed a trifecta from the right wing and Tahlon Hopkins added a free throw. Maxwell worked a give-and-go with Scales on an in-bounds play, then swished a jumper off the dribble. Har-Ber misfired on three close-range shots with Scales finally clearing a rebound for Farmington. TahSlon Hopkins hit a turnaround in the high-post.
The Wildcats missed the front end of a 1-and-1, then turned the ball over but Weber anticipated an overthe-shoulder pass and stole away a Farmington possession. She missed another 1-and-1 at the minute mark and this time Farmington capitalized. Tahlon Hopkins rebounded and found her sister, Tayton, who brought the ball up. She went down on one knee but alertly dished to Smith, who hit from the left corner to pull Farmington within, 60-58, with 50 seconds showing.
Farmington could not score again and Har- Ber escaped with a 63-58 win after Weber made 3-of-4 foul shots.
“We can build off the loss. A lot of errors are correctable things like the turnovers early,” Johnson said. “Sometimes the game is real simple and it comes down to making free throws, lay- ups and taking care of the basketball. Our better days are ahead of us. We’re talented, we’re going to be fine.”
After taking on Muldrow, Okla. Saturday, the Lady Cardinals entertain Booneville this Saturday in the Tony Chachere Classic at 2 p.m. with the Farmington boys playing at 3:30 p.m.