Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Cards Beat No. 1 Maumelle
FARMINGTON — Nonverbal communication between coach Beau Thompson and sophomore Matt Thomas led to a go-ahead score with 22 seconds left in the Cardinals 59-56 upset of No. 1 ranked Maumelle Friday.
Maumelle sophomore Tremont Robinson managed to put in an off-balance shot to tie the game at 54-all 13 seconds earlier but Farmington’s super sophomore would have the last word. As the Cardinals went into their half-court offense Thompson caught Thomas’ eye and the slender 6-foot-3 forward went to the low block where he received the ball, turned into his man and scored off the glass while drawing a foul.
The old-fashioned 3-point play was huge because not only did Maumelle starter Gary Burton foul out but Thomas’ bucket and free-throw pushed Farmington back ahead by three, 57-54. Although they did get an inside 2-point field goal Maumelle could not make a 3-pointer to tie the contest and was forced to foul sending Thomas back to the line where he again converted both shots of the double bonus stretching the margin out to 59-56 which became the winning score.
“He [Coach Thompson] told me to go the block when I saw I had a mismatch,” Thomas explained the silent communication between coach and player during the heat of battle.
“For a sophomore me and him have been through quite a few battles already,” Thompson said, referring to a number of games decided in the final minute during Thomas’ two-years as a varsity starter.
“There are not many players I’ve ever coached that I trust with the ball late in the game as much as him. He posted up a kid [Burton, 190 pounds] an inch or two taller, way bigger and stronger and that’s OK.”
Thompson knows in basketball some of the great players don’t always come with the most physically-imposing frames, yet was quick to recognize an inner mental toughness when he made Thomas a starter as a freshman. One reason Thompson has such confidence in an under-classma0n is Thomas’ consistency at the free-throw line.
“I take a bunch of deep breaths and I tell myself it’s going to go in every time,” Thomas said.
Thomas scored 12 of his 20 points at the foul line and also stayed in the game despite playing much of the second half with four fouls. A key no-foul occurred when Thomas held his ground eventually coming away with a defensive rebound after Maumelle missed three shots at point-blank range. Thomas displayed smart defensive instincts and this was a field goal the Hornets never got which would have put them up by six with two minutes elapsed in the fourth quarter.
“He [ Coach Thompson] just told me to be smart and play good defense. I didn’t reach, I just did what he told me to,” Thomas said.
Farmington got 15 points from sophomore Matt Wilson mostly on finishes around the goal and a clutch 3-pointer from Jared Osnes in the fourth.
The win kept Farmington alive among 5A West teams vying for a post-season berth but Thompson said the victory was significant in another critical area — team confidence.
“Really more than that we needed some confidence. We played very well the last three games and lost them all. We got over the hump tonight. If you can beat that team [Maumelle] you can beat any team in our league. It was just a great win for our confidence,” Thompson said.