Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Foul Marks Momentum Swing
FARMINGTON GIRLS RACE TOWARD THE FINISH
FARMINGTON —A flagrant foul against Pea Ridge led to free throws, beginning a 13-6 Lady Cardinal run over the last 4:56 of the second quarter and eventual 67-56 win.
The action was fast and furious during 4A-1 Conference girls basketball play Tuesday, Feb. 4, at Cardinal Arena.
Pea Ridge junior Aidan Dayberry, who led her team with 18 points, got knocked down during a battle for a rebound. Dayberry wound up flat on her back laying on the hardwood and swung her leg tripping Farmington’s Makenna Vanzant. Dayberry was whistled for a flagrant foul, which resulted in Vanzant shooting and making a pair of free throws at the other end of the gym.
Bench Spark
That foul became a gamechanger allowing the Lady Cardinals (22-3, 9-0) to erase a two-point deficit and take a 39-34 halftime lead fueled by six points from reserves.
“We got a lot of lift off the bench. Morgan Brye came in and played unbelievable. We ran a set and posted her up on the backside. She got bucket in the second half that I thought really lifted some momentum for us,” said Farmington coach Brad Johnson.
“Carson Dillard came in and played phenomenal, too, at the point spot. That’s two sophomores that are pretty gutty and they’re very skilled kids. We got a lot of faith in them. Kaci Drain came in as well and gave us some big minutes.”
Blackhawks Buck
Pea Ridge came out hot, making 8 field goals including a pair of 3-pointers and 5-of-6 free throws to open up a 23-18 lead with 20 seconds to go in the first quarter. They defended well on the last possession but lost track of Farmington’s Trinity Johnson, who swished a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer bringing the Lady Cardinals to within, 23-21, after one period of intense play.
Pea Ridge led for 5: 41 of the first quarter and first eleven seconds of the second, plus for 2:07 of the second quarter.
There would have been no free throws without excessive force or intentional harm which was deemed a flagrant foul and made Dayberry very unpopular with Farmington’s hometown fans, who began chanting, “Eject her, eject her.” Key Assists
Vanzant had just 7 points for the game, but she didn’t have to carry the scoring load. Playing with poise she let the game come to her and capitalized on what a Lady
Blackhawk defense designed to contain her conceded. Vanzant racked up 10 assists and pulled down 4 rebounds, asserting herself during critical moments.
She raced out towards mid-court with a defensive rebound then delivered an on-the-money pass to Tori Kersey ahead of everybody for a layup. After Pea Ridge took a 32- 30 lead three minutes before halftime, Vanzant threw an in-bounds pass to Morgan Brye cutting to the basket and the sophomore laid it in.
Vanzant drew a charging foul against Dayberry at the other end and followed that up with another assist to Brye sliding down the box to the goal.
“This is one of those games where it was a total team effort, lot of balance in the scoring column and we’re going to have to have that,” Brad Johnson said. “Early on in the game they kind of dominated us on the glass. In the second half I thought we did a better job of really shoring that up, especially on the defensive end and limiting secondchance opportunities. Ultimately, that helped us extend the lead in a pretty critical time of the game.”
Up Tempo Advantage
Pea Ridge’s only senior Allisa Short tied the game at 34- all, but Farmington scored the last five points of the half. Kersey drove to the hoop and converted a 3- point play, then Carson Dillard made both ends of a 1-and-1.
Farmington increased its 39-34 halftime lead by scoring 8 unanswered points to begin the third quarter all off its running game. Kersey scored on a lead pass from Vanzant. Trinity Johnson sailed in to finish a 2-on-1 opportunity. Kersey encountered nobody between her and the goal when making a steal and Vanzant turned a steal into one more long assist to Trinity Johnson.
“I was just overall really pleased with how our kids played and I think it took all of them. Our scoring was pretty balanced,” Brad Johnson said. “Tori did a great job of running in transition and Makenna did a great job of finding her. Across the board we had a lot of kids (contributing). Joelle Tidwell is another one. She had 13 tonight and guarded Blakelee Winn almost all night long, who is a phenomenal athlete. I thought Joelle played one of her most complete games of the season really on both sides of the floor and on the boards.”
Overlooked Defense
Farmington held Pea Ridge to five points in the third quarter. Brad Johnson feels his team’s defense is often overshadowed by its offensive firepower which works to their advantage.
“Our kids take pride in what they do defensively. People see what we can do offensively and they don’t respect maybe what we do defensively. It’s a very underrated part of this basketball team’s game and the thing that’s beautiful about them is you can go challenge them at halftime, challenge them to step up their defensive game and they always seem to be able to meet that challenge. The mark of a good basketball team, too, is to be able to come out in the second half in those winning moments and get stops when you have to have it. This group’s able to do that right now and I’m really proud of them for that.”
Pea Ridge fought back against a 53-39 deficit by fashioning a 9-2 run as the fourth quarter got underway. Dayberry had 5 points in the run which prompted a time-out by Farmington coach Brad Johnson. Neither team scored for the next 2:26 before Brye posted up, turned left and laid the ball in.
Pea Ridge hurt themselves by missing a pair of free throws then Vanzant made eye contact with Kersey, who got to her spot as the ball arrived for a 59-48 Farmington lead at the 2:30 mark.
The Lady Cardinals played the last 2:15 without Vanzant, who fouled out fighting for a rebound. Joelle Tidwell, who finished with 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and blocked shot, sank two foul shots as did Kersey and Dillard. Farmington went 15-of-16 at the free throw line and won 67-56.
Kersey led Farmington with 23 points to go with 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.