Lady Cards Say No To Apache Challenge

BERRYVILLE — Pottsville’s Apaches have dealt out their share of heartbreaking losses to local teams, including the last time Shannon Lasey competed against Farmington, but this time she left in tears.

Last spring Lasey (7 innings, 3 hits, 4 runs, 7 walks, 4 strike-outs) pitched a far from perfect game, but somehow managed to wind up on the winning side of a 7-4 Pottsville (19-9) win over highly-favored Farmington (25-3) in the 2019 Class 4A state softball championship on May 13.

Going back even farther, Pottsville upset 4A-1 District champion, Lincoln, by a 3-2 score in a first-round game of the 2014 4A North Regional baseball tournament hosted by the Wolves. The grandtheft Apaches scored the winning run by stealing home in a game that would be the last ever coached by Brad Harris at Lincoln, whose tenure on the diamond surpassed his accomplishments as Lincoln head football coach.

Pottsville came into a 4A North Regional girls basketball game against Farmington on Wednesday, Feb. 26, endeavoring to spoil Farmington’s opportunity to host the 2020 Class 4A State basketball tournament this week.

The matchup featured a similar scenario to those Pottsville somehow flipped as an underdog in the past. Farmington entered the tournament on a 13-game winning streak as a No. 1 seed from the 4A-1, having won both the regular season conference championship and district tournament. Meanwhile Pottsville showed up as a blip on the radar — the No. 4 seed from the 4A-4 having lost its last two games.

The stakes loomed as high as ever.

The loser faced elimination while the winner advanced to state.

When the dust settled on the hardwood and the final horn sounded, the 2019-2020 Lady Cardinals simply would not be denied.

Farmington jumped the Lady Apaches from the outset, playing lockdown defense and marching out to an early 9-3 lead.

Senior point- guard Makenna Vanzant opened the scoring by draining a 3-pointer made possible by Audrey Culpepper’s offensive rebound. Joelle Tidwell’s quick move allowed her to score off the glass.

Lasey hit a turnaround, but Tidwell countered by dropping the ball off to Torie Kersey underneath for an easy bucket. Vanzant capped the run using a hesitation dribble to lull the Lady Apaches into a lapse then passed to Trinity Johnson trailing a Lady Cardinal fastbreak for a layup.

“Getting early separation was big for us,” said Farmington coach Brad Johnson. “We felt we had to establish stuff inside-out. Pottsville can play multiple defenses. We knew we had to attack the corners. We knew we had to attack the sides. The game plan is good but ultimately the kids have to make shots and we did that.”

Kersey finished with 18 points and three teammates joined her in double figures, Vanzant, 15; Trinity Johnson, 10; and Carson Dillard, 10; as the Lady Cardinals advanced to Friday’s semifinals.

Farmington held a comfortable lead of 16-7 after one quarter and bumped that up to 27-11 as Trinity Johnson connected on back-toback treys after Dillard hit a 3-pointer. The Lady Apaches cut that with a 3-0 mini run, but Farmington came back with Kersey taking an offensive rebound and finding Vanzant for a trifecta.

Pottsville trailed 35-23 at the half and was forced to play catch-up.

Brad Johnson expressed a sense of satisfaction in how Farmington answered each Pottsville run.

Lasey scored four straight points reducing Farmington’s lead to nine, but Dillard was left open on the wing and drilled a trey.

Bingo! Farmington was back up by a dozen, at 40-28.

The first of two Abbie Cain 3-pointers in the period again brought Pottsville within nine.

The Lady Cardinals quickly suppressed that by scoring 13 of the next 16 points. Trinity Johnson finished a 2-on-1 off Kersey’s assist. Vanzant took Kersey’s outlet and fed Dillard for a layup. After a pair of Vanzant free throws, Trinity Johnson threw a long pass to Dillard for yet another easy deuce that began with a steal.

Cain’s second trey of the quarter was matched by Kersey’s 3 points in the final 43 seconds of the third, which concluded with Farmington in command, 53-34.

Although Lasey and Cain played out the fourth quarter even after Brad Johnson went to his third string, no Lady Apache threat emerged during the fourth and Farmington prevailed, 66-49.

“It was a big game, the toughest of the year for every coach is the first one in Regionals because so much weighed on it. It’s what we call the ticket-punch game,” Brad Johnson said. “You don’t want your kids to come out nervous. You want them to be relaxed in that environment and I felt our kids did a pretty good job of that tonight.”

Lasey scored 21 points for Pottsville while Cain had 11.

FARMINGTON 66, POTTSVILLE 49

Pottsville 7 16 11 15 — 49 Farmington 16 19 18 13 — 66 Farmington (29-3, 12-0): Torie Kersey 8 2-4 18, Makenna Vanzant 5 2-3 15, Trinity Johnson 4 0-0 10, Carson Dillard 4 0-0 10, Morgan Brye 1 2-2 5, Audrey Culpepper 1 0-0 2, Joelle Tidwell 1 0-0 2, Kaci Drain 1 0-0 2, Allie Devecsery 0 2-2 2. Totals 25 8-11 66. Pottsville (14-12): Shannon Lasey 10 1-2 21, Abbie Cain 4 1-2 11, Rilee Underwood 2 3-3 7, Kyleigh Shannon 2 0-0 4, Kimbra Rhodes 1 1-2 3, Julia Reynolds 0 2-2 2, Lindsay Aday 0 1-2 1. Totals 19 9-13 49. 3-Point Goals — Farmington 8 (Vanzant 3, Trinity Johnson 2, Dillard 2, Brye), Pottsville 2 (Cain 2). Rebounds — .