Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Nobody Else In Picture
KERSEY’S EXPLOSIVENESS WREAKS HAVOC
FARMINGTON — The biggest problem opponents encountered when attempting to stop Farmington’s Tori Kersey from scoring during the Lady Cardinals’ state championship run was they often weren’t in the picture.
Kersey’s athleticism and speed at getting down-court left many a player assigned to guard the left-handed junior eating dust off the hardwood. Not only were they unable to prevent a fast-break layup, frequently they couldn’t even contest the shot.
A big part of Farmington’s successful equation came from another variable, senior point-guard Makenna Vanzant on the opposite end of many a long pass, but all the hustle in the world comes to naught if teams don’t finish. That seldom happened once Kersey got her hands on the basketball. She led the team in field goals made (227) and field goal percentage (59) and many of her points came off breakaway steals.
The formula remained simple for coach Brad Johnson and the Lady Cardinals. The more easy buckets a team gets in transition the less work they have to put in on offense which translates into more energy available at the defensive end.
In sharp contrast opponents labored for points against Farmington’s much- improved defense. Some half-court sets took as many as 30 seconds or more and when they did manage to score Farmington never allowed them to celebrate.
Within seconds the ball would be in-bounded with Kersey making a beeline for the goal 94 feet away. She seemed to never tire of running the court. There were too many dividends.
If she didn’t get a look right away Kersey knew to keep moving. Vanzant’s knack for causing defenders to commit created endless opportunities for Kersey who lived in the fast lane.
Pocahontas got an up close and personal look in the first quarter of the Class 4A State quarterfinals on March 5.
Eleven seconds after Kendra Johnson made 1-of-2 free throws, Kersey received a pass on the baseline and wheeled to the front of the rim where she was fouled while scoring at the 4: 26 mark. The scenario quickly replicated. Madilyn McDowell put in a Lady Redskin miss with 3:09 showing only to see the 5-11 Kersey score easily over a mis-matched 5-7 Ellis in a play that took all of 10 seconds.
That wasn’t all she could do either.
Kersey finished with a double- double scoring 13 points and collecting 11 rebounds to key Farmington’s
Farmington junior forward Tori Kersey gets a breakaway layup. Kersey scored 22 points to lead the Lady Cardinals past Pea Ridge, 56-32, in the Class 4A Regional semifinals Friday, Feb. 28, at Berryville. She played an integral role in Farmington winning the Class 4A State girls basketball championship. 65-48 victory and advance to the Class 4A State semifinals against defending champion Batesville.
She showed up big in that game, too, making 5-of-5 free throws and chipping in 19 points to solidify Farmington’s 76-64 win, which led to the Lady Cardinals being named state co-champions with Star City because the finals were canceled due to concerns over the coronavirus.
Classmate Trinity Johnson understands Kersey’s athleticism translates into a greater shot selection. Kersey regularly takes and makes shots that other players would get yelled at or even benched for attempting.
“She is one of the most amazing people to play. Like she just does stuff and just kind of slides in there and I honestly, I just let her do it cause she makes pretty much every single one that she shoots and so me like being her teammate, I just let her go do what she does,” Johnson said. “I don’t question those shots that she takes even though they’re kind of like from weird angles or her just throwing them up and I wouldn’t put them up there sometimes. But I let her do what she needs to do to get us going in ball-games.”
Kersey put on a clinic torching Pea Ridge for 22 points by polishing a variety of shots-off-the-glass during the 4A North Regional semifinals at Berryville. The performance became critical because the game represented the fourth meeting for the teams with Farmington having won the first three. The first meeting went into double overtime and Pea Ridge, which lost 51-39 to the Lady Cardinals a week earlier in the 4A-1 District semifinals, was clearly motivated.
Kersey took the wind out of their sails by consistently beating their defense. She made it look easy in the 56-33 victory, but Pea Ridge was no slouch. During a March 5 state quarterfinal the Lady Blackhawks ( 25-10) were within four points twice in fourth quarter before Batesville outscored them 18-2 over the final 3:58 to win 65-44 and prevent a fifth game between Farmington and Pea Ridge.
Postseason honors followed. Kersey was voted into the “4A Top 5” by the Arkansas Basketball Coaches Association and named to the All-State Tournament team. She also garnered All-State honors while averaging 15.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per-game for a team which won conference, District 4A-1, 4A North Regional and State 4A championships.