Farmington Girls Overtake Berryville

FARMINGTON — Playing in their own house at Cardinal Arena, Farmington couldn’t seem to procure a favorable judicial ruling, but throwing in the towel was not an option.

Farmington coach Brad Johnson and the Lady Cardinals hung around in the midst of an incredible, uphill battle before pulling out an improbable 46- 43 comeback win over Berryville on Saturday, Jan. 16. Brad Johnson worked on fine- tuning his team ever since a disappointing, 56-42, loss at Harrison on Jan. 8. The retooling into a full- court constant pressure defensive- oriented team meant the Lady Cardinals didn’t have as much energy to expend offensively, yet Brad Johnson stuck with his game plan until mounting fouls forced him to get out of it.

“It’s an ever- evolving team. We’ve got to get kids in the right spots so they can make plays offensively and defensively,” Brad Johnson said.

“Those kids are fighters. We played 10 or 11 players tonight. We had to fight through foul trouble. We had to fight through a poor shooting night and Berryville had a great game plan. We won on hard work and effort.”

The Lady Cardinals’ precarious perch got complicated when the defending Class 4A girls basketball State champions couldn’t seem to get a favorable call from the officials in their own gym. Leading scorer Tori Kersey was scoreless at halftime coming off a 38-point effort against Pea Ridge. She and classmate Trinity Johnson, who had two points at the half, sat out a combined nearly 17 minutes over the first two quarters due to fouls called against them.

Kersey got socked with three charging fouls and the red team struggled mightily. No player wearing a Lady Cardinal jersey reached double figures.

“In my coaching career it’s the first time I’ve ever seen that, especially here at Farmington where we’ve had some good scorers,” Brad Johnson said. “It’s hard to do that and win. We kind of nickel and dimed them. We scored just enough to win.”

Statistically, Berryville dominated most categories in a game originally scheduled as part of Farmington’s Dec. 18 Colors Day celebration. Farmington shot 75 % from the freethrow-line while Berryville shot 65 %.

Berryville put 11 unanswered points on the board, turning a two-point deficit into a 20-11 lead. The Lady Bobcats outscored Farmington 24-12 in the second quarter to open up a 33-23 lead at intermission.

Lindsey Scogin hit a pair of 3- pointers scoring 8 points in the second off the bench, keeping Farmington within striking distance.

Farmington shot a lowly 34% from the field while Berryville regularly found the hoop achieving a red- hot 57%. The Lady Cardinals could hardly find the basket behind the 3-point line shooting 17 %, while Berryville lit things up from downtown highlighted by a 60% showing.

“We made it harder than it needed to be, but give credit to Berryville they played well,” Brad Johnson said.

Berryville led 42- 33 at the end of the third quarter behind Lilli Compton’s 19 points, and 7 apiece from Hannah Youngblood and Anniston Armer.

Nobody knew it yet, but momentum was about to swing in a wild unpredictable pendulum pointing straight at the heart of Farmington’s will to win. The Lady Bobcats managed only a single free throw over the last 10 minutes.

Kersey took a rebound the length of the floor, finishing on the run, then hit 3- of- 4 free throws to wind up as the Lady Cardinals’ leading scorer with 9 points. She crashed the offensive glass, drew a foul, and made a charity shot, narrowing Berryville’s lead to 42-40 at the 4:27 mark of the fourth.

Farmington finally got a favorable ruling with Scogin drawing a charging foul, stopping Compton’s baseline drive with 2: 41 to play. Trinity Johnson’s free- throw made it a one possession game then Megan Hernandez emerged as the “last minute” heroine putting in a missed three to tie the game at 43-43 with 1:18 remaining on the heels of a Berryville traveling violation that allowed Farmington to in- bound underneath its own basket.

Another Lady Bobcat possession came up empty with the Lady Cardinals again drawing a charge. Hernandez forged a path to the basket, but couldn’t score. Berryville had the rebound, but Hernandez refused to give in, swiped the ball and drove right back to the goal. This time her layup went through the net giving Farmington its first lead of the second half, 45-43.

Berryville missed a pote n t ia l game- winning 3- pointer. Kersey rebounded as she had all night. Carson Dillard’s free throw made the margin three and the Lady Cardinals survived Berryville missing the front end of a 1- and- 1 with the clock down to 1.6 seconds thrilling their fans with a 46-43 hard-fought win.

FARMINGTON 46, BERRYVILLE 43

Berryville 9 24 9 1 — 43

Farmington 11 12 10 13 — 46

Berryville (3-6, 2-2): Lilli Compton 5 6-8 19, Hannah Youngblood 2 1-2 7, Anniston Armer 2 3-4 7, Faith Kelley 2 0-0 5, Jacey Howerton 1 1-2 3, Lauren Compton 1 0-0 2. Totals 13 11-16 43.

Farmington (10-4, 2-2): Tori Kersey 3 3-4 9, Megan Hernandez 4 0-0 8, Lindsey Scogin 3 0-0 8, Trinity Johnson 1 3-4 6, Morgan Brye 3 0 0 6, Carson Dillard 2 0-0 4, Mazzi Carlson 1 2-2 4. Totals 17 8-10 46. 3-Point Goals — Farmington 3 (Scogin 2, Johnson), Berryville 6 (Lilli Compton 3, Youngblood 2, Kelley).

Rebounds — Farmington 22, Berryville 23. Assists — Farmington 7, Berryville 10. Steals — Farmington 10, Berryville 2. Blocks — Farmington 1, Berryville 0.