Farmington Thrives At State Tourney

MORRILTON — Surviving and advancing wasn’t what Farmington was shooting for during last week’s Class 4A boys state tournament.

The Cardinals had something else on their minds.

“We said early in the week that we don’t want to just survive,” Farmington Coach Johnny Taylor said. “We want to thrive and advance. That’s what we want to do, we want to thrive.”

Farmington didn’t have much trouble thriving on a Wednesday, March 10 afternoon in its 48-29 victory over Camden Fairview in its tournament opener at Devil Dog Arena.

Freshman guard Layne Taylor had 17 points, seven assists, three rebounds and three steals for the Cardinals (21-5), who were disruptive on defense and got just about anything they wanted on offense to put an end to Camden Fairview’s season.

“Defensively, I thought we did a great job of adjusting our zone and tilting over towards their good ones,” Taylor said. “[ Christian] Strahan is as good as any kid we’ll see because he can really play. [Daylon Jackson] is a great inside-out guy, and [Jaden Bates] has had some big games for them this year.

“So I thought we did a great job of cheating over with our zone.”

Strahan, Jackson and Bates combined for four field goals and 15 points for Camden Fairview (10-12), which was held scoreless on 0- of- 8 shooting in the first quarter. Farmington also forced six turnovers during that time frame while establishing a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter.

“We expected [ Farmington] to press, but they didn’t really do that on us,” Camden Fairview Coach Josh Nix said. “But that 3-2 zone gave us some issues. We missed some shots that dug us a hole that we had a hard time getting out of. And when they get a lead like that, they’re a tough team to come back on.”

Farmington was just as effective offensively. The Cardinals shot 22 of 36 (61.1%) and had three other players score at least seven points. Junior forward Mateo Carbonel and sophomore forward Caleb Blakely finished with eight points each while junior forward Carson Simmons tallied seven points, seven rebounds and three steals.

Camden Fairview, which finished nine of 38 (23.6%) from the floor, scored the final eight points of the second quarter to get within 24-14 at the half. Nix’s team was still down 26-16 early in the third quarter until a three-pointer from senior forward Roman Carlson started a 12-0 run that gave Farmington a 22-point lead.

The Cardinals coasted from that point on and can now shift their focus toward Mills, one of the reigning Class 4A co-champions.

“We’ve got to try to keep it up,” Taylor said. “We know who we’ve got next. Coach [Raymond] Cooper does a great job at Mills, and we’re going to have to play well and try to thrive.”