Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Cardinals Stymie Tigers Without Taylor
PRAIRIE GROVE — Farmington jumped out to a 16-0 first quarter lead and never looked back even without top scorer Layne Taylor, who sustained an ankle sprain while hitting a 3-pointer.
Layne Taylor exited with 2:10 left in the first quarter and the Cardinals (15-1, 2-0 4A-1) leading 12-0. He did not return and finished with six points well below his average but his teammates more than picked up the slack. Caleb Blakely had 15 points and seven rebounds. Mateo Carbonel added 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Logan Burch had nine points and four rebounds as Farmington went on to secure a 56-32 rivalry win at Prairie Grove’s Tiger Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 4.
Farmington coach Johnny Taylor felt the Cardinals controlled the tempo and slowed the game down to their advantage.
“We say all the time we got to be able to win at two speeds. We got to be able to play fast or we got to be able to slow the game down and control it. Our kids are bought into whatever we need to do,” Johnny Taylor said.
Nathan Monroe (6 assists, 4 rebounds) and Maddox Mahan scored the next four points for Farmington. Prairie Grove (4-9, 0-2) had a chance on an in-bounds play from the side with 4.6 seconds to go in the first but junior center Ryder Orr long 3-point try was off-balance and short leaving the Tigers with a goose egg on the scoreboard for the first quarter.
Tate Benoit broke the ice with nearly a minute gone in the second when he got open underneath in the half-court offense and his teammates found him but Farmington upped its lead to 20. Logan Burch drained a 3-pointer. Sam Wells stole the ball down-court and wasted no time in throwing an outlet which led to Carbonel’s layup, making it 25-4.
Orr scored five points in the last 3:22, helping Prairie Grove whittle its deficit down to 18. Farmington got the last basket of the half from Carbonel and led 29-11 at halftime.
The teams traded baskets in the
The Cardinals shook off a controversial ruling when Blakely appeared to rob Plumlee with a clean block but goal tending was called allowing the Goblins to tie the game.
On a set play Mateo went left and beat his man down the box for a layup beginning a 6-0 Farmington mini run. Blakely took a steal to the goal but missed. Maddox Mahan snared the rebound drawing a foul and making both free throws.
Harrison took a quick shot. Carson Dearing rebounded and passed the outlet to Monroe, who pushed the ball and spotted Carbonel ahead of the pack for a layup and 40-34 Farmington advantage.
Coming out of a time-out Plumlee made a long three to make the score 40-37 in favor of Farmington but the Cardinals would match the Goblins point-for-point from that juncture.
Plumee’s trey narrowed Farmington’s lead to 46-45 capping a 5-0 mini run by the Goblins with 1:42 left.
After a Harrison time-out Blakely beat his man off the dribble and went in for a layup giving Farmington a 48-45 cushion. Plumlee had to come off the 3-point line and cut into the lane where he received a pass and hit a floater.
Going the other way Monroe recorded his sixth assist of the game on a nice feed to Carbonel, who momentarily hesitated freezing the defenders and making them think he might pass it back out. Instead Carbonel went up strong and scored putting Farmington back into a 3-point lead at 50-47 with the clock down to 33.4 seconds.
Farmington coach Johnny Taylor took time- out and assigned Wells the task of guarding Plumlee. Wells dogged Plumlee making him circle the half-court before getting the ball, then slipping past a screen and forcing Plumlee to pass off. Plumlee got the ball back but Wells induced him into taking an off-balance shot in the lane.
Owen Styles was in the game because one of the Goblin starters fouled out.
He got the rebound but Blakely rejected his shot with a two- handed block and Dearing controlled the rebound for Farmington. He was fouled and missed both free throws but Carbonel secured the final rebound to all but seal the 50-47 conference win with 8 tenths of a second left.