Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Farmington Girls Jump Gravette Early
LADY CARDINALS TAKE OUT LADY LIONS 74-53
FARMINGTON — The underrated Farmington defense blanketed Gravette from the field for the first 4:45 on the way to securing a 74-53 road win in 4A-1 girls basketball action on Jan. 18.
The Lady Lions ( 12- 8, 3-2) finally got a shot to fall by Keeley Elsea to end a 13-1 Lady Cardinal run with four different starters scoring early. That same quartet would score often with senior Megan Hernandez’ 15 points headlining four players in double figures for the Lady Cardinals. Carson Dillard added 13, Jenna Lawrence had 12 and Reese Shirey chipped in 10. In all 11 players scored for Farmington.
Neither team scored for almost two minutes before Dillard got to the foul line and made both. The Lady Cardinals solved Gravette’s half-court trap as Hernandez hit from the baseline. The next six Farmington points came on the fast- break. Shirey took a steal all the way, Lawrence looked downcourt and hit Hernandez on the run, then Shirey gave it up to Hernandez trailing the play for an easy bucket.
Farmington led 23-10 after the first period and limited the Lady Lions in the second quarter to a pair of 3-pointers by Alexa Parker and Reese Hamilton, who combined for 33 points. A 20-6 surge by the Lady Cardinals, who were doing the job on both ends of the court, showed a 43-16 disparity at the half. One Gravette break ended with Shirey stealing a pass underneath the basket. The sophomore threw a long outlet to Lawrence who drilled a trifecta.
The Lady Cardinals led by as much as 59-34 before Farmington coach Brad Johnson yanked his starters with just over three minutes remaining in the third quarter
Three Gravette players, including two starters, sat out because of Covid-19, but Will Pittman’s revamped lineup playing extended minutes kept shooting and trimmed the deficit down to 59-32 at the end of the third. Parker scored 11 of her 18 points in the last nine minutes and Hamilton had six of her 15 points in the final 9:25 for the Lady Lions. Parker made five 3-pointers and Hamilton four 3-pointers.
The game became something of a 3-point shootout. Gravette made 11 threes while Farmington knocked down nine treys. Four Lady Lions made treys while Farmington spread its 3-point barrage among six different players.
The Lady Cardinal reserves put 15 points on the board in the fourth, getting production from six different players in the period.
FARMINGTON 74, GRAVETTE 53 Farmington 23 20 16 15 — 74 Gravette 10 6 16 21 — 53 Gravette (12-8, 3-2): Alexa Parker 6 1-2 18, Reese Hamilton 5 1-2 15, Rachel Deihl 3 0-0 6, Alyssa Holland 2 0-0 5, Keeley Elsea 2 0-2 4, Gabbi Bates 1 0-0 3, Ella Moorman 0 2-4 2. Totals 19 4-10 53.
Farmington (21-1, 6-0): Megan Hernandez 7 1-1 15, Carson Dillard 4 2-2 13, Jenna Lawrence 5 1-1
12, Reese Shirey 4 0-0 10, J’Myra London 2 0-0 4, Morgan Brye 2 0-0 4, Allie Devecsery 1 1-2 4, Mazzie Carlson 2 0-0 4, Lindsey Scogin 1 0-0 3, Naomi Hernandez 1 0-0 3, Daisin Pruitt 1 0-0 2. Totals 30 5-6 74. 3-Point Goals — Gravette 11 (Parker 5, Hamilton 4, Bates, Holland). Farmington 9 (Dillard 3, Shirey 2, Lawrence, Devecsery, Scogin, N. Hernandez).