Lady Cardinals Dominate Second Half

FARMINGTON — Prairie Grove played like gangbusters taking Farmington’s No. 1 ranked girls to task in the first half before the Lady Cardinals turned the tables and won 63-41 Friday.

Both coaches sang the praises of the level of competition showing healthy respect for their opponents.

“They’re top five in the state, No. 1 in our class. They have three real good players and real good role players. They know how to make shots,” said Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud.

Farmington coach Brad Johnson noted Prairie Grove’s physical play and yeoman-like work on the boards in the first half.

“We prepared really well leading into the game. I thought our kids stayed pretty grounded, but we had to respond tonight. You have to give Prairie Grove a lot of credit. They came in and played really well. I think they’re a good basketball team. I think you’re starting to see Prairie Grove peak at the right time,” Johnson said.

The Lady Tigers, winner of three straight league games coming in, out-scored Farmington 16-12 in the second quarter to erase a 10-8 deficit after one period and claim a 24-22 halftime lead. Prairie Grove scored the first four points of the second on baskets by Kenleigh Elder and Ella Faulk to move in front 12-10.

Farmington answered with Reese Shirey’s 3-pointer as the lead see-sawed back-and-forth. Lexi Henry drove hard to the hoop finishing with her left hand to make it 14-13 in favor of Prairie Grove. The Lady Cardinals went back ahead on Carson Dillard’s trey and extended that to 19-16 on Jenna Lawerence’s free throws.

Prairie Grove rallied with a 6-0 mini run. Elder scored on the offensive glass. Trinity Dobbs took a steal all the way to the basket and Camryn Cash hit a 15-footer giving the Lady Tigers a 22-19 advantage.

After turnovers by both teams Farmington drew even on a Dillard 3-pointer. Faulk hit a jumper at the buzzer to give the visitors a 24-22 edge going into halftime.

Johnson went over some changes at halftime that turned the game shaping it the way Farmington wanted to go.

“The biggest thing was we had to meet that physicality. We had to do a couple of things different on the defensive end, but really it was going to be about can we match their energy on the boards? Can we lock down and defend? And then can we do the things we need to do on offensive to be efficient and score points?” Johnson said.

The Lady Cardinals answered that challenge although both teams honed in on defense to start the third. Lawrence blocked a shot, rebounded and got down-court drawing a foul and making both free throws for the only points during the first three minutes of the third quarter. Fourteen seconds later Lawrence put the Lady Cardinals ahead for good with a hoop and harm.

Dobbs drove the length of the court and passed off to Henry for an easy bucket to pull Prairie Grove within 27-26 but the Lady Cardinals closed out the third with a 12-2 run to put themselves in control leading 39-28 at the end of the third quarter.

Farmington’s 17-4 run over the third quarter proved to be a deciding factor which Prairie Grove couldn’t overcome.

“We did an excellent job in the first half handling that zone press but scoring four points in the third really killed us,” Froud said. “Every one of our girls did some good things. Hopefully, we can learn from it and keep that same intensity and effort.”

Farmington led 41-28 after three quarters and sailed to victory with a 24-13 scoring advantage in the fourth.

“Our kids really committed in the second half to being a physical basketball team. We did a really good job of playing inside-out. We stretched out in our pressure defense and kind of got in some traps and sped the game up a little bit and then the energy just kind of shifted,” Johnson said.