Farmington Dominates Ozark

LADY CARDINALS CLINCH STATE TOURNEY BERTH

— Farmington’s girls basketball team made certain they wouldn’t become the third straight No. 1 seed to go down by blowing out Ozark 68-27 on Saturday at Cardinal Arena.

The first two games of the 4A North Regional saw both No. 1 seeds from the 4A-4, Morrilton’s girls and Subicao’s boys, get eliminated by lower seeds, but the Lady Cardinals jumped out to a 17-1 lead and never gave Ozark a chance to think about getting in the game.

“It’s one of the most stressful games of the year, first round regional tournament, because it’s a one game season at that point and I think the tendency is sometimes for your kids to come out and play tight. I thought our kids did a really good job of just not allowing that to happen. They were really focused from the beginning and to be honest I thought they came out and played loose, played together, shared the basketball, got out in transition and hit some shots early and kind of got ourselves settled in,” said Farmington coach Brad Johnson.

Farmington starters, Carson Dillard (16 points), Megan Hernandez ( 13), and Jenna Lawrence ( 12) combined for 41 points while J’Myra London added 10 off the bench. Dillard went over the 1,000 point milestone in the game, a notable feat especially with regards to the scoring talent surrounding her three years of varsity.

“I’m unbelievably proud of her. She’s a kid who has worked tirelessly to make herself a special player and here she is as a senior and really doing a great job of leading our program. To see her hit that milestone is unbelievably special for me because I know how much effort she’s put into it,” Johnson said.

Farmington (30-1) missed its first two shots before getting Lawrence to the free-throw line to break the ice. Her second shot was no good but Hernandez put in the miss. That brought the hometown crowd alive and ignited a 15-0 Farmington run.

Farmington sophomore Reese Shirey took a shot after making a steal. She got clotheslined by an Ozark player as she tried to dribble upcourt and laid on the hardwood in obvious pain. The officials didn’t call a foul. She checked out and didn’t return yet Farmington continued to roll leading 22-8 after one quarter and 40-14 at halftime.

The differential at the end of the third quarter was 62-22 and the fourth was played with a running clock with the mercy rule implemented. At one point 5-11 forward Morgan Brye ran the court ahead of everybody and London found her for a fastbreak layup. Johnson said that play attests to the versatility of the team.

“We have a lot of kids who can do a lot of things and the other side of it they’re all very, very unselfish kids. They find open kids, they feed hot hands and they do all the things that you need to do to be a good offensive basketball team,” Johnson said.

Ozark (12-14) got 7 points apiece from Briley Burns and Autumn Joy.

The victory sent Farmington into the semfinal game Sunday against Gentry as all four teams from the 4A-1 won to qualify for state.

FARMINGTON 68, OZARK 27

Ozark 5 9 8 5 — 27 Farmington 22 18 22 6 — 68 Farmington (30-1): Carson Dillard 6 0-0 16, Megan Hernandez 6 0-0

13, Jenna Lawrence 4 1-2 12, J’Myra London 5 0-1 10, Reese Shirey 2

2-2 8, Morgan Brye 2 1-2 5, Naomi Hernandez 0 2-2 2, Lindsey Scogin 1 0-0 2. Totals 26 6-9 68.

Ozark (12-14): Briley Burns 2 3-4 7, Autumn Joy 3 1-2 7, Carter Crane 1 0-0 3, Zoey Skaggs 1 0-0 3, Anna Woolsey 1 1-2 3, Ella Ree 1 0-1 2, Liz Lerhowsky 1 0-0 2, McKenzie Powell 0 0-1 0. Totals 10 5-10 27.

3-Point Goals — Farmington 10 (Dillard 4, Lawrence 3, Shirey 2, M. Hernandez). Ozark 2 (Crane, Skaggs).

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Farmington senior Carson Dillard seems to dance on air as she drives to the basket during the Lady Cardinals’ firstround game against Ozark once the 4A North Regional got going Saturday at Cardinal Arena.