Farmington girls flourish without large numbers

FARMINGTON — Nobody put up big offensive numbers, yet Farmington (32-1) rolled in beating Gravette, 69-28, in the semifinals of the 4A North Regional tournament at Morrilton Friday.

Hannah Moss hit a quartet of 3-pointers in the first quarter and led the Lady Cardinals with 12 points as they raced out to leads of 26-9 after the first quarter and 42-18 at halftime. Twin 6-feet-3 towers, Jenna Lawrence and Zoey Bershers, contributed 11 points apiece, and Farmington’s third 6-footer, Kayce McCumber, produced 10 points off the bench.

“Farmington is very, very good. They’re the No. 1 team in the state for a good reason. I thought we played well from the second quarter on. They just kind of blitzed us in the first quarter,” said Gravette coach Will Pittman.

After Moss drained her third trey to make it 13-2, Gravette engineered a 5-0 mini-run in the first quarter. Keeley Elsea got to the hoop as the Lady Lions beat the press. Brynn Romine put down a driving layup and, following a Farmington turnover, made 1 of 2 free throws, reducing Farmington’s lead to 15-7.

Farmington answered by finishing the quarter on an 11-2 run, kickstarted by Bershers’ five straight points. Gravette turned the ball over twice on charging calls in the last 1:10 of the first. With time winding down, McCumber controlled a loose ball, although she was knocked to her knees, and passed off to Marin Adams, who drilled a trifecta at the top of the key.

The Lady Lions endured nearly a three-and-a-half-minute scoring drought bookended by free throws and went almost six minutes without a field goal. Romine ended that with a triple to make it 33-14, but the Lady Cardinals scored nine of the next 13 points to go up 42-18 at intermission. Gravette shot 7 for 23 from the field in the first half.

A rash of turnovers against Farmington’s pressure plagued the Lady Lions in the third quarter. Those miscues fueled an 18-3 Lady Cardinal run. Lawrence ignited the spree with a 3-point play, then fed Bershers under the basket for an

easy deuce. Next, she transformed a steal into a layup.

Reese Shirey drew a charging foul against Gravette. Lawrence rejected a Gravette shot, and the Lady Lions couldn’t score while inbounding under their own basket. Reese Shirey rebounded and pushed the ball upcourt, drawing defenders to her, then dishing out an assist to McCumber to conclude a stretch of 10 unanswered Lady Cardinal points.

The margin stood at 62-25 at the end of the third quarter and Gravette went ice cold in the fourth, scoring three points all from the freethrow line. The loss dropped the Lady Lions into the 4A North Regional consolation game Saturday against tournament host Morrilton, which lost 49-37 to Gentry in the other semifinal. All four teams advance to the Class 4A State tournament at Blytheville this week.

Romine led Gravette with nine points.

MORRILTON 60, GRAVETTE 42

One day after having its 13-game winning streak snapped, Morrilton’s Cheyanne Kemp scored 32 points to power the Lady Devil Dogs to a win over Gravette in the consolation round of the 4A North Regional Tournament. Morrilton (284) got 12 points from Johnna Brockman. Alexa Parker led the Lady Lions (17-13) with 15 points.

“We got into foul trouble in the first half and that definitely hurt us. Our three biggest kids sat most of the first half, then we just kind of ran into a fatigue wall,” Pittman said.

Gravette took on No. 2 East Heber Springs on Tuesday in the first-round of the Class 4A State tournament at Blytheville.

“Everybody’s good this time of year, but we like our matchup. We think that’s a good matchup for us,” Pittman said.