Lady Lions preparation thwarted by Farmington

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER/A trio of Gravette girls battle Farmington's Jenna Lawrence for a rebound. Gravette junior Graci Moffit (No. 20) was eventually able to wrest the ball away but a jump ball was called. Gravette coach Will Pittman said Friday's 81-51 loss was not because of a lack of effort and applauded the Lady Lions for their aggressiveness in the contest.
MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER/A trio of Gravette girls battle Farmington's Jenna Lawrence for a rebound. Gravette junior Graci Moffit (No. 20) was eventually able to wrest the ball away but a jump ball was called. Gravette coach Will Pittman said Friday's 81-51 loss was not because of a lack of effort and applauded the Lady Lions for their aggressiveness in the contest.

FARMINGTON -- Certain opponents, such as the tall and talented Farmington girls' basketball team, can make the best of game plans go astray, illustrated by their convincing 81-51 win over Gravette Friday.

"I did think our kids did a really good job, and Gravette challenges you. They're going to get downhill, they're going to go to the rim, they're going to try to get themselves to the free-throw line 20-plus times a game. They're a very efficient team at the line. They score points that way, and they can lengthen a game," said Farmington coach Brad Johnson, who was honored with his 400th high school basketball win that came Dec. 29 at halftime. "We just knew that was going to be kind of the battle. It was going to be a war of attrition a little bit, and we were just going to hang on and hope we keep extending, extending, and ultimately we were able to do that, but I did think Gravette, they did a great job. You got to give them a lot of credit. Coach [Will] Pittman had a tremendous game plan and kudos to their kids."

Pittman said his staff and team prepared well and the week of practice leading up to the game was well spent, but the Lady Cardinals (19-0, 4-0 4A-1) proved every bit as tough as imagined.

Reese Shirey drove the lane, then threw a lead pass to J'Myra London streaking downcourt, and Zoey Bershers hit a turnaround after posting up with Farmington opening up a 6-1 lead and running a variety of looks early.

"They're just a really good team that, if you make any mistakes, they'll make you pay for them, and we made a few too many tonight," Pittman said. "It wasn't due to a lack of effort. They [Farmington] are just solid, so you almost have to play a perfect game when you play them. We didn't quite do that tonight."

Gravette (8-7, 2-2 4A-1) hung around, staying within three points on Brynn Romine's 3-pointer, Alexa Parker's bank shot and a Parker inside bucket.

"They're skilled, they've got good size even at the guard spot. They have some bigger guards and then, on the interior, they've got some forwards that are kind of rangy. They go from about 5-feet-9 to six feet. I thought they did a phenomenal job in their zone coverages. They got back in their 2-3, flattened it out and pushed it out wide and really challenged us that way," Johnson said. "They were very, very physical. Early on, it was hard for us to get into a rhythm offensively. I felt like we missed some shots, but a lot of that, I think, fell on the back of the good things Gravette was doing defensively."

Farmington ripped off a 9-2 run to finish out the last 2:03 of the first quarter. Jenna Lawrence's trey ignited the spree. London took a steal in for a layup, Marin Adams banked in a shot off the dribble, and Shirey turned a theft into a basket on the run as the Lady Cardinals seized a 20-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

"Eventually, we got some turnovers. Our transition kind of woke up and really pushed out. Then we were able to pick some spots and get a little bit of separation. We got really good minutes, too, off the bench. We were kind of running kids in and out just trying to keep fresh legs, keep that tempo up and match that physicality with more bodies," Johnson said.

Farmington led by as many as 14 on an inside-out play, with Lawrence draining a 3-pointer. Gravette countered with a 9-5 run. Dalachie Wishon knocked down a pull-up jumper, and Romine made a free throw.

Hannah Moss' trifecta pushed Farmington's margin back to 14 before the Lady Lions' Graci Moffit connected from 3-point range, followed by Romine sinking both ends of a 1-and-1 and a Parker free throw, trimming the lead to 31-22.

The Lady Cardinals scored the last seven points of the first half. Adams hit for three, then cut to the hoop and scored on a feed from Kaycee McCumber in the post. McCumber pounded the glass and drew a foul, hitting a pair of free throws with seven-tenths of a second left to give Farmington a 38-23 halftime lead.

Gravette stayed within 15 points for much of the third. Romine stole the ball on an in-bounds play underneath the Farmington basket and went for a layup at the other end to make it 50-35 at the 4:08 mark.

The Lady Cardinals answered that by fashioning a 10-2 run. Lawrence attacked off the dribble after clearing a defensive rebound. She made 2-of-2 free throws, then Shirey and Adams converted layups off steals. Parker and Adams traded baskets as the quarter wore down, and Farmington went into the fourth, leading 60-37.

The Lady Cardinals achieved a 30-point margin, activating the sportsmanship rule with a running clock on an Adams' trey with 2:47 remaining and went on to record an 81-51 victory.

Lawrence led all scorers with 24 points for Farmington. Keeley Elsea paced Gravette with 13 points, with 11 of those coming in the fourth quarter.

Farmington 81, Gravette 51

Gravette^10^13^14^14^--^51

Farmington^20^18^22^21^--^81

Farmington (18-1, 4-0): Jenna Lawrence 6 8-8 24, Marin Adams 7 0-0 17, Reese Shirey 5 0-1 11, J'Myra London 5 0-1 10, Zoey Bershers 3 1-3 7, Kaycee McCumber 1 2-4 4, Hannah Moss 2 0-0 5, Gabby McBurnett 1 0-0 2, Lindsay Scogin 0 1-2 1. Totals 30 12-19 81.

Gravette (8-7, 2-2): Keeley Elsea 5 3-4 13, Alexa Parker 5 1-2 12, Brynn Romine 3 3-6 11, Dalacie Wishon 1 7-8 9, Graci Moffit 1 3-5 6. Totals 15 17-25 51.

3-Point Goals -- Farmington 9 (Lawrence 4, Adams 3, Shirey, Moss). Gravette 4 (Romine 2, Parker, Moffit).

photo MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER/Gravette 6-feet post defender Dalacie Wishon challenges a layup attempt by Farmington's J'Myra London during the Lady Cardinals' 81-51 win over Gravette in 4A-1 girls basketball action on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, at Cardinal Arena.
photo MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER/Farmington starting guard Hannah Moss gets an open 3-point look from the corner much to the chagrin of Gravette coach Will Pittman and the Lady Lion bench during Farmington's 81-51 conference win in girls basketball Friday at Cardinal Arena. Moss drained the shot to give the Lady Cardinals a 31-17 lead at the 2:58 mark of the second quarter.