FARMINGTON -- With the nation's focus riveted on other sports and NBA champion San Antonio Spurs relishing their latest title, the ENTERPRISE-LEADER flashes back to high school basketball.
Farmington Boys
Head coach Beau Thompson and assistant Matt Mahan diligently went to work over the off-season to revamp a lineup which lost their top eight players to graduation. The Cardinals successfully switched from being an inside-out team relying heavily on the low-post scoring of 2013 graduate Chase Garner to a more perimeter-oriented offense.
Juniors Blaise Albright and Skyler Barnes teamed up with freshman Matt Thomas to consistently knock down jump shots forcing defenses to respect their outside game. This opened up the paint for Mac Spears, who returned from an ACL injury to take over the starting center position. Another junior, Jeremy Mueller, inherited the starting point-guard job from his older brother, Josh, a 2013 graduate, and filled the roll of playmaker.
This group excelled in a highly-competitive league beating every team in the 4A-1 except Lincoln but still managing a share of the conference title with the Wolves by finishing 11-3. In the District semifinals, the Cardinals earned their third victory of the season over an explosive Gravette squad to advance to the championship where arch rival, Prairie Grove, was waiting and finally got the best of the Cardinals after losing twice to Farmington in the regular season.
Going into the 4A North Regional as the second-seed, Farmington got an unfavorable draw when they were matched up against, Pottsville, third-seed from the 4A-8, and were eliminated by the Apaches, 48-33, to conclude their season with 16 wins and 12 losses. This coming season Farmington will compete as a member of the 5A West.
Prairie Grove Boys
The biggest development for the Prairie Grove boys basketball team was the emergence of sophomore Dylan Soehner as a low-post power. Not only did Soehner grow four inches to reach a height of 6-foot-7 but the former starting quarterback of the Junior Tigers football team retained his agility.
To the hoops observer, two things were obvious. As a 6-foot-3 freshman in 2012-13 Soehner's frame was going to make him the biggest and strongest player on the court against the majority of opponents but he lacked a means to consistently score on the low block.
Soehner didn't earn a starting job as the season began but under the tutelage of Prairie Grove head coach Steve Edmiston and assistant Ulysses Ruley he soon became an impact player and was a major reason Prairie Grove experienced a late-season surge climbing from the cellar all the way to fourth seed in the District tournament, which they won by defeating Pea Ridge, 44-41; Lincoln, 47-46, in the semifinal; and Farmington, 52-46, in the 4A-1 championship.
The Tigers beat Dardanelle, 65-47, in the opening game of the 4A North Regional and qualified for the state tournament for the first time since 2008.
Lincoln Boys
Six miles further down U.S. 62 towards the Oklahoma State line, Lincoln junior Shandon "Biggie" Goldman was also rising into a sky-scraping interior defender. Goldman went from a height of 6-foot-4 as a sophomore to a 6-foot-7 shot-blocking, rebounding defensive disruptive presence in the middle.
On offense Goldman kept up his proficient perimeter shooting from 3-point land and demonstrated an ability to handle the ball occasionally blowing by a defender on a run-out and scoring on the run. When he gets the ball above his head few defenders are able to legitimately challenge his shot.
Going into next season, the question remains. Will Goldman continue to refine his all-around skills and incorporate a repertoire of scoring skills in the post into his game?
The Wolves were anything but a one-man show with 10 seniors on the roster. Their team-first concept was never better illustrated than when they repeated attacked Maumelle's vaunted press and scored going to the basket coming within a millisecond of winning the 4A North Regional before Maumelle forced overtime with a second-chance 3-pointer. The Wolves secured the school's first-ever state tournament win with a first-round triumph over Bauxite before losing to eventual state champion, Brookland, in the quarterfinals.
Sports on 07/30/2014