Farmington Girls Cause Turnover Havoc

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Trish O’Connell’s tight defense in Farmington’s man-to-man causes a Maumelle turnover. The Lady Cardinals defeated the Hornets, 71-32, on Feb. 6.
MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Trish O’Connell’s tight defense in Farmington’s man-to-man causes a Maumelle turnover. The Lady Cardinals defeated the Hornets, 71-32, on Feb. 6.

FARMINGTON -- Maumelle senior forward Tiarra Thompson has become part of the basketball lore at Farmington's brand new Cardinal Arena although she probably doesn't want to be.

Thompson scored the Lady Cardinals' first two points on Feb. 6 when Maumelle in-bounded at the far end 1:03 into the game against Farmington's full-court man-to-man press and she found an unguarded goal to lay the ball in. Only problem was this was the goal she and her teammates were supposed to be defending and the field goal counted as a score for Farmington and was awarded to Kristi DuChanois in the scorebook.

Maumelle's confusion was apparent when they called two timeouts in the first two minutes and 29 seconds because they couldn't get the ball in-bounds. To her credit Thompson came back and hit a 3-pointer from the right corner and Maumelle led 5-2 after another field goal at the 5:51 mark of the first quarter but Farmington's cold spell was over. The Lady Cardinals overcame the deficit by outscoring Maumelle 41-12 through the remainder of the first half on their way to a resounding 71-32 girls basketball win.

Trish O'Connell tied the game at 5-all and missed a fast-break layup after Tahlon Hopkins' 3-point play. Not to worry, her teammate DuChanois stole the outlet pass after Maumelle rebounded and fed Maria McPherson, who was fouled and made both free throws. On the ensuing Maumelle in-bounds play, DuChanois again stole the ball and gave it to O'Connell, who threaded the needle with a cross-court pass to McPherson for a layup and Farmington led 12-5.

Maumelle burned a third timeout trying to get the ball in to no avail. Tayton Hopkins turned her steal into two more Farmington points by spinning away from the Hornets for a layup. Farmington held a 14-5 lead at this juncture and never looked back. The Lady Cardinals were ahead 22-9 at the quarter break and 43-17 at halftime. The score was 67-19 at the end of three periods and Farmington coach Brad Johnson showed mercy by playing reserves throughout the fourth quarter.

Maumelle's bench was thin with only two reserves suited up. The Hornets scored 13 points in the fourth quarter but made little ground and lost 71-32.

Sports on 02/18/2015