FARMINGTON -- In the waning days of 2013, Farmington lost to Alma in the finals of the Airedale Classic boys basketball tournament when giving up 27 points to Alma's Austin Lee.
A similar outcome occurred on Dec. 30 with the Cardinals once again reaching the tournament championship contest but coming up short versus Alma, 59-56, with Lee scoring 26 points. At least this time around the contest went down to the wire.
Farmington (9-2) pulled within, 55-54, on Mac Spears' 3-point shot with barely over a minute remaining in the fourth quarter only to have Lee knock down two foul shots extending Alma's lead to three points. Forty-four seconds went off the clock before Farmington answered making the score, 57-56, with 12 seconds to go when sophomore Matt Thomas sank two free throws.
On the ensuing possession Alma attacked the basket with Lee finishing a drive with a 2-point field goal and taking six more seconds off. The Cardinals were able to get a final potential game-tying shot off but couldn't connect from half-court and lost, 59-56.
Six of Lee's points came in the last 1:18 including four free throws. Overall Lee went 11 of 11 at the foul line. Alma's 6-foot-5 Jake Folkerts also gave the Cardinals problems inside scoring 17 points.
A bad opening quarter for Farmington ended with Alma leading 9-3. Farmington warmed up in the second period narrowing the gap to 19-14 but surrendered 7 unanswered points trailing, 26-14, as the half expired.
Farmington outscored Alma 21-14 in the third quarter and cut the lead to 40-35 with a 6-0 flurry to end the quarter, capped by a steal and layup at the buzzer by
Matt Wilson scored 5 straight points making a steal a lay-in just before the third quarter ended and beginning the fourth with a trifecta further narrowing the deficit to 40-38. Alma responded with a 9-5 run pushing their advantage back to six, at 49-43, before Spears' 3-pointer capped an 11-6 Farmington run trimming Alma's lead to 55-54 and setting the stage for the wild finish.
Senior Jeremy Mueller topped Farmington with 18 points. The Cardinals beat Pottsville, 59-27, on Dec. 29 in the tournament semifinal and defeated Lavaca, 52-44, on Dec. 27.
Airedale Classic Boys Championship
ALMA 59, FARMINGTON 56
Farmington 3 11 21 21 -- 56
Alma 9 17 14 19 -- 59
Farmington (9-2): Jeremy Mueller, 18; Matt Thomas, 15; Mac Spears, 9; Matt Wilson, 7; Skyler Barnes, 7.
Alma (10-1): Austin Lee, 26; Jake Folkerts, 17; Alex Beneux, 11; Braylon Parker, 3; Nathan Corder, 2.
ALMA 69, FARMINGTON 64 Jan. 3
A rematch at Alma on Jan. 3 was more of the same with Farmington having trouble defending Lee and Folkerts. Farmington worked hard in the championship of the Airedales' tournament to defend Lee, who was held to 20 points until scoring six in the final 1:18. The Cardinals again labored to defend Lee and limited Alma's 6-foot-1 senior to a 7-point first-half while maintaining a 28-25 lead thanks to a 17-9 scoring advantage in the second quarter.
Matt Wilson accounted for 18 of the Cardinals' first-half points but the second half was a flip-flop with Lee emerging from the locker room to put up 22 of his game-high 29 points over the final two periods and Folkerts tallying 23.
Farmington, which had relied heavily on the scoring of Mueller in the first meeting with the Airedales found their offense elsewhere to contend late into the game. Mueller was held to 7 points total and Wilson added just 5 after halftime. Meanwhile sophomore Matt Thomas (17 points) began to find his groove as the teams traded blows like prize fighters in the third which concluded with Alma in front, 46-42.
Barnes found his rhythm producing 11 points in the fourth quarter including a late field goal cutting Alma's advantage to 67-64 but just as the Airedales did in Farmington by getting the ball to Lee on their final possession to seal a win in their tournament championship, they once again found Lee, who was fouled and sank both free throws to extend the margin to 69-64 in the final seconds.
Farmington began 5A West Conference play at Maumelle on Jan. 9 and on the road at Harrison on Tuesday. The Cardinals open their new competitive basketball arena on Friday in another league contest against Greenbrier starting at 5 p.m.
Jan. 3 - ALMA 69, FARMINGTON 64
Farmington 11 17 14 22 - 64
Alma 16 9 21 23 - 69
Farmington (9-3): Matt Wilson, 23; Matt Thomas, 17; Skyler Barnes, 11; Jeremy Mueller, 7; Jared Osnes, 2; Mac Spears, 2.
Alma (11-1): Austin Lee, 29; Jake Folkerts, 23; Braylon Parker, 6; Alex Beneux, 6; Will Cluck, 3; Heath Friddle, 2.
Sports on 01/14/2015