Lady Cardinals Take 5A West By Storm

FARMINGTON -- Lady Cardinal girls basketball coach Brad Johnson looked at the 2014-2015 5A West Conference championship trophy and recounted this major achievement during Farmington's first season as a 5A school.

"That was a tough one, very well-deserved by our kids. We had a great year," Johnson said. "If you look at our schedule we've always played a tough schedule but last year we played a brutal schedule."

Six Farmington opponents made the final four in their respective classifications with two going on to win state championships, Hot Springs in 5A and Greenland in 3A.

"We went 4-2 in those games," Johnson said, pointing out Farmington also competed against 10 total teams which advanced to a state semifinal round.

Johnson was impressed with player effort.

"For our kids to push like that. We kind of shot out of the gate and played really well early."

The good start had Johnson wondering what would happen when the Lady Cardinals suffered a loss but they didn't let him down.

"We had a tough loss in the Bulldog Classic against a Little Rock Central team [68-49 on Dec. 5] but they responded very well to that," Johnson said, recalling Farmington won the next day (48-38) against their U.S. 62 rival and past nemesis, Prairie Grove, with the schools playing each other three times in a 10-day span with the Lady Tigers playing Farmington tougher each game. Prairie Grove would eventually reach the 4A state tournament semifinal.

Farmington also rebounded nicely from a Dec. 30, 54-50, tournament loss at Alma by turning the tables on the Lady Airedales, 68-41.

"We actually got to play the same team 48 hours later and beat them on their home court."

Then came 5A West play and the opening of Cardinal Arena and a disappointing 50-47 loss to Greenbrier on Jan. 16 but prior to that Johnson said the Lady Cardinals set the stage for their conference title run with a 52-44 Jan. 13 road victory at Harrison. Although Farmington sustained a second conference loss at Vilonia, 39-33, on Jan. 30; Johnson had optimism midway through league play.

"We were 5-2 [in 5A West games] at the turn," Johnson said. "But I knew that Greenbrier and Vilonia still had to go to Harrison. I told our girls to take it one game at a time and hopefully we could put ourselves in position to win it."

The team did just that, holding off Harrison, 41-34, on Feb. 10 at home in an overtime win; then overcoming a 14-point halftime deficit to win, 47-44, at Greenbrier on Feb. 13; and wrapping up the league crown by defeating Vilonia, 46-28, on Feb. 27 during senior night at Cardinal Arena. Farmington took a No. 1 seed into the 5A state girls basketball tournament and reached the state semifinals with a 45-26 win over Magnolia and 66-54 over Batesville. Farmington battled through adversity to give themselves a chance late in the game. They endured foul trouble and passes just inches off the mark glancing off the fingertips of players cutting to the goal after breaking pressure and fought back from a 6-point fourth quarter deficit.

Hot Springs could not put the game away from the line, missing a pair of crunch-time free throws in the waning seconds. Out of time-outs, Johnson could only watch after having gone over different scenarios during their last team huddle. Sophomore point-guard Tayton Hopkins nearly did the unbelievable, coming down with the rebound of the second missed free throw and driving through traffic to get off a potential game-tying 3-pointer.

"She thought it was good. Shooters know when it leaves their hands if it's going in or not. I thought it was good," Johnson said, but the shot would not fall and Hot Springs escaped with a 51-48 win and berth in the state championship which they would win a week later.

"You could play that 5A state tournament five more times and you might get a different result each time," Johnson said. "To have a run in the state tournament we'd weather things. Our kids stayed focused."

Looking back on the season Johnson was impressed by seniors returning from injuries overcoming any mindsets that might have diminished their effectiveness.

"Kristi DuChanois coming back from ACL injury, Tahlon Hopkins had major shoulder surgery during the off-season and Maria McPherson."

"For those three kids to handle that and finish strong with the rest of our seniors it was very, very special for me personally," Johnson said. "I'm very, very proud of these kids."