5A-West Conference Girls

O'Connell Guides Young Lady Cardinals

NWA Democrat-Gazette/Michael Woods Farmington’s Trish O’Connell is the only returning starter for the Lady Cardinals, but she expects the team to continue its tradition of success after going 24-5 last season and advancing to the semifinals of the Class 5A state playoffs.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/Michael Woods Farmington’s Trish O’Connell is the only returning starter for the Lady Cardinals, but she expects the team to continue its tradition of success after going 24-5 last season and advancing to the semifinals of the Class 5A state playoffs.

FARMINGTON -- Trish O'Connell knows she will be expected to carry a heavy load this season for the Farmington girls basketball team.

That's just part of the deal when you are the only returning starter.

At a glance

Trish O’Connell

SCHOOL Farmington

POSITION Guard

HEIGHT 5-7

CLASS Senior

LAST SEASON Averaged 7.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game as a junior.

THE SKINNY Only returning starter off last year’s team which finished 24-5 overall and advanced to the Class 5A semifinals.

QUOTING COACH BRAD JOHNSON “For the last two years of high school Trish has been primarily at the No. 2 guard for us, but she’ll have to move over and play the point guard for us this year.”

Farmington lost three starters to graduation and a fourth, Tayton Hopkins, went back to playing home school basketball. That is why Coach Brad Johnson is placing the leadership role squarely on the shoulders of O'Connell, a senior guard who helped the Lady Cardinals go 24-5 and advance to the semifinals of the Class 5A state playoffs last season.

Johnson knows that is a lot to ask from one player, but he has been grooming O'Connell for this moment for some time.

"Trish has always been a very good vocal leader and a leader by example," Johnson said. "Even going back to her seventh-grade year, she was our team manager and she was learning about leadership. So she's been ready for this for some time."

O'Connell started every game last season, averaging 7.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. She played shooting guard the past two years but will move to point guard this season.

"Defensively, she was kind of our go-to," Johnson said. "That role will change for her this year because we need to keep her on the floor, so we'll probably have her guard the other team's number two."

Farmington has three other seniors on its roster -- 5-9 Tori Hamley, 5-4 Josie Tevebaugh and 5-4 Meagan Dooley -- and O'Connell is quick to credit them with helping provide leadership for an otherwise young Lady Cardinals team.

"I feel like I'm one of the big leaders on the team, and our other seniors are as well," O'Connell said. "We help the young players any way we can."

Johnson said he is also counting on 5-9 junior Kaylee Brown and 5-8 junior Claudia Oxford, and that sophomores Camryn Journagan and Madison Parsley will be thrown in the mix as well.

Sports on 11/18/2015