FARMINGTON -- The Cardinals hit Alma with a flurry from the start, building an 18-4 early lead en route to a key 70-45 conference win in 5A West play at home Friday.
Senior guard Matt Wilson scored 44 points, picking and choosing his spots. Farmington coach Beau Thompson praised play on the defensive end, especially in the first half.
"We held them to 18 in the first half and we gave up three of those on their last possession. We had a turnover and they hit a three. We were way more active defensively than we were at their place."
"The other thing was Matt Wilson just wasn't going to get beat tonight. He showed that on the first possession. We got off to a good start. We were good and patient on offense. It kind of all came together tonight."
Wilson hit a 3-pointer out of the gate, then added another after Xavier Staten yanked down an offensive rebound, drove hard, then kicked the ball out to Wilson.
In a 59-50 loss at Clarksville earlier in the week, Thompson limited the rotation and that might have worked against him.
"In the loss at Clarksville Tuesday, we got a little tired, especially our front line. We played only six players. That was probably my fault."
On Friday, Thompson switched tactics, bringing Jacob Gray and Conner Hill off the bench to spell Staten, Cade Fenton and Skyler Montez up front. He also inter-changed Taylor Carbonel and Peyton Maxwell at guard.
"Alma can really shoot it. Our back line gets really tired chasing them out of the corners so that (increased rotation) was kind of by design."
The players coming off the bench contributed. Hill tipped in a miss when Wilson drove hard to the bucket to start the second quarter. Maxwell followed by raising a 12-feet jumper on the baseline on the next possession, spotting up for an easy deuce when Wilson drew a double-team while trying to drive. Gray added a 3-point play by following Staten's foray into the key, putting in a miss and drawing a foul. That offset a trifecta by Alma's Christian Stahler, making the score 29-15 in favor of Farmington.
With fresh legs, Fenton blocked a shot igniting a fast-break. Wilson completed the transition by scoring on the other end and adding a free thow. Wilson added two more foul shots and Carbonel cut to the hoop, taking a feed from Staten in the corner for a layup to cap a 10-0 Cardinal run.
Nathan Corder hit a 3-pointer for Alma cutting the margin to 36-18 at halftime. Dathan Hillian's hoop and harm narrowed the lead to 36-23 fifty-three seconds into the third, but Farmington answered with Fenton throwing cross-court to Wilson for a spot-up trey in the corner.
Alma again cut into the lead. Kade Wood's bucket in the paint made the score 39-27 and Thompson took time-out. After talking strategy, Wilson came off a screen to hit another 3-point shot and added another bucket off a steal. The Cardinal lead reached 20, at 49-29, on Wilson's assist to Montez running the floor.
Wilson scored 19 in the quarter including Farmington's last 8 points of the period on a trifecta, 3-point play and steal that he tipped in at the buzzer electrifying Cardinal fans. Wilson had missed a 3-pointer and Alma rebounded with time running out. Fenton and Wilson contested the outlet pass, which Wilson intercepted timing his play perfectly to tip the ball in the basket. This was an extra-ordinary feat in which he recorded a steal and made field goal all in the same motion of his hand, giving Farmington a 57-37 lead after three periods of play.
Alma never threatened in the fourth and Farmington coasted to a 70-45 victory. Thompson believes Wilson already owns school mark for most points in a season at Farmington with two games left to play in the regular season.
"We've never had a player average over 30 points a game," Thompson said, emphasizing, "It's pretty hard to average 30 points-a-game in 5A. He's averaging that when everybody knows he's going to shoot it."
Farmington 70, Alma 45
Alma^10^8^19^8^--^45
Farmington^18^18^21^13--^70
Alma (13-7): Braden Johnson 5 1-2 11, Dathan Hillian 1 6-6 9, Kade Wood 4 0-0 8, Nathan Corder 2 0-0 6, Christian Stahler 1 2-2 5, Tanner Shelton 1 2-2 4, Dylan Parrish 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 11-12 45.
Farmington (19-6): Matthew Wilson 14 10-11 44, Xavier Staten 2 1-1 6, Cade Fenton 2 0-0 6, Taylor Carbonel 2 0-0 4, Jacob Gray 1 1-1 3, Skylar Montez 1 0-0 2, Peyton Maxwell 1 0-0 2, Conner Hill Hill 1 0-0 2, Carson Sharp 0 1-2 1. Totals 24 13-15 70.
3-Point Goals -- Alma 4 (Corder 2, Hillian, Stahler), Farmington 9 (Wilson 6, Fenton 2, Staten).
Sports on 02/15/2017