Lady Cardinals Move To Semifinal

FARMINGTON GIRLS DEFEAT HOT SPRINGS

Photo by Mark Humphrey/Enterprise-Leader/Farmington sophomore Madisyn Pense handles the ball during a game at Cardinal Arena. Pense had good tournament and helped Farmington defeat Hot Springs, 58-55, on Friday in the quarterfinals of the State 5A girls basketball tournament semifinals at Magnolia.
Photo by Mark Humphrey/Enterprise-Leader/Farmington sophomore Madisyn Pense handles the ball during a game at Cardinal Arena. Pense had good tournament and helped Farmington defeat Hot Springs, 58-55, on Friday in the quarterfinals of the State 5A girls basketball tournament semifinals at Magnolia.

FARMINGTON -- Senior guard Cameron Journagan hit two clutch free thows and Farmington survived two 3-point attempts to defeat Hot Springs, 58-55, at the State 5A girls basketball tournament Friday.

This was the opposite ending of a 5A State semifinal meeting between the two schools during the 2015 tournament with Hot Springs winning, 51-48, when a last-second Farmington 3-point attempt bounced off. This time the shoe was on the other foot with Farmington torching the nets from 3-point land. The Lady Cardinals made 9 total 3-pointers, answering each challenge Hot Springs threw at them.

"We rebounded as well as we could have," said Farmington coach Brad Johnson. "We were the most under-sized team in the tournament. Our girls were very tenacious on the boards. Kaylee Brown didn't score a lot of points for us down there, but she played really well, overall. The things she had to do defensively and on the boards, she was matched up against someone a lot taller than her most of the time."

The Lady Trojans fought hard to stay in the game after a pair of technical foul free throws put Farmington ahead, 49-43. Farmington in-bounded but an offensive foul turned the ball back over to Hot Springs. Keyneso Hunter shot off the glass was followed by Ariana Guinn taking a lead pass and scoring in transition to cut Farmington's lead to 49-47.

Consistent 3-point shooting saved the day for Farmington and sophomore sharpshooter Madisyn Pense came through in a big way busting a trifecta from the right wing. Imani Honey answered with a trey for Hot Springs, making the score, 52-50. Then Guinn and Hunter fought over a rebound and wound up going out of bounds, leading to a Farmington free throw. The Lady Cardinals then drew a crucial charging foul against Nya Moody with 2:45 to go. Farmington capitalized with another 3-pointer, this one by senior Claudia Oxford, to widen their cushion to 56-50, only to give up a traditional 3-point play to Hunter.

In a hotly contested game, Moody, a 5-feet-11 sophomore, blocked a Farmington layup. The Lady Cardinals in-bounded under their own basket but Guinn stole the ball. After a time-out, she scored to pull the Lady Trojans to within, 56-55. Hot Springs had a chance to take the lead after a Farmington traveling violation, but missed a shot and Farmington tied up the rebound. Working against full-court pressure, Makenna Vanzant got open, then gave up the ball to Journagan, who was fouled and hit both shots of the 1-and-1 to give the Lady Cardinals a 3-point lead with 16.7 seconds remaining.

The Lady Trojans missed their initial 3-point attempt by Hunter and Guinn got the long rebound. She tried a desperation deep 3-pointer that didn't go and Farmington won, 58-55, as time expired.

The game featured a see-saw battle in the first three quarters. Farmington held a 16-14 lead after the first quarter before Hot Springs went ahead, 26-25, at the half. Farmington went ahead for good on Vanzant's 3-pointer early in the third, but the game remained close. Kiah Beauford cashed in on a 3-on-1 fast-break opportunity with a 3-point play, cutting Farmington's lead to 36-35 midway through the third. Farmington would outscore Hot Springs, 20-15, in the period, taking a 45-41 lead at the end of the third. Pense had four 3-pointers, forcing Hot Springs to guard her on the perimeter.

Farmington, No. 3 seed from the 5A-West, made six 3-point shots in the second half in beating the 5A South champion Hot Springs at Panther Arena in Magnolia. The Lady Cardinals (24-7) faced Little Rock Parkview Saturday in a semifinal for the right to play for the 2017 state championship to be held at Hot Springs this weekend.

Farmington 58, Hot Springs 55

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Farmington^16^9^20^13^--^58

Sports on 03/08/2017