Working Through Injuries

FARMINGTON GIRLS NOTCH MORE WINS

FARMINGTON -- A short-handed Farmington squad faced tournament host, Mountain Home, in the consolation game of the 2017 Bail Bonds girls basketball tournament and dealt the 6A Lady Bombers a 63-54 loss.

"Audrey Culpepper was injured in the second game at the Mountain Home tournament (an 82-58 loss to North Little Rock in the semifinals Dec. 28)," said Farmington coach Brad Johnson. "She'll be back we hope at the end of next week. Right now she's still in concussion protocol. Anthea Jones is still out with a broken hand. She injured her hand against Rogers Heritage (a Dec. 15 win). She worked so hard to get back from that ankle injury. She just got back and she hurt her hand."

Johnson said the target date for Jones' return is the middle of January.

The Lady Bombers were able to contain sophomore Makenna Vanzant, holding her to a single point in the first half. They were not as successful keeping track of junior Madisyn Pense, who sank four 3-point shots and scored 14 first-half points. They paid more attention to Pense beyond intermission when Mountain Home led 29-28, but yielded 7 third-quarter points to Vanzant, who busted a 3-pointer. She also hit 4-of-5 free throws to seal Farmington's win in the fourth.

Pense finished with 21 to lead Farmington (10-2), while two players new to the Lady Cardinal mix this season, junior Alexis Roach (13) and sophomore Joelle Tidwell (10) combined for 23 points. Vanzant added 12 and Farmington's offensive balance offset a 22-point outing by Mountain Home 5-8 senior guard Hannah Pfeifer, who knocked down six 3-pointers for a game-high 22 points. No other Lady Bomber reached double figures.

Vanzant was 7-of-10 at the charity stripe and the Lady Cardinals were 17-of-23 as a team. Farmington was efficient in defending the paint, committing only 4 team fouls in the contest. Mountain Home was 4-of-6 at the free-throw line. The win over Mountain Home earned the Lady Cardinals third place in the tournament.

During the opening round of the tournament, Farmington defeated Paragould, 65-49, on Dec. 27. Pense knocked down six 3-pointers and scored 22 points as Farmington prevailed in the second-half after the teams played to a 28-28 halftime tie. Vanzant chipped in 13 and Alexis Roach had 12. Farmington outscored Paragould 21-11 in the third quarter. Paragould was led by Abby Rogers with five 3-pointers and 17 points.

Against 7A North Little Rock, Vanzant had 16, while Pense added 12 and Journagan 10. The loss dropped Farmington into the consolation game against Mountain Home.

Farmington 63, Mountain Home 54

Farmington^18^10^19^16^--^63

Mountain Home^13^16^9^16^--^54

Farmington (10-2): Madisyn Pense 7 2-2 21, Alexis Roach 5 3-5 13, Makenna Vanzant 2 7-10 12, Joelle Tidwell 4 2-2 10, Camryn Journagan 1 3-4 5, Eliza Ball 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 17-23 63.

Mountain Home (7-7): Hannah Pfeifer 8 0-0 22, Kyra Pinn 4 0-0 8, Payton Huskey 3 0-0 7, Emma Martin 2 1-2 6, Anna Grace Foreman 2 0-0 4, Maly Tabor 1 2-2 4, Riley Walker 1 1-1 3. Totals 21 4-6 54.

3-Point goals -- Farmington 6 (Pense 5, Vanzant). Mountain Home 8 (Pfeifer 6, Huskey, Martin).

Sports on 01/17/2018