Cardinals Flutter Past Lions For Victory

FARMINGTON BOYS CLAIM 47-46 ROAD WIN

MIKE ECKELS NWA MEDIA Farmington senior Austin Shelley (No. 50) and Gravette's Colby McCarthy (No. 5) fight for control of a rebound during the third quarter of the Gravette versus Farmington conference basketball contest at Gravette Dec. 21. Farmington took the victory by a single point in the last five seconds of the game. MIKE ECKELS NWA MEDIA Farmington senior Austin Shelley (No. 50) and Gravette's Colby McCarthy (No. 5) fight for control of a rebound during the third quarter of the Gravette versus Farmington conference basketball contest at Gravette Dec. 21. Farmington took the victory by a single point in the last five seconds of the game.
MIKE ECKELS NWA MEDIA Farmington senior Austin Shelley (No. 50) and Gravette's Colby McCarthy (No. 5) fight for control of a rebound during the third quarter of the Gravette versus Farmington conference basketball contest at Gravette Dec. 21. Farmington took the victory by a single point in the last five seconds of the game. MIKE ECKELS NWA MEDIA Farmington senior Austin Shelley (No. 50) and Gravette's Colby McCarthy (No. 5) fight for control of a rebound during the third quarter of the Gravette versus Farmington conference basketball contest at Gravette Dec. 21. Farmington took the victory by a single point in the last five seconds of the game.

GRAVETTE -- It came down to the wire, with the conference contest win decided in the final seconds, but the Farmington Cardinals prevailed, winning 47-46 over the Gravette Lions Dec. 21 at the competition gym in Gravette.

The Lions were the first to score on a pair of free throws by Brayden Trembly at the 7:30 mark in the first quarter. Farmington answered on the next play with a three-pointer, giving the Cardinals the lead for the first time. From that point onward, the lead changed hands several times in the quarter, with the Lions being up by a point going into the second quarter.

The Lions managed to hold on to the lead briefly during the second quarter, but that quickly changed when a run late in the quarter put the Cardinals up by four at halftime.

Gravette came back in the second half, tying Farmington by the end of the third quarter. Farmington regained the lead on its first possession of the final quarter. For the remainder of the contest, the lead again changed hands several times. With 90 seconds left to play, the Cardinals tied the Lions once again. A baseline foul gave Farmington the chance to regain the advantage. The Cardinal shooter made the basket, and Farmington was up by one.

With less than a minute left, the Lions were on top once again, 46-45. Farmington had the ball and tried to run the clock down to under 10 seconds before making the final shot. But Colby McCarthy fouled Farmington's William Pridemore with 31 seconds left. Pridemore hit both shots putting the Cardinals back on top by one.

Gravette moved the ball down the court and passed the ball back and forth to run the clock down, hoping Farmington would foul. A couple of miscues by the Lions and a missed shot put the ball back into the hands of the Cardinals. A quick foul by the Lions sent Danny Valenzuela to the line one for one. He missed the shot and the rebound was picked up by the Lions with six-tenths of a second left. Time ran out on the Gravette Lions, and the Farmington Cardinals took the conference win, 47-46.

Leading the scoring effort for the Lions was Johnny Dunfee with 16, followed by Brayden Trembly with 11, Colby McCarthy with eight, Tristan Batie with seven. Chase Austin and Issac Griffith each contributed two to the scoring drive.

Sports on 01/09/2019