Lady Cardinals Rebound To Trounce Gentry

FARMINGTON IMPROVES TO 4-0 IN LEAGUE PLAY

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER This banner commemorating 1,000 career points scored in Lady Cardinal uniform by Farmington senior Madisyn Pense hung in Cardinal Arena during Farmington's 56-34 conference win over Gentry on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. Pense accomplished the feat a month earlier making a 3-point field goal and adding a free-throw to convert a 4-point play against Pea Ridge on Dec. 18, 2018.
MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER This banner commemorating 1,000 career points scored in Lady Cardinal uniform by Farmington senior Madisyn Pense hung in Cardinal Arena during Farmington's 56-34 conference win over Gentry on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019. Pense accomplished the feat a month earlier making a 3-point field goal and adding a free-throw to convert a 4-point play against Pea Ridge on Dec. 18, 2018.

FARMINGTON -- The Lady Cardinals rebounded from what coach Brad Johnson described as one of their worst defeats in the last couple of years with a solid 56-34 thrashing of Gentry.

Farmington was upended (49-38) by Two Rivers (11-5, 4-1 3A-4) on Saturday, Jan. 5, and held to its lowest scoring output for the season during the Yell County Tournament hosted by Dardanelle.

The Lady Cardinals return to that tournament this Saturday, but meanwhile Farmington took on conference opponents during the week.

"That was a difficult defeat," Brad Johnson said. "If you have a difficult night, you've got to be able to come back."

Brad Johnson felt his girls were galvanized and rallied around each other, although they didn't get off to the best start playing at home in Cardinal Arena on Tuesday, Jan. 8, against Gentry.

"Tonight, we didn't shoot it well early, but our girls just stayed engaged," Brad Johnson said.

Madisyn Pense hit a 3-pointer for Farmington before consecutive scores from sophomore Emily Toland gave Gentry a 9-8 lead. Still, Farmington captured an 11-9 advantage at the quarter break. The Lady Cardinals racked up 14 steals. Seemingly each time Gentry was on the verge of closing the gap, Farmington came up with a timely steal.

Junior Joelle Tidwell took a rare 3-pointer and made the shot giving Farmington a 16-11 lead, but Gentry wouldn't go away easily. Toland scored 8 points in the first half and Gentry closed within, 22-20, on free throws by Ariel Nix inside two minutes remaining in the half.

Farmington offset that by scoring four unanswered points to assume a 26-20 halftime lead. In the locker room the Lady Cardinals weren't satisfied and Brad Johnson tweaked the defense to ensure the back two girls didn't become separated.

"They were frustrated at halftime because Gentry had some confidence and it was still a close game," Brad Johnson said. "We just talked about making sure that we were executing. Making sure that we were where we needed to be offensively and defensively. They hit some shots in the first half, and defensively, we missed a couple of assignments, so halftime was really just about being cleaner."

Farmington shot much better playing at home in Cardinal Arena improving from a season low 16 percent 3-point shooting against Two Rivers to a respectable 30 percent against Gentry. The Lady Cardinal perimeter defense was also much better -- whereas Two Rivers shot a blistering 54 percent from 3-point range, Gentry hit just 19 percent. The Lady Cardinals made 46 percent of their field goals overall compared to 30 percent for the Lady Pioneers.

Trinity Johnson sank three treys in the second half and Vanzant joined the long-range act as the third wore down.

The Lady Cardinals outscored Gentry 25-8 in the third quarter to put the game away. Farmington led 51-28 after three quarters and by as much as 56-29 in the fourth. Nix, who led Gentry with 12 points, showed some defiance with back-to-back buckets late, but Farmington rolled to a 56-34 win.

"Stepping back into this conference, we're just trying to be the best version of ourselves every time out," Brad Johnson said.

Prior to tip-off Farmington recognized Pense for reaching the 1,000-point career scoring plateau in December. Farmington had not played at home since a Dec. 19 win over Pea Ridge by a 71-64 score in which Pense completed a 4-point play to record 1,000 points.

"It was a special night to be able to honor her," Brad Johnson said. "On a night when we honor her for 1,000 points, she impacted the game in a lot more ways than scoring. There's a lot more to her game than just being an assassin-type shooter and we saw that tonight."

FARMINGTON 56, GENTRY 34

Gentry^9^11^8^6^--^34

Farmington^11^15^25^5^--^56

Gentry (8-8, 0-4): Ariel Nix 12, Emily Toland 11, Randi Jo Bolinger 4, Jaydon Jarnagan 4, Jaiden Wilmoth 3,

Farmington (14-3, 4-0): Makenna Vanzant 14, Trinity Johnson 13, Madisyn Pense 8, Tori Kersey 7, Joelle Tidwell 6, Audrey Culpepper 4, Alexis Roach 4.

3-point goals -- Farmington 7 (Johnson 3, Pense 2, Vanzant, Tidwell).

Rebounds -- Gentry 28, Farmington 29 (Vanzant 6). Assists -- Gentry 2, Farmington 3 (Vanzant, Eliza Ball). Steals -- Gentry 6, Farmington 14 (Tidwell 3, Vanzant 3, Ball 3). Blocks -- Gentry 0, Farmington 2 (Vanzant 2).

Sports on 01/16/2019