FARMINGTON -- Farmington battled Alma throughout regulation and into two overtime periods before claiming a 75-75 thrilling nonconference win at Cardinal Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018.
Senior Will Pridmore led all scorers with a 40-point performance for the Cardinals. He was one of many heroes on the night. Farmington coach Beau Thompson praised the team's work ethic and dedication.
"He (Pridmore) works very hard. He spends a lot of extra time in the gym, as along with really everybody on this team" Thompson said. "Our point-guard Jayden Whitmore spent countless hours making himself a player. He's a kid that never really played for us in junior high, and has worked his way into maybe our most solid player with the ball in his hands. He's at the gym every night. Jaylen Montez is at the gym every night getting extra shots up."
Alma had three players in double figures topped by Cejay Mann, whose eight 3-pointers led to 29 points.
Tight Game
Farmington led 13-11 at the end of the first quarter then Alma, using coach Stan Flenor's trademark man-to-man press and half-court trap, surged in front and held the lead for 10 minutes until Pridmore nailed a trifecta with 3:03 to go in the third. Alma regained the lead on Mann's 3-pointer. The game was tight the rest of the way.
There were some hairy moments. Nearing the end of regulation with the score knotted at 56-56, Alma's Taelon Peter stepped into the passing lane, stole the ball and drove for a layup drawing a foul. Farmington coach Beau Thompson called time-out providing some time for Peter to think about it. The strategy worked and the free throw was no good. The rebound was fought over with a foul called on Alma's Tanner Shelton, his fifth.
At the other end Pridmore stepped up and knocked down a pair from the foul line to tie the game, at 58-all. The Cardinals played man-to-man forcing Mann into an off-balance shot. Tyler Vollmer rebounded and found Pridmore with the outlet.
Alma's Austin Cluck took a swipe and came away with the ball while the Cardinals were hurrying into the frontcourt. Cluck had the strength to launch a thee-quarter court shot that bounced off the rim as the horn sounded without the benefit of a running start.
First Overtime
In the first overtime, Alma fought back from a 63-60 deficit. Mann put in a teammate's missed three and Austin Cluck scored inside pushing the Airedales ahead, 64-63. A push-off cost Farmington possession on an offensive foul, but Alma failed to capitalize when Zack White launched a 3-point attempt that missed. Jayden Whitmore rebounded for Farmington and Pridmore drew yet another foul. He sank both putting Farmington in front, 65-64.
After turnovers by both teams, Peter scored with his own rebound and the lead reverted to Alma. The Airedales got a blocked shot and rebound drawing a foul from Whitmore stopping the clock with 12.2 seconds left in the first overtime. D.J. George made both shots of a 1-and-1 extending Alma's lead to three, 68-65.
Clutch 3-Pointer
Thompson called time-out before the free throws and the Cardinals executed well. Alma backed off the pressure allowing Vollmer to inbound delicately. Whitmore let the ball bounce to near half-court before picking it up and starting the clock.
He crossed the time-line then made a running leap, hanging in the air before delivering the ball to Vollmer set up on the right wing. Vollmer immediately gave the ball up to Danny Valenzuela coming across the baseline with a defender chasing him into the right corner. Vollmer was left unguarded and received a pass back for the spot-up game-tying 3-pointer.
Alma tried to in-bound but the ball was deflected. Flenor called time-out with 3 seconds showing. The Airdales went to Mann, but his running field goal attempt from the back-court went wide left sending the game into a second overtime, tied at 68-68.
Second Overtime
Farmington got the defensive stops the Cardinals had to have to win in double overtime.
Cluck missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but White got the offensive rebound for Alma. Pridmore's steal thwarted that second chance and he was fouled at the other end making 1-of-2 for a 73-70 Cardinal advantage midway through the second bonus session.
Mann made 1-of-2 free throws drawing the Airdales within two points. Both teams turned the ball over and Farmington had to defend two Alma in-bounds plays underneath the basket and one from the side. Pridmore stripped a player going to the basket, and Whitmore blocked a shot out-of-bounds.
Big Free Throws
On the third try, Alma got off a shot but White couldn't score with a short jumper.
With the Cardinals leading, 73-71, the rebound was controlled by Farmington's Vollmer. Alma fouled Whitmore, who made 2-of-2 free throws with 17 seconds to go to provide the winning margin. Mann sank a 3-pointer for Alma, but the Airdales were out of time-outs. Vollmer took the ball out-of-bounds and held it until the clock expired.
Alma competed well but came up one point short. Farmington won, 75-74.
Team Effort
"These kids are easy to root for. They have put so much time into it and they have really put their heart into having a good year and I'm glad to see them having some success," Thompson said. "We tried to stress early in the year that we knew we had some rough games coming. I knew we probably had some losses coming, but we're trying to keep our heads screwed on straight, trying to go toward a common goal, which is the district tournament, the Regional tournament at the end of the year. Get better every game and you know I think we've done that over the last nine or ten days now. It's a marathon, it's not a sprint so we'll see."
Both teams shot 48 percent from the floor. Alma was better behind the 3-point line making 44 percent to 33 percent for the Cardinals. Farmington's big advantage came at the foul line where the Cardinals shot 82 percent making 31-of-37 free throws to 56 percent for Alma (9-of-16).
Farmington 75, Alma 74, (Double Overtime)
Alma^11^12^17^18^10^6^--^74
Famington^13^4^23^18^10^7^--^75
Alma (2-2): Cejay Mann 10 1-2 29, Tanner Shelton 6 4-7 18, Taelon Peter 6 0-2 12, D.J. George 2 4-4 9, Austin Cluck 1 0-1 2, Zack White 1 0-0 2, Bobby Winfrey 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 9-16 74.
Farmington (3-3): Will Pridmore 11 15-18 40, Tony Mayo 3 4-4 11, Jayden Whitmore 1 6-6 8, Tyler Vollmer 1 2-2 5, Danny Valenzuela 2 0-1 5, Jayden Montez 0 2-4 2, Austin Shelly 0 2-2 2, Marquaveon Watson 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 31-37 75.
3-point Goals -- Alma 11 (Mann 8, Shelton 2, George). Farmington -- 6 (Pridmore 3, Mayo, Vollmer, Valenzuela).
Rebounds -- Farmington 24, Alma 31. Assists -- Alma 14. Steals -- Farmington 12, Alma 12.
Sports on 12/12/2018