Farmington Boys Basketball

FARMINGTON -- A fantastic start got Farmington off to a 24-8 lead, which coupled with buckets in key situations, triggered a 65-56 win by Farmington's boys over Van Buren Nov. 19.

The Cardinal basketball team bolstered by 6-feet-3 transfer Will Pridmore, who played guard the last two seasons at Prairie Grove, returns a solid core group including: shooting guard Jaylen Montez, point guards Jayden Whitmore and Danny Valenzuela, front liner Tony Mayo, as well as big man 6-feet-7 Austin Shelley.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 24-8 lead, which Van Buren trimmed to 11 at halftime. The Pointers got treys from Gary Phillips and Landrey Wilkerson in the second quarter.

In the third quarter, Van Buren closed to within, 30-25, on a basket by Phillips; but Pridmore answered for the Cardinals by nailing a trifecta to kick-start a 14-4 Farmington run to close out the third. Pridmore bookended the run by scoring a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to cap the period with Farmington in front, 44-29.

Farmington led 55-33 on Montez' 3-pointer in the fourth when Van Buren went on an 11-0 run. Wilkerson started the run by hitting a 3-pointer. Phillips converted a pair of foul shots and Brothers knocked down back-to-back treys cutting the Cardinal lead to 55-44. After a time-out Brothers hit another 3-pointer pulling Van Buren within 58-49.

Montez made six 3-pointers, scoring 26 points to garner game honors. Pridmore added two 3-pointers and 19 points for Farmington, which shot a blistering 53 percent from beyond the arc.

Van Buren was just average shooting 32 percent on 3-pointers. Van Buren was led by Brothers with 19 and Ball with 13.

The Cardinals held their own on the boards, out-rebounding the Pointers 26-25. Farmington benefitted from teamwork producing 13 assists to 10 for Van Buren.

Farmington 65, Van Buren 56

Farmington^24^5^15^21 -- 65

Van Buren^8^10^9^27 -- 56

Sports on 11/28/2018