Sensational 3-Point Field Goal Punctuates Pense's Career

FARMINGTON FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Farmington's Madisyn Pense scored the first basket of the game as the Lady Cardinals opened 4A-1 Conference play against Prairie Grove with a 58-29 victory at Cardinal Arena. Pense scored 1,210 points in a Lady Cardinal uniform joining teammate, Makenna Vanzant, as dual 1,000-point career scorers.
MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Farmington's Madisyn Pense scored the first basket of the game as the Lady Cardinals opened 4A-1 Conference play against Prairie Grove with a 58-29 victory at Cardinal Arena. Pense scored 1,210 points in a Lady Cardinal uniform joining teammate, Makenna Vanzant, as dual 1,000-point career scorers.

FARMINGTON -- At the end of quarters Farmington girls basketball coach Brad Johnson often used a cloak-and-dagger offensive set keeping attention focused on Mckenna Vanzant handling the ball at the top-of-the-key.

With the clock winding down, Madisyn Pense ran through multiple screens flashing to either corner or wing to get open for a 3-pointer which she frequently hit. Pense graduated from Farmington in May and adds the distinction of being named Female Athlete-of-the-Year by the Enterprise-Leader for school year 2018-2019 to her career achievements.

Cloak And Dagger

Pense scored the 1,000th point of her high school career during her senior season on a typical cloak-and-dagger play burning the Pea Ridge Lady Blackhawks during the Lady Cardinals' 71-64 conference victory on Tuesday, Dec. 19, at Cardinal Arena.

Vanzant cloaked Farmington's intentions, utilizing a hesitation dribble to allow Pense sufficient time to curl through the Lady Blackhawk defense before breaking open on the high right wing, then nailing Pea Ridge with a dagger.

Pea Ridge's Aidan Dayberry was so desperate to get out and contest the shot that she plowed over Pense, who concentrated on making the 3-point basket following through while skidding backwards across the hardwood after absorbing Dayberry's hard foul and landing in a sit-down position.

The 3-point field goal counted and as a bonus Pense was awarded a free throw as Farmington's hometown crowd erupted, cheering her sensational field goal.

Pense coolly converted the four-point play to reach 1,000 career points with 7.1 seconds remaining in the first half, offsetting a 3-pointer by Lady Blackhawk Hollyn Davis that cut Farmington's lead to four points. Her exploit doubled Farmington's lead to 37-29 at the half restoring momentum back in the Lady Cardinals' favor.

Johnson dished out high praise for Pense, who he credited with often putting her game on the back-burner to allow multi-talented teammates such as Vanzant, Alexis Roach, Trinity Johnson, Audrey Culpepper, and Tori Kersey to get a look. Still, Pense knew when she needed to score.

"That goes back to just being a great teammate," Brad Johnson said. "She's never been one to worry about individual accolades or anything like that."

Track Sacrifice

That character trait shone through brilliantly when Pense stepped aside during the State 4A track and field meet in May after qualifying with Farmington's 4x400 relay team. An injury prompted her to bow out of the competition.

Farmington girls track and field coach Si Hornbeck noted Pense's contribution which resulted in a State 4A 4x400 championship for the school and Pense's teammates: Lynley Bowen, Amelia Fuqua, Alexis Roach and Ashley Akridge.

"Hey coach, I don't know that I can do what I need to be able to do for the team," Pense told Hornbeck.

Fuqua qualified for state in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.17. She finished 12th in the preliminaries with a time of 13.24, but her presence became extremely valuable when she took Pense's spot in the 4x400 relay finals.

"(We had) four girls, really had five, (I) kind of knew four of the five we're going to run," Hornbeck said, adding he didn't know who was going to go until as he described it, Pense stepped up and excused herself for the good of the team.

"So, we had another one that stepped up and did a great job," Hornbeck said. "Everybody ran as fast as they could, as fast as they've run all year long."

Career Totals

Brad Johnson delighted in the manner in which Pense's 1,000th career point scenario played out. Pense came into the Pea Ridge game with 990 points and had scored six prior to her spectacular 4-point play which pushed her to the 1,000-point career threshold.

"It was pretty special for her to be able to be there, the game to kind of be stopped (with a foul called on Pea Ridge), and the crowd could really focus in on her hitting that shot," Brad Johnson said. "So, that was an extremely special moment and she did it the way she scored a lot of her points. She hit a three and its 'and one,' so that's special for that kid and she deserves that honor."

Pense's career totals showcase her basketball resume at Farmington. She played 103 games, scoring 1,210 points, with 215 rebounds, 156 assists, 127 steals and 5 blocked shots. That translates to averages of 11.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 steals and .05 blocks per-game.

Pense made 279-of-800 3-pointers for a .349 3-point field goal percentage. She knocked down 97-of-118 free throws with a reliable .822 free throw percentage and overall made 420-of-1,083 total field goals for .388 percent.

Sports on 07/31/2019