FARMINGTON -- Those looking for a definition of mercy in a contemporary world which often seems hostile need look no farther than Farmington's 57-8 girls basketball win over Lavaca Nov. 16.
The Lady Golden Arrows may have jumped at a chance to play in Farmington's ultra-chic Cardinal Arena, but it was evident early on they weren't prepared to play at Farmington's pace. Tori Kersey and Trinity Johnson combined for Farmington's first 10 points beginning with Kersey's steal and one then capped by Trinity Johnson's trifecta prompting a Lavaca time-out.
Kersey led all scorers with 21 points, the only player in double figures.
The Lady Cardinal man-to-man defense suffocated Lavaca's offense and translated into numerous fast-break opportunities. Farmington coach Brad Johnson substituted liberally and the reserves proved just as tenacious defensively. Lavaca made only two field goals in a 49-point blow-out that could have been a lot worse.
"You look at Mazzi Carlson, Allie Devecsery, Camila Gurrola, those are names that haven't been called here much in the last several years, but you got a chance to really see what those kids bring to the table defensively with their activity," Brad Johnson said.
Farmington consistently beat the Lady Golden Arrows down the court jumping out to a 31-0 lead before Lavaca got its first points of the contest and only field goal of the first half on Katie May's 3-pointer early in the second quarter.
Seconds later Kersey put in a Farmington miss at the other end and the lead never got below 30 points for Farmington the rest of the way. Mercy appeared all over the court. The officials called very few fouls against Lavaca, and on a play where a Lady Golden Arrow stole the ball and headed the wrong way, players on Farmington's bench yelled getting her turned around before she crossed the time-line and committed a back-court violation.
Nine Lady Cardinals scored. Trinity Johnson finished with 9 points and Carson Dillard added a trey and 7 points.
Sophomore Anna Davis scored the only other field goal for Lavaca and finished with 2 points.
Farmington led 29-0 after one period of play, 45-3 at halftime, and 49-5 going into the fourth quarter. The Lady Cardinals shot 48 percent from the field and an uncharacteristic 15 percent from beyond the 3-point arc while Lavaca made just 8 percent of its field goals and 8 percent of its 3-point tries.
"We had a lot of kids come off the bench and give us good minutes tonight and kids that maybe a lot of people don't know about and these kids really stepped their game up," Brad Johnson said.
"I think there's a lot of really interesting pieces to our team. I think our ceiling's really, really high and we got a lot of stuff that we want to clean up and they know that and I know that."
Farmington 57, Lavaca 8
Lavaca^0^3^2^3^--^8
Farmington^29^16^4^8^--^57
Farmington (4-0): Tori Kersey 10 1-1 21, Trinity Johnson 4 0-0 9, Carson Dillard 3 0-0 7, Megan Hernandez 2 0-0 4, Kamryn Uher 2 0-0 4, Zaina Vanlandingham 2 0-0 4, Cadence Dean 2 0-0 4, Morgan Brye 1 0-0 2, Lindsey Scogin 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 1-1 58.
Lavaca (1-1): Katie May 1 0-0 3, Anna Davis 1 0-0 2, Lindsey Morgan 0 1-2 1, Journi Brown 0 1-2 1, Rylie Green 0 1-2 1. Totals 2 3-6 8.
3-Point Goals -- Farmington 2 (Johnson, Dillard), Lavaca 1 (May).
Rebounds -- Farmington 28, Lavaca 23. Assists -- Farmington 11, Lavaca 2. Steals -- Farmington 20, Lavaca 2. Blocks -- Farmington 1, Lavaca 0.