FARMINGTON -- A quiet hero emerged in the form of junior guard Nathan Monroe, who recently returned to action after sitting out 30 days, playing an instrumental role for Farmington.
Much as they did in the district final the previous week, Farmington's defense smothered an opponent in the second half on the way to beating Subiaco Academy, 59-50. The Cardinal victory in the 4A North Regional at Ozark Wednesday, March 3, secured the school's first berth in the Class 4A State boys basketball tournament since 2011. Farmington played in the 5A ranks from 2014-2019.
Monroe made 8-of-9 free throws scoring 15 points, shared team honors for rebounds with Carson Simmons, handled the ball a lot against Trojan pressure and crashed the boards. He factored heavily into Farmington rallying from down 16-9 plagued by turnovers in the first quarter.
"If Nathan Monroe doesn't play as well as he does, we don't win that game," Johnny Taylor said. "He had 15 points and 8 rebounds. He's the smallest guy on the floor, but played the toughest."
The 5-feet-8 Monroe's steal early in the third led to Layne Taylor's 10-feet bank shot and kick-started a 14-6 Cardinal run that shifted Farmington from a 32-28 halftime deficit into a 42-38 lead at the end of the quarter.
Conner King made five 3-pointers and led Subiaco with 18 points. King scored but Monroe cut to the basket, taking a feed from Simmons. He scored in traffic and added a free throw. Jackson Frederick drilled a step-back three, but the Trojans suffered an extended drought and wouldn't score for more than six minutes.
Johnny Taylor attributed that to getting out of the full-court press and switching into a zone, which Subiaco's talented team struggled against.
"We should have switched out of our press earlier," Johnny Taylor said. "Jonathan Mercera became way less aggressive. He became stagnant and started just standing around. So did Ivan Martin."
Mercera scored only two points in the second half while Martin, who consistently slashed through the Cardinals for a dozen first half points, was held to four in the second half. The 6-5 Mercera also guarded Layne Taylor wearing down the freshman so Johnny Taylor had Monroe, Caleb Blakely and Simmons take turns bringing the ball up while running Layne Taylor on the weakside.
"Coaches in the league think Subiaco had the second-most talent other than Morrilton in the 4A-4," Johnny Taylor said.
The Trojans got shut down twice for two weeks each time by covid issues and presented a dangerous Regional first-round opponent. Subiaco led 4A-4 champion Morrilton by 10 in the district tournament before Mercera got in foul trouble and the game changed.
"That's what I love about high school basketball. You don't ever know who you're going to draw and who's peaking at the right time," Johnny Taylor said. "They've got an advantage with their kids housed on their campus. There's things they don't have to deal with that we do."
Subiaco had one basket erased by a traveling violation. Another Layne Taylor bank shot pushed Farmington into a 39-38 lead with 1:48 left in the third quarter and the Cardinals wouldn't trail again. Monroe yanked down consecutive offensive rebounds in a key sequence with the quarter about to expire. He finished with five offensive rebounds and passed out of the paint to Simmons at the top-of-the-key, whose 3-pointer dropped in after hitting the front of the rim and Farmington owned a 4-point lead.
Farmington built a 51-44 lead at the 2:24 mark of the fourth off another offensive rebound by Monroe, who reset the half-court offense, leading to Roman Carlson's free throw and the eighth team foul of the half against Subiaco.
Farmington's defense frustrated the Trojans down the stretch. Carlson blocked a shot out-of-bounds, but possession reverted to the Cardinals because Layne Taylor drew a charging foul against Subiaco on the same play. Going the other way, Blakely drove the middle, attacking the basket against full-court pressure. His shot wouldn't fall, but Simmons cleaned up the miss and Monroe sank 5-of-6 foul shots in the last 1:14 to seal the win.
Commemorating the accomplishments of coach Johnny Taylor in his first season at Farmington, the Cardinals have won a conference title, district tournament championship, and qualified for the State tournament while advancing in the 4A North Regional.
Monroe and Layne Taylor shared scoring honors for Farmington with 15 points apiece while Blakely added 13 points, 7 rebounds and a blocked shot and Simmons chipped in 12 points, 8 rebounds and a block. Carlson had 4 points, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks.
"That was one of our most-balanced games scoring and rebounding," Johnny Taylor said.
Farmington's win broke a 9-game losing streak for 4A-1 teams in Regional play dating back to Pea Ridge's 42-40 defeat of Booneville in the consolation game on Feb. 24, 2018. No 4A-1 team advanced out of the Regional in either 2019 or 2020 and the last 4A-1 boys team to win a 4A North Regional championship was Pea Ridge, which beat another 4A-1 team, Huntsville, by a 54-37 score on Feb. 25, 2017.
Farmington 59, Subiaco Academy 50
Subiaco Academy^16^16^6^12^--^50
Farmington^9^19^14^17^--^59
Farmington (20-4): Layne Taylor 6 1-2 15, Nathan Monroe 3 8-9 15, Caleb Blakely 5 3-6 13, Carson Simmons 5 0-0 12, Roman Carlson 1 1-2 4. Totals 20 13-19 59.
Subiaco Academy (11-12): Conner King 6 1-2 18, Ivan Martin 8 0-0 16, Jonathan Mercera 2 2-2 6, Matthew Kremers 2 0-0 5, Jackson Frederick 1 0-0 3, Jeadan Nieveld 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 3-4 50.
3-Point Goals -- Farmington 6 (Layne Taylor 2, Simmons 2, Carlson, Monroe), Subiaco Academy 7 (King 5, Kremers, Frederick).
Rebounds -- Farmington 33 (Monroe 8, Simmons 8), Subiaco Academy 23. Assists -- Farmington 11, Subiaco Academy 11. Steals -- Farmington 8, Subiaco Academy 8. Blocks -- Farmington 4 (Carlson 2), Subiaco Academy 3.
