Tyree Jackson's unnecessary slam dunk while Farmington players walked off the court illustrates the problems many Americans deem as "fake news" in the Cardinals' 65-53 state semifinal loss Saturday.
Predictably the media hype surrounding the last field goal of the contest held on Blytheville's home court celebrated it as a punctation on the Chickasaws' win when in reality Jackson, a 6-feet-6 senior and one of two Blytheville players taller than anybody on Farmington's roster, didn't have anybody guarding the basket.
Farmington's five on the court realized their previously undefeated season that included a 14-0 regular season 4A-1 Conference crown, a District 4A-1 title and a 4A North Regional championship had come to an end, and after missing one last 3-point attempt were making their way off the court.
The Chickasaws weren't inclined to exactly usher them off the court with sportsmanship.
Instead of holding onto the ball and letting the clock run out, they threw a baseball pass to Jackson, who added insult to injury by dunking. Shamar Marshall, a 6-feet-2 senior, had already been letting the Cardinals know about it with Ke Sean Washington stepping to the free-throw-line to sink both ends of a 1-and-1 that pushed Blytheville's lead to 63-53 with 21.3 seconds left.
Those were the scores that in actuality sealed the win, not Jackson's uncontested basket, but the media hype won't reflect that.
What we'll get is a barrage of "fake news," sensationalizing Blytheville as sort of a false "last basket highlights win" script.
Blytheville won with a decisive home court advantage, getting to host the Class 4A State basketball tournament despite a quality bid by Farmington to host the tournament. That home court advantage resulted in no free throw attempts by the Cardinals over the final 14:19 of the game and only two for the entire second half.
But we won't hear about that or the fact that Blytheville made 4-of-8 free throws through the first 12:07 of the second half.
Jackson did make a major contribution to the Chickasaws' win when he knocked down a wide open 3-pointer that turned a one-point Blytheville lead into a 57-53 cushion with 3:18 to play. That's what he should be remembered for.
The amazing thing is that in spite of holding Farmington, which made its first state semifinal appearance since 2010, to four points in the fourth quarter, Blytheville still couldn't quite shake the Cardinals until the last two minutes.
Mark Humphrey is a sports writer for the Enterprise-Leader. The opinions expressed are the author's own.