POTTSVILLE — Farmington boys basketball coach Beau Thompson was accustomed to the shooting performance Kendall Buchanan enjoyed Thursday night, but fans inside George S. Jones Gymnasium were impressed.
The Cardinals’ senior scored 24 of his game-high 30 points in the second half, and Farmington cruised into today’s semifinal round with a 68-45 victory over Mena in the Class 4A North Regional Tournament.
Farmington (24-5) already had a 44-30 lead when Buchanan erupted. He scored his team’s next 19 points and capped his performance with a tough layup to give the Cardinals a 63-40 cushion with 3 minutes, 35 seconds remaining.
“Kendall did what a good senior player does,” Thompson said. “It’s not the first time I’ve seen him do that. He had a slow start, but he heated up enough to stretch it out for us.”
Farmington never trailed in the game and took control in the second quarter. The Cardinals opened the period with nine unanswered points, with Garrett Woodward’s basket making it a 22-11 lead with 6:38 left in the first half.
Mena (17-13) couldn’t get any closer than nine points the rest of the way as Farmington owned a 33-20 lead at halftime.
“That number 13 (Buchanan) and number 23 (Jason Purdy) are solid players,” Mena coach Bobby Tedder said. “Our effort was good, and we had opportunities in the paint. We couldn’t get the shots to fall.
“We tried to make it hard on (Buchanan). We wanted to make his shots as tough as possible. He took some tough shots and knocked them down.”
Thompson said he could tell his team had a different demeanor Thursday after its semifinal loss to Shiloh Christian in the 4A-1 District Tournament last week in Pea Ridge. It caused the Cardinals to take a third seed in the regional, and it placed a noticeable chip on Farmington’s shoulders.
“Our two captains had a different look about on their faces when we came back to work Monday,” he said. “This was a business trip for them. They came down here not expecting to get beat, and they didn’t.
“It was a senior performance from all five of our players. We rarely took a bad shot out there.”
Steven Leichner added 16 and Purdy 13 for Farmington, which will play 4A-1 Conference foe Pea Ridge in today’s 5:30 p.m. semifinal game. Alex Hurst had 14 for Mena, followed by Daniel Wood with 11.
PREP BASKETBALL
CLASS 4A NORTH REGION TOURNAMENT
BOYS
FARMINGTON 68, MENA 45
Farmington 13 20 18 17 — 68
Mena 11 9 15 10 — 45
Farmington (24-5): Buchanan 30, Leichner 16, Purdy 13, Woodward 4, Turner 3, Bode 2.
Mena (17-13): An. Hurst 8, Al. Hurst 14, Harrison 8, Wood 11, McGee 2, Matthews 2.
WALDRON 52, SHILOH CHRISTIAN 49
Waldron 12 10 9 20 — 52
Shiloh 16 11 15 7 — 49
Waldron (19-9): Roets 14, Bunting 13, Harrison 11, Cooper 7, Tull 7
Shiloh Christian (15-13): Harris 12, Matthews 10, Thompson 10, Harper 9, Oliver 6, Schisler 2.
Class 4A
North Regional
At Pottsville
GIRLS
First Round
Wednesday’s Scores
GAME 1: Shiloh Christian 39, Clarksville 28
GAME 2: Gravette 61, Waldron 59
Thursday’s Scores
GAME 3: Gentry 63, Pottsville 58
GAME 4: Prairie Grove 77, Dover 54
Today’s Games
GAME 5: Shiloh Christian (24-3) vs. Gentry (21-9), 4 p.m.
GAME 6: Gravette (15-15) vs. Prairie Grove (23-7), 7 p.m.
Saturday’s Games
GAME 7: Third-place game, Noon
GAME 8: Championship, 6 p.m.
BOYS
First Round
Wednesday’s Scores
GAME 1: Pea Ridge 72, Subiaco Academy 59
GAME 2: Clarksville 42, Prairie Grove 31
Thursday’s Scores
GAME 3: Farmington 68, Mena 45
GAME 4: Waldron 52, Shiloh Christian 49
Today’s Games
GAME 5: Pea Ridge (23-8) vs. Farmington (24-5), 5:30 p.m.
GAME 6: Clarksville (21-8) vs. Waldron, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday’s Games
GAME 7: Third-place game, 1:30 p.m.
GAME 8: Championship game, 7:30 p.m.