PRAIRIE GROVE -- Farmington made it look easy against its former conference rivals Tuesday night.
The Lady Cardinals jumped to a 10-point lead after one quarter and defeated the Lady Tigers 63-35. Tahlon Hopkins scored 22 points to lead Farmington (3-0), which is now in the 5A-West Conference after previously playing in the 4A-1 Conference with Prairie Grove (1-4).
How They Scored
Girls
Farmington 63, Prairie Grove 35
Farmington^20^16^14^13^—^63
Prairie Grove^10^12^10^3^—^35
Farmington (3-0): Tah. Hopkins 22, Hamley 9, McPherson 8, Tay. Hopkins 6, Smith 6, Duchanois 5, O’Connell 2, Brown 2, Dorman 2, Tevebaugh 1.
Prairie Grove (1-4): M. Hartin 18, Doss 7, Lopez 3, T. Hartin 3, Cox 2, Bartholomew 2.
Boys
Farmington^15^15^14^14^—^58
Prairie Grove^9^5^7^17^—^38
Farmington (3-0): Mueller 21, Thomas 14, Wilson 10, Barnes 7, Osnes 6.
Prairie Grove (1-3): Soehner 12, Pursell 9, Hellemes 9, Galligan 8.
Farmington was in control from the outset, leading 7-0 then 20-10 after one quarter. Hopkins had 18 points of her 22 points in the first half for the Lady Cardinals, who led 36-22 at halftime.
"We wanted to set the tone early and take their crowd out of it," Farmington coach Brad Johnson said of the Lady Cardinals' fast start. "We pressed early to try and speed the tempo a bit, and we were able to get out in transition. We did a good job of getting some separation in the first half."
Prairie Grove got to within nine points in the third quarter after Mattie Hartin made a 3-pointer from the corner. But Farmington regained control again when Tahlon Hopkins followed her own missed shot from outside with a rebound and a layup.
"We knew they were going to make a run in the second half and that we'd have to respond," Johnson said. "We handled it with great maturity and managed to get it stopped. Taylon, she's tenacious, and we've got several kids who are like that. They're hungry to go get the basketball."
Prairie Grove fell behind after missing five of its first seven shots. Farmington was stronger and quicker, and it turned the game into a rout after Tori Hamley hit a 3-pointer to give the Lady Cardinals a 50-32 lead after three quarters.
Hartin finished with 18 points for the Lady Tigers (1-4), who had no one else in double figures. Taylor Doss added seven.
"Our last three games have been about the same," Prairie Grove coach Kevin Froud said. "We've dug ourselves in a hole early, and we've had to try and hit shots and fight our way back out. We're extremely young and it's a learning curve for us. I think we'll get there, but there'll be some bumps in the road."
Hamley finished with nine points for Farmington, which had 10 girls who scored at least one point.
BOYS: Farmington 58, Prairie Grove 38
Jeremy Mueller scored 21 to lead Farmington (3-0) to another easy win over Prairie Grove (1-3).
Mueller had 14 points after two quarters to match the Tigers, who trailed 30-14 at halftime. Matthew Thomas added 14 points and Matthew Wilson 10 for the Cardinals.
Dylan Soehner scored 12 points for the Tigers.
Sports on 12/03/2014