FARMINGTON -- Farmington will soon have a new banner to hang in its new gym.
The Lady Cardinals captured the 5A-West Conference championship by defeating Vilonia, 46-28, on Friday at Cardinal Arena. Farmington also earned a top seed and will play Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Class 5A state tournament at Greene County Tech in Paragould.
5A-West
GIRLS
FARMINGTON 46, VILONIA 28
Vilonia^5^8^4^11—^28
Farmington^12^7^8^19^—^46
Vilonia (21-6, 11-3): Wader 11, McNespey 8, Burnham 4, Lee 2, Brantley 2, Teer 1.
Farmington (22-4, 12-2): Tayton Hopkins 11, O’Connell 11, Tahlon Hopkins 8, McPherson 4, Duchanois 4, J. Smith 3, T. Smith 3, Hamley 2
BOYS
VILONIA 47, FARMINGTON 44
Vilonia^6^17^8^16—^47
Farmington^14^10^12^8^—^44
Vilonia: Brown 19, Nicholson 10, Greer 6, Newell 4, Thomas 4, Stanley 2, Brewer 2
Farmington (13-14, 4-10): Barnes 13, Wilson 13, Thomas 9, Mueller 8, Oxford 1
"We've got a lot of respect for this league and to win the conference championship is very, very special," Farmington coach Brad Johnson said. "A lot of times the 5A-West plays a huge part in who wins the 5A title. We knew we faced a tall task, but our kids never shied away from our goal of winning a conference championship."
Vilonia (21-6, 11-3) came into the game tied with Farmington (22-4, 12-2) atop the league standings. But the Lady Eagles were no match for the Lady Cardinals, who grabbed leads of 7-0 and 12-5 in the third quarter.
Vilonia will enter state tournament play as a No. 2 seed and face Hot Springs Lakeside on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
"Farmington outhustled us and whipped us all over the court," Vilonia coach Alvin Riley said. "We didn't match their energy and we had way too many turnovers."
Farmington was particularly effective in getting in the passing lanes and forcing turnovers that resulted in easy baskets. Tayton Hopkins and Trish O'Connell each scored 11 points to lead the Lady Cardinals.
"We wanted to be the aggressor and knock some balls loose," Johnson said. "That was mostly to excite our crowd, but also to get our team out and running. We were able to get in transition and make some baskets."
Vilonia got to within 19-13 at halftime before Farmington pulled away again for a 31-17 lead early in the third quarter. Sydney Wader finished with 11 points for Vilonia after being slowed with her third foul in the third quarter.
Senior reserve Jenice Smith punctuated the victory with a 3-pointer to put Farmington ahead 46-26 in the fourth quarter.
BOYS
VILONIA 47, FARMINGTON 44
Senior center Garret Brown scored 19 points to lead Vilonia past Farmington.
Austin Newell scored only four points, but they were big for the Eagles down the stretch. Newell had a steal and a layup to break a 43-43 tie then added two free throws to give Vilonia a 47-44 lead.
Farmington had one last opportunity, but Jeremy Mueller missed an attempt at a tying 3-pointer just before the buzzer.
Sports on 02/28/2015