CENTERTON — There was no way Boston Barron wanted to give up the ball, even if it meant he had to take the ball three-fourths of the length of the court to do it.
Farmington (6-7): S. Montez 11, Staten 8, Downs 6, Shelley 4, Valenzula 3, Mayo 2, J. Montez 2.
West (8-1): Hornsby 13, Barron 12, Collier Blackburn 11, H. Swoboda 9, Lee 6, Larsen 4, Bailey 4, Wilmot 2, Conner 2, T. Swoboda 2.
Bentonville West’s senior forward picked off a Farmington pass early in the second quarter and went to complete a three-point play that put him in double figures as the Wolverines rolled to a 65-36 victory during nonconference action in Wolverine Arena.
It was the response West coach Greg White wanted to see from his team, which was coming off its first loss of the season Saturday against Conway, thanks to a buzzer-beater.
“The great thing about basketball is not like football, where you have to sit and wait around a week,” White said. “A few days, and we jumped back on it. Our kids showed a lot of poise and played well together, and it’s fun to watch. They share the ball, they have a lot of energy and trust each other.
“It makes us a very good team right now. We finish up 8-1, and if you told anybody we would be 8-1 in our second year going into Christmas, they would call you a liar.”
Farmington (6-7) had taken a 4-3 lead on Xavier Staten’s bucket less than 2 minutes into the game, but it only lasted 39 seconds as Barron responded with two free throws. That was the start of nine unanswered Wolverine points, and West went on to make it a 19-5 run, with Hunter Swoboda scoring with 6 seconds remaining.
Barron then sparked a 9-0 West spurt to start the second quarter, and his three-point play gave the Wolverines a 29-9 lead with 6:33 before halftime. West went on to lead 41-19 at halftime, and back-to-back 3-pointers by Bryce Lee to close out the third quarter made it a 57-25 game and forced the running clock.
“After their first loss, we knew we were going to get a pretty good game from them,” Farmington coach Beau Thompson said. “We didn’t play very well offensively, and I thought we got pushed around a little bit, which is good for us.”
Gabe Hornsby had 13 points to lead West, followed by Barron with 12 — 11 of those in the first half — and Collier Blackburn with 11. Skyler Montez was the only Farmington player in double figures with 11.
Greenwood 61, Rogers High 47
The Bulldogs outscored the Mounties 19-10 in the fourth quarter to pull away for the nonconference win Tuesday.
Jordan Shepard led all scorers with 24 points for Greenwood, which led 34-24 at halftime. Rogers, which pulled within 42-37 after three quarters, was led by sophomores Elliot Paschal and Drew Miller with 13 each. The Mounties are now 5-5.
Springdale High 66, Webb City, Mo. 56
Sophomore Jajuan Boyd scored 21 points to lead the Bulldogs past the Cardinals.
Boyd and Trentez Scales mostly scored on drives to the basket for Springdale (6-4), which led 27-23 at halftime and 45-36 after three quarters. Carl Fitch added 14 points and Scales 13, including a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs ahead 60-49 in the fourth quarter.