Basketball: Lady Cardinals turn up pace, turn away Greenwood

FARMINGTON -- A fast-paced, high-pressure fourth quarter was just what Farmington needed to turn the game in its favor Friday at Cardinal Arena.

The Lady Cardinals struggled in a slower pace for the first three quarters, chipping away against Greenwood after poor starts in both the first and third quarters. But then came the final eight minutes, where Farmington turned up the defensive intensity, turned to freshman Makenna Vanzant for big points and rallied for a 48-45 win in 5A/6A District 1 play.

Girls

Farmington 48, Greenwood 45

Greenwood^11^10^14^10^—^45

Farmington^9^7^11^21^—^48

Greenwood (12-13): Reeves 14, Julian 11, Cartwright 7, Fisher 6, Stein 5, Gloss 2.

Farmington (17-5): Vanzant 24, Brown 11, Pense 8, Journagan 3, Jones 2.

Boys

Farmington 63, Greenwood 56

Greenwood^14^14^9^19^—^56

Farmington^17^15^14^17^—^63

Greenwood (6-16): Sheppard 29, Harmon 10, Holt 7, Armstrong 4, Barrett 2, Gilbert 2, Stewart 2.

Farmington (17-5): Wilson 24, Montez 21, Staten 8, Fenton 6, Gray 2, Hill 2.

"I thought defensively our pressure stepped up and we got the game sped up," Farmington girls basketball coach Brad Johnson said. "They did a great job of controlling tempo the whole game, but you know we like to play fast and when our pressure stepped up we converted some of those turnovers into big points."

Greenwood (12-13) led 8-0 right out the gate and would answer nearly every Lady Cardinals' rally through three quarters, taking a 45-37 lead into the final eight minutes.

But Greenwood's luck would finally run out as Farmington quickly erased the deficit and even grabbed a five-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, turning a few costly Greenwood turnovers into easy scores.

"We just stayed at the same level we were playing and they stepped it up a little bit and came at us another notch and took us out of our comfort zone," Greenwood coach Clay Reeves said. "After they took the lead we came back and responded. But those six or eight points where they took the lead, that's where we have to look at getting better."

Vanzant finished with 24 points and eight rebounds and was particularly important when Farmington (17-5) was struggling to keep up with Greenwood. With little else going right for the Lady Cards for much of the first half and even into the third quarter, Vanzant kept her team in the game with timely three-pointers.

"We had some kids hit some big shots," Johnson said. "Makenna Vanzant stepped up and hit some big time shots and we had a lot of kids step up and make free throws down the stretch."

Greenwood would force a pair of turnovers itself in the closing minutes to make it a one possession game at the end. The Lady Bulldogs had one final chance to tie at the regulation buzzer, but a three-pointer from the top of the key fell short.

"Every one of our (district) games have been identical to this," Reeves said. "It's been down to the wire and you just try to make improvements and you get ready for state. And we try to make those improvements so we'll be ready to go."

Kaylee Brown added 11 points and eight rebounds for Farmington. Sara Reeves led Greenwood with 14 points.

Farmington is at Clarksville on Tuesday and Greenwood visits Harrison.

Boys

Farmington 63, Greenwood 56

Boys

Matt Wilson scored a game-high 24 points and Skylar Montez scored 21 points to lead the Cardinals past Greenwood on Friday.

Farmington (17-5) could never quite pull away from the Bulldogs until the closing minutes and even saw the lead dwindle to just one possession with under two minutes to play. But costly turnovers by Greenwood and key free throws by Montez and Wilson down the stretch helped make the difference.

Sports on 02/04/2017

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