Basketball:Russellville holds off Farmington

Pense leads Lady Cardinals to victory

FARMINGTON --Russellville managed to dribble away most of the final seconds and hold on for a 43-41 road win over Farmington on Friday night.

Holding a slim one-point lead with under a minute left, the Cyclones passed the ball around until they were fouled with 17.4 seconds remaining. The Cyclones weren't in the bonus yet, so coach Matt Hall drew up an inbounds play to get it to his best free-throw shooter, fully expecting a quick foul that would send senior guard Javion White to the line. That foul didn't come until there were only 2.2 seconds remaining in the game.

"I think everybody was surprised and I praised our guys for that," Hall said. "Me and my assistant coach were surprised, the bench was surprised, and our guys didn't panic. They did a good job taking care of the ball and came away with a big road win."

Sophomore guard Kade Shaffer missed the first free throw but drained the second to score what would be the final point of the game, and Farmington senior guard Peyton Maxwell was too strong on a last-second full-court heave to seal the game.

The Cyclones had a 25-16 lead at halftime, but Maxwell proved to be a headache for Russellville with an 11-point third quarter. He tipped a pass that led to a three-point play by senior forward Skyler Montez at the 1:59 mark in the final quarter. The bucket tied the game at 41 and proved to be the Cardinals' final score of the night.

"We just had to keep doing what we'd done the whole game because it was successful all game," Hall said. "Things are tough on the road at any level. If we made free throws down the stretch, it wouldn't have even been a ball game."

The Cyclones missed nine free throws in the second half. Junior forward Rhett Adkins missed two of those free throws, but his stat-stuffing night played a big role in Russellville's victory. He scored eight points and hauled in seven rebounds, including the final the game-clinching board with under a minute left, to aid his team.

"I just wanted to focus on rebounding and defense," Adkins said. "They were playing really tight at first, so I just started flashing to the paint to get open."

He said the Cardinals electing not to foul at the end was a welcomed surprise.

"I kind of knew (we would win at that point)," Adkins said. "I was hoping luck wouldn't play a factor on their side and I was happy with it."

Maxwell finished with 19 points, four assists and two rebounds to lead the Cardinals. Montez poured in 13 points and four rebounds,

Russellville 43, Farmington 41

Farmington 11 5 18 7--41

Russellville 16 9 10 8--43

Farmington (6-11): Maxwell 19, Montez 13, Killian 5, Staten 2, Gray 2

Russellville (5-13): George 9, White 8, Adkins 8, Shaffer 7, Peter 6, Sitowski 4, Talley 1

Girls

Farmington 62, Russellville 49

Madisyn Pense came through with a big night to lead the Lady Cardinals to victory.

"I just thought it was a total team effort with lots of heart," Farmington coach Brad Johnson said. "When you play a team like Russellville that's so disruptive defensively, you'd better take care of the basketball, you'd better hit timely shots offensively, then on the defensive end you'd better hold your own on the glass."

Many of those timely shots came from Pense, who poured in a game-high 25 points. Johnson said several of her most-notable points came when the Lady Cyclones appeared to be making runs.

"Everybody knows that Madisyn Pense can shoot the basketball, and the most underrated part of her game is her ability to explode and get to the rim," Johnson said. "If you go back and look at the film, there were moments where they would kind of creep back in it, and it seemed like she would hit a big shot at a big moment."

Sophomore guard Makenna Vanzant added 14 points of her own to round out the double-digit scoring for Farmington. P

Farmington 62, Russellville 49

Farmington 15 19 16 12--62

Russellville 16 8 12 13--49

Farmington (16-3): Pense 25, Vanzant 14, Culpepper 8, Roach 8, Journagan 4, Tidwell 3

Russellville (9-9): McCallister 16, Ealy 10, Myers 8, Murphy 6, Davis 4, Rhode 3, Shields 2

Preps Basketball on 01/20/2018

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