FARMINGTON DISCOVERS ITS COMFORT ZONE OUTSIDE

MAGNOLIA -- The stage wasn't too big for the Farmington Lady Cardinals on Friday afternoon in the Class 5A state tournament quarterfinals. Farmington, the No. 3 seed from the 5A-West Conference, made nine three-pointers, including six in the second half, to eliminate 5A-South Conference champion Hot Springs 58-55 at Panther Arena. "We shot it well," Farmington Coach Brad Johnson said. "I thought our kids just played outstanding. Hot Springs is such a good basketball team. The second half, the three-ball started falling. It changed the game in our favor." The Lady Cardinals (24-7) will play Little Rock Parkview at noon today, with the winner advancing to the state championships in Hot Springs. Freshman guard Makenna Vanzant led Farmington with 18 points. Sophomore guard Madisyn Pense had 15 points and made 4 three-pointers. "We're not playing as young and inexperienced as we are," Johnson said. "In our conference, we had a lot of games that were two possessions or less. We've been through the wars. We kept telling them, 'This is prepping you for the state tournament.' That's what we're seeing." Farmington trailed 26-25 at halftime but took a 36-32 lead with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter on Pense's three-pointer. Vanzant's three-point play pushed the lead to 43-37, and Farmington took a 45-41 lead into the fourth quarter. Hot Springs got within 49-47 with 5:30 left on junior guard Ariana Guinn's layup. Farmington responded, as Pense knocked down her fourth three-pointer to make it 52-47 with 5:11 to play. With 1:57 remaining, senior forward Claudia Oxford hit Farmington's ninth three-pointer to make it 56-50. "That was a huge three," Johnson said. Trailing 56-55, Hot Springs had an opportunity to take the lead, but junior guard Imani Honey's jumper did not fall with 23 seconds left. The Lady Cardinals closed the game out with two free throws from junior guard Camryn Journagan (eight points). Hot Springs Coach Joshua Smith called Farmington's three-point shooting the difference in the game. "They made us pay," Smith said. "Credit to them for shooting the fire out of the ball. They did their job, and they did it well. We had a lot of opportunities. We missed some easy shots that we're not used to missing all the time." Guinn led the Lady Trojans (24-7) with 21 points. Senior forward Kiki Hunter had 13 points. Honey added eight points.