FARMINGTON -- Kaylee Brown stood near midcourt, holding roses as the Farmington seniors were honored prior to Tuesday night's game in Cardinal Arena.
She was a thorn in Russellville's side once the game started.
Girls
Russellville^5^8^10^14^—^37
Farmington^11^15^12^11^—^49
Russellville (14-11, 7-4): Looper 16, Posey 7, McALister 5, Farrow 3, Heath 2, Myers 2, Wilbers 2.
Farmington (20-5, 9-2): Vanzant 17, Brown 13, Pense 12, Journagan 5, Wilson 2.
Boys
Russellville^10^13^13^11^—^47
Farmington^18^13^10^15^—^56
Russellville (3-18, 1-10): Talley 18, Kordsmeier 14, George 6, Mathis 5, Adkins 4.
Farmington (20-6, 8-3): Wilson 31, Montez 10, Fenton 4, Gray 4, Carbonel 3, Staten 2, Oxford 2.
Brown, playing in her final home game, scored 13 points including a banked 3-pointer to help the Lady Cardinals to a 49-37 win in 6A/5A District 1 girls basketball.
The win sets up a key regular season finale in Harrison on Friday, where the two teams will battle for the No. 1 seed at next week's 5A-West Conference Tournament in Greenbrier. Harrison rallied late for a 55-53 win in the team's first meeting.
"We've kind of developed a little bit of a rivalry with Harrison," Farmington coach Brad Johnson said. "A lot of that has to do with the fact that they are a good basketball team."
Farmington (20-5, 9-2) grabbed the early lead Tuesday night, getting a big boost from sophomore Madisyn Pense, who hit four 3-pointers in the first half to help the Lady Cardinals to a double-digit lead. Brown ended the half with a layup at the buzzer to give Farmington a 26-13 lead at the intermission.
For Brown, just playing in a final home game seemed almost impossible after she had ACL surgery on both knees earlier in her career.
"I was actually Tweeting about how this was going to be my last time playing in this gym," Brown said. "But I wouldn't trade any of this for the world. I'm truly blessed to have the coach that I have and the trainer and my teammates.
"It's emotional, but I had my team behind me and they were all cheering. I got through it."
Brown, who signed with Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College a couple of weeks ago, usually scores off drives, or putbacks where she uses her quickness to get offensive rebounds.
On Tuesday, she found herself open at the top of the arc and let a 3-point shot fly. The ball smacked off the glass and into the net, sending the Farmington student section into a frenzy.
"Tyler Gregg, he was talking to me earlier about how I need to come up and shoot one for my last game," Brown laughed. "I said, 'You know what, I'm going to shoot this three.' And I heard Tyler in the background saying, 'I told you.' And it banked in. It was funny."
Farmington freshman Makenna Vanzant led the Lady Cardinals with a game-high 17 points, including 9 of 10 from the free-throw line. Pense finished with 12.
Only once did Russelville get withing 10 points in the second half, and Brown quelled that rally with a driving lay-up and a 47-35 lead.
Russellville (14-11, 7-4) got 16 points from senior Abbie Looper.
Boys
Farmington 56, Russellville 47
Senior Matt Wilson scored 31 points in his final home game as the Cardinals earned their 20th win of the season.
Wilson, a Delta State signee, had 17 at halftime and helped seal the win with clutch free throws down the stretch. Skyler Montez added 10 for the Cardinals (20-6, 8-3).
Ryan Talley led Russellville (3-18, 1-10) with 18 points and Bryson Kordsmeier added 14.
Sports on 02/15/2017