HARRISON -- When Tori Kersey sneaked inside and scored just before the first half ended Saturday night, all it did at the time was give Farmington's girls the lead.
The Lady Cardinals, however, never let that advantage go and won the 4A-1 Conference Tournament championship with a 68-58 victory over Berryville inside Goblin Arena.
Farmington (23-6) held the ball for one last shot, then Makenna Vanzant drove into the lane and dished it to Kersey, whose short jumper went in with 2 seconds left and gave the Lady Cardinals a 26-25 halftime edge.
"She's a special kid," Farmington coach Brad Johnson of Kersey, who finished with 15 points. "We've said all year long you put her in the game and she becomes an offensive threat. She's a sophomore that has great length, and I thought she came in and competed."
Farmington then turned on the offense behind a couple of players who were scoreless in the first half. Alexis Roach had nine points and Madisyn Pense added six as the Lady Cardinals outscored Berryville 23-14 in the fourth quarter and took a 49-39 lead into the final 8 minutes.
Farmington led by as many as 13 points on a number of occasions, the last being 62-49 after Joelle Tidwell's two free throws with 1 minute, 58 seconds remaining. Berryville (29-3) never could any closer than eight points in the closing moments.
"It took every single kid we had," Johnson said. "We had kids making plays, hitting shots. We had to fight through some foul trouble early, but we never lost focus. I thought they just battled.
"The biggest thing we told them is Berryville is very good, and they're going to come back. They had to lock in defensively, and we talked about where we wanted the basketball and stay with the game plan."
Vanzant also had 15 points for Farmington, which plays again at 4 p.m. Wednesday against Ozark in the Class 4A North Region tournament in Morrilton, while Trinity Johnson added 11 and Roach 10. Hannah Morrell led Berryville with 17, followed by Kelcee Hopper with 14 and Lexy Anderson with 13.
In the third-place game, Harrison outscored Pea Ridge 18-12 in the fourth quarter to take a 47-43 win over the Lady Blackhawks.
Sydney Shrum had 12 to lead a trio of Lady Goblins in double figures, followed by Brylie Parker with 11 and Kenzie Parker with 10. Hollyn Davis and Blakelee Wynn each had 14 points for Pea Ridge.
Farmington 9 17 23 19 -- 68
Berryville 12 13 14 19 -- 58
Farmington (23-6): Kersey 15, Vanzant 15, Johnson 11, Roach 10, Pense 7, Tidwell 7, Culpepper 3.
Berryville (29-3): Morrell 17, Hopper 14, Anderson 13, Smith 7, Compton 4, Hussey 3.
Harrison 51, Pea Ridge 39
Harrison opened the second half with a 13-2 run to take the lead, then held off Pea Ridge to win the tournament title.
Jacob Shrum's 3-pointer with 5 minutes, 5 seconds in the third quarter snapped a 20-20 tie and put the Goblins ahead to stay. Champ Sanders then added four straight before Shrum scored again and gave Harrison (22-6) a 29-20 cushion 2 minutes later.
"Offensively, I thought we were getting some good looks in the first half," Harrison coach David Stahler said. "We just weren't knocking them down, so we talked about that.
"We didn't make any adjustments offensively. Defensively, we know they run a lot of good stuff, but we didn't make many adjustments. We missed some opportunities in the first half but knew we would capitalize in the second half."
Harrison led 33-23 on Shrum's two free throws with 1:31 left in the third quarter, but Pea Ridge (23-8) picked up a 3-pointer by Landon Allison to end the quarter and a bucket by Nick Coble to start the fourth and make it a five-point game. The Blackhawks did get within four on three occasions, the last one being 43-39 on Will Feemster's free throw with 1:53 left, but didn't score again.
Ben Elliott had 17 points to Harrison, which returns to action Wednesday against Ozark in the Class 4A North Region tournament at Morrilton, while Carson Journagan and Saylors each had 11. Wes Wales finished with 11 and was the only player in double figures for Pea Ridge, which draws Dardanelle as its regional opponent Thursday.
In the third-place game, Sean McCone had 25 points and Beau Whelchel added 15 as Huntsville pulled away in the second half and claimed a 64-56 victory over Farmington. Will Pridmore led Farmington (18-11) with 13 while Austin Shelley added 10.
Pea Ridge 4 14 10 11 -- 39
Harrison 9 7 19 16 -- 51
Pea Ridge (23-8): Wales 11, Allison 8, Coble 8, Feemster 6, Peterson 3, Rhine 3.
Harrison (22-6): Elliott 17, Journagan 11, Saylors 11, Shrum 7, Edwards 3, Martin 2.
Sports on 02/17/2019