Knights start wrong, end up right, Knightettes come close

By DONN ADAMSON/Daily Journal Sports Editor

FARMINGTON - The Farmington Knights had little trouble in disposing of district rival Cape Central Tigers in the second round of the Farmington boys tournament on Friday. The Knights ran away with the game from the start and recorded a 61-38 win to set up their last game of the round-robin tournament today against Ft. Zumwalt West which will most likely be for second place. The Knights are now 1-1.

Ft. Zumwalt West is also 1-1 after their 58-38 loss to Jackson in the first game. Jackson (2-0) will play Cape Central (0-2) today at 4:30 p.m. in the Centene Center.

The Knights and the Tigers had a little directional problem at the start of the game. With nobody noticing the two players jumping for the opening tip were facing the wrong goal the game started with Cape Central getting the tip in what should have been their end of the court.

The ballhandler brought the ball back across the halfcourt line and drove for the basket, only to miss and have the ball rebound out to Cape's Darnell Wilks. Wilks didn't hesitate to head the other way with the ball for an easy breakaway basket. That's when the referees and players realized the mix-up. After consultation with each other, the refs allowed the two points and pointed the players in the right direction.

Cape Central should have kept going the same direction as first started, because down on the other end of the court, they could not seem to connect. The Knights ran the court and were able to go up 6-2 before their coach called time to get the Tigers on track again with only two minutes off of the clock.

The Knights continued to dominate the play Both teams rebounded well, but Farmington collected six Tiger turnovers to allow the Knights more scoring opportunities and a 20-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Both teams had their troubles scoring in the second quarter with the game being played mostly between the two free-throw lines as defense and turnovers became abundant. Only five baskets were made in the quarter between the two teams.

After three minutes of play and only one point, Coach Tim Banger called time-out to talk to the Knights. The talk must have been effective as Farmington scored the next five points to take command of the game again.

With 1:50 left in the half Cape Central's coach called time and spent the 30 seconds in discussion with the referees. From there, the play got very sloppy with the only scoring being three free throws for each team. Farmington led 29-21 at the half.

The Tigers continued to miss their shots in the third quarter making only 2 of 13 attempts. The Knights were 5-9 in the same frame with Farmington's David King hitting three shots to outscore the entire Cape team. Caleb Owens hit his first three-pointer in the third quarter, and the Knights left no doubt which team would win as they jumped out to a 43-25 lead going into the last quarter.

The fourth quarter was a free throw contest with the Knights going 9-13 and the Tigers were 6-9 from the stripe. Owens hit his second three which were the only ones for the Knights in the game. Cape also had a three in the quarter, their first out of 10 tries. Turnovers were at a premium with the teams playing their subs for the most part of the quarter.

King led Farmington in scoring and rebounds with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds and also blocked two shots. Dwayne Glaspy scored 13 points and Owens had eight.

The Farmington game against Ft. Zumwalt West will be at the Centene Center at 6 p.m.

The Farmington Knightettes battled most all of their game to catch up with the Jackson Lady Indians, but came up short by four free throws, 39-35.

Jackson's Bobbie Jones sank all four of her last free throws and the Knightettes could not connect enough on their end of the court in the final seconds to make up for it.

It was open scoring in the first quarter with the Knightettes taking a 10-8 advantage, but Jackson claimed the second quarter, using their press to and stringy defense to force several turnovers by the Knightettes. Scoring was still at a premium with the Lady Indians leading by a 16-12 score at the half.

The third quarter belonged to Farmington, but it took awhile for them to claim it. Jackson scored the first four points of the quarter, and Coach Steve McFarland called time-out for Farmington at 6:19 to hopefully get the Knightettes offense into gear. It did not happen as they threw the ball away on the inbound immediately following the timeout.

In fact, it wasn't until the clock read 4:20 that Farmington got off its first shot at the basket in the quarter. But once they did they took complete control of the game. The shot was missed, but before Jackson could clear the ball away, it was stolen by Cassie Tiefenauer who put in the easy lay-up.

The inbound pass by Jackson was also taken away, this time by Randie Wooldridge who turned it into two more points, and Jackson's coach wanted a time-out. Farmington's press again forced another Jackson turnover with Natalie Hooss getting the steal, and Kristen Hayes scoring the basket.

Even when Jackson would get the ball past halfcourt, things went sour. Hooss took the rebound from the Lady Indians missed shot, drove the length of the court and passed off to Wooldridge who neatly deposited it for two points.

The press worked again on the following inbounds by Jackson resulting in two free throws by Megan Bess, who sank both shots to tie the game. Hayes stole the inbound pass and scored the go-ahead basket for the Knightettes at 26-24 with one minute left in the quarter. It completed a 12 point run by the Knightettes and six turnovers by the Lady Indians. Farmington would add one more free throw before the quarter ended.

The fourth quarter started out sloppy for both teams. The Knightettes could not convert when they got the ball inside. Kelly Loos hit a three to give Jackson the lead, but Hayes hit two free throws to tie the game again. Jackson again jumped out to a four-point lead, but a three by Tiefenauer made it a one-point ball game.

Jackson stalled on offense and Loni Littlepage hit a basket 25 seconds left in the game. Farmington could not convert on their end and had to foul. Jones kept things safe for Jackson from the charity stripe.

Hooss led Farmington in scoring with nine points, and Wooldridge had eight. Jones was high-point getter for jackson with 16 points.

Farmington will play Notre Dame in the third-place game at 3 p.m. Jackson will play Poplar Bluff at 7:30 p.m.