Farmers win first regional since 2007

By JEFF LAMPE
For The Weekly Post

KNOXVILLE – After sitting for more than half of the third quarter while a once-comfortable lead disappeared, Farmington senior Ethan Evans was ready.

As the fourth quarter began, with the score tied 32-32 following a 12-4 run by Knoxville (27-7), Evans was reinserted into the lineup and wasted little time making a difference. In a pivotal three-minute stretch of the fourth, Evans grabbed three rebounds, made three layups and gave Farmington the breathing room it needed to win its first boys basketball regional since 2007.

While the Farmers (25-7) wound up winning by a comfortable 54-44 score, Evans’ play helped fend off postseason demons that have plagued Farmington in the 14 seasons since it last cut down the regional nets.

On Friday, the only problem was a brief lull in offense, according to Coach Marty Lozier.

“We have a really good offense and we have good motion, but we just started standing around a little bit and I think we got comfortable,” Lozier said of the third quarter. “This team is disciplined. All you have to do is remind them to be disciplined. And that’s what I did.”

The lull lasted only as long as it took to get Evans back on the court.

“Once I got back in there I thought I could move the ball really well and just attack the hoop and they just couldn’t stop us or slow us down,” Evans said. “All season we’ve been fighting to get a regional championship. It feels so good.”

Evans finished with 14 points in a balanced Farmers attack that saw senior Corbin Rutledge tally 17, including a dunk, Logan Morse score 11 and Keauntrey Barnes racked up 11, including a dunk with 33 seconds left.

Morse also had a big fourth quarter, scoring nine points in the final 2:27 and going 3-for-4 at the free throw line.

“We’re such a football community, it’s great that we can get back into showing people that we can be good at football and basketball,” Lozier said. “And I’m excited about that. I’ve got some juniors and sophomores coming up that I feel comfortable about next year, too.”

Scoring balance was also on display in Wednesday’s semifinal against Mercer County, which Farmington won in overtime, 54-47.

Farmington trailed 19-13 at halftime against Mercer County (19-13), before rallying in the second half.

Rutledge, Evans and senior Riley Embry all scored 13 points apiece while Barnes had 10 and Morse tallied 5.

“I think Wednesday was a wake up for these kids a little bit,” Lozier said. “We probably wouldn’t be here [against Knoxville] without Ethan on Wednesday. He came out and hit two big 3s and had several rebounds in that game.”

After a big blocked shot by Barnes, Evans also scored the basket that sent the game to overtime. Evans and Barnes each had five points in the extra period.

“Mercer had sagged off us quite a bit … but as we tied them, they had to put more pressure on us and that worked to our advantage,” Lozier said.

Lozier said in hindsight, having eight days off to “practice hard” might not have been the best thing for his team.

“I don’t know if that was the right decision, because we looked a little tired,” he said. “But we had a great second half.”

The Farmers also had two shooters advance to the sectional round of the Three-Point Showdown held before Friday’s regional final. Rutledge and Embry both moved on, after making 13 and 10 treys, respectively.