On a roll in ’24

Farmington Coach Brad Johnson said he couldn’t have been more pleased with how his team has performed against a challenging early portion of its schedule.

The Lady Cardinals (20-1, 3-0 4A-1) are riding a 13-game winning streak and beating opponents by an average of more than 30 points per game. Their lone loss came 70-60 on the road to a storied program from Duncanville, Texas.

“I’m really, really proud of them,” Johnson said. “The schedule we put in front of them through the break was extremely daunting. It was one that was going to put us on the road a bunch and put us up against some of the better teams in the state of Arkansas and then some of the better teams nationally in bordering states. We kind of adopted that mentality of forged by fire.”

Johnson said there was no question his group competed against a stout Duncanville team, an 11-time state champion in Texas.

He also pointed to instances where the Lady Cardinals benefited from facing a team like Duncanville. Wins over 6A power Cabot and 5A Mountain Home on its home floor might not have happened without facing Duncanville, Johnson said.

“Cabot is a really high level basketball team, tough to defend,” Johnson said. “They have size, can shoot it, are very physical and very good at what they do offensively. We had to really defend and we got a lead early because of our ability to force a shot and not give a second chance.”

Farmington has four players averaging more than 10 points per game not to mention one averaging nine-plus points and another at eight. In addition, seven different Lady Cardinals have lead the team in scoring at least once this season.