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| Mac Basset 11 points, eight rebounds (photo by Jim Lindquist) |
The loss halted a modest two-game winning streak by Farmington and left the Tigers with a 13-12 season record, 6-7 in the Missota Conference, heading into Friday night's regular season finale at Shakopee.
Farmington played sluggishly in the early going of the Senior Night contest, digging itself an early 24-12 hole before closing the first half on a 16-6 run that cut the deficit to 30-28 .Darren Beenken and Jordan DeCroock each had a pair of baskets to key the closing run.
"We were extremely flat," Tiger coach Shane Wyandt said. "I'm not sure what it was but we had several guys that just weren't prepared to play..."
Zach Speikers swished a three-pointer and Mac Bassett scored in the paint to give the home team just its second lead of the night to open the second half.
The Tigers didn't surrender that lead until a little more than a minute left in regulation but they could never get the key basket to put any distance between them and the Hawks.
"Our intensity and execution of our game plan was much better in the second half," Wyandt said. "We got after it and played very well for the most part. although the final two minutes were another story."
Bassett tied the count at 59-59 with 19 seconds to go in regulation and the Tigers dodged a bullet when the Hawks' Jacob Hansen whiffed on two free throws with 4.4 seconds to go. Nick Varner's 35-footer at the horn bounced off the rim to send the contest into overtime.
Farmington shot itself in foot in the final minute, turning the ball over three times in its final five possessions.
"We knew the pressure was coming and the turnovers just killed us," Wyandt said. "Some of them were really unforced errors. Lazy passes and bad decision-making equaled disaster. That's the really disappointing part."
Varner and Beenken scored back-to-back buckets to start the extra session and following two free throws by Speikers the Tigers were sitting on a 65-61 lead.
Chaska quickly took back the lead and the momentum with 9-0 run with the last four points coming from the foul line.
A basket by Eli Rockett and two more charity tosses by Speikers got the Tigers back to within a point with 38 seconds left when the Hawks broke the Farmington press for a three-point play to push their lead back to four points.
Farmington outshot Chaska (43-33 percent) for the game but was ice cold from behind the three-point arc (5 of 27). The Hawks connected on 11 of 29 from long range and outscored their hosts 25-9 from the free throw line.
"They were going to live or die by the three and unfortunately they got hot at the right times even with guys in their face...As for the foul numbers, they were ridiculous. Chaska plays hard but they had both hands on our post players backs most of the night and we should have gotten some calls."
Farmington had a balanced scoring attack with Beenken topping the charts with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Speikers had 14 points, three assists and a pair of steals. Bassett notched 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Rockett finished with nine points and a team-high 11 boards.
The Tigers hope to bounce back on Friday and enhance their seeding prospects for the Section 1AA tournament that starts next week.
"Shakopee will be playing for the conference championship." Wyandt said. "We'd love to be the spoiler."
