Jamie Kenealy goes strong to the basket
Photos by Jim Lindquist
Farmington overcame a sluggish first half to hold Lakeville South to just 14 second half points in a 63-39 non-conference victory Tuesday night, Dec. 14, at Tiger Gym.
The win pushed the unbeaten Tigers season record to 5-0; the loss dropped South to 1-3.
"We simply didn't play well in the first half," coach Jason Berg said. "They beat us to all the loose balls and defensively we were out of position way too much. South is a very physical team and they took it to us."
The game was a back-and-forth affair through much of the first half before the Tigers put together a late 7-0 spurt to take a 31-25 lead to the halftime break.
Taylor Meyer and Elena Koch provided most of the Farmington offense with a dozen points apiece.
Farmington seemed to get its game legs after intermission, running its offense more patiently and ramping up the pressure on the defensive end of the court.
"I've said all along we are as good as our defense," Berg said. "Once we started contesting shots and getting to the boards we became better offensively.
"We quit dribbling so much and ran our half court offense much better. When we do those things we are fine."
Jordan Bridges who went scoreless in the first half dominated the paint in the second, scoring all 13 of her points after intermission.
Meyer finished with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds and Koch had a season-high 17 points and 10 rebounds to give the front line 50 of the team's 63 points.
"Taylor and Jordan have been steady scorers in every game," Berg said, "and Elena is very capable of putting the ball in the basket. She averaged eight points a game last year."
Perhaps the most important stat came on defense where the Tigers held the Cougars to just 26 percent shooting from the field.
The Tigers will be looking for win No. 6, Friday night, Dec. 17, when they travel to the city for a non-conference game with Minneapolis Washburn. Tuesday, Dec. 21, they wrap up the pre-holiday portion of their schedule with a road contest at Section 1 rival Rochester Mayo.
