Boys BB: Nothing at the end at New Prague

Eli Rockett 12 points, 3 assists (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Although the Tigers didn't shoot the lights out in the first half (12 of 28) of Tuesday night's 65-50 Missota Conference loss at New Prague, their patience on offense and a strong defensive effort produced a three-point halftime lead.

After the break, however, the cold shooting caught up with the visitors and down  the stretch the gas tank showed "empty" as the Trojans closed on a 26-12 run over the final eight minutes.

"We seem to have one stretch in almost every game where we go through this," Farmington coach Shane Wyandt said. "We see it on tape. We talk about before games.

"We turn the ball over or miss a lay-up and all of a sudden it snowballs. It's almost like we say 'here we go again'...And it's not one guy; it's a team thing. The only way to get over it is to play through it."

New Prague raced to an early six-point lead but the Tigers stormed back behind solid play from Eli Rockett (11 points), Zach Speikers (8) and Darren Beenken (6) to build a 28-25 lead at the break.

Farmington last led at 35-34 with 10 minutes to play on Nick Varner's basket but after that it was an uphill climb. The Trojans controlled the boards at both end of the floor and seemed to get to every loose ball the rest of the way.

"When you have your head down and are thinking about what just happened you are a step slow to the ball," Wyandt said. "It's happened in stretches before and tonight it came at the end of the game."

New Prague held its biggest lead at 65-47 before Beenken drained a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Darren Beenken 12 points, 3 assists, 3 steals (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers shot 43.8 percent from the floor but were a sub-par five-of-21 from behind the three-point arc against the Trojan zone defense.

New Prague shot 50 percent from the floor and outscored Farmington from the free throw line by a decisive 13-3.

Beenken and Rockett each finished with a dozen points to lead the Farmington scorers. Speikers and Johnny Dittman added eight apiece. Dittman, Beenken and Rockett each had three assists and Beenken came up with a trio of steals.

Things don't get any easier Friday when the Tigers head to Richfield to take on league-leading Holy Angels. Farmington upset the Stars 84-76 when the two teams met last month at Tiger Gym.