Story by Prairie Communications intern Kadin Rogers
Long time Olympia Conference rivals Monmouth-Roseville and Farmington matched up on Friday night for a varsity boys basketball game in Farmington. The Titans held a lead after the first half and third quarter but could not outlast the home Farmers, falling by a score of 42-41.
The defenses controlled much of the game for both sides, especially in the first half. Neither team managed to reach the 20 point mark after the first 16 minutes of play, as the Titans took a 19-18 lead into the break after Junior Tyler Finnicum knocked down a three as time was winding down. The third quarter followed much of the same pace as the first half, both defenses dominated play, but the Titans offense got a spark on a buzzer beating 3 from Junior Leo Mahoney to put Monmouth-Roseville up 33-29 to head into the final quarter of play.
The Farmers would open up the 4th by rattling off 6 points to take back the lead, however, a Nico Avendano basket and Silas Braun 3 pointer would help tie the game at 38 with under 2 minutes to go. Mahoney once again had a big 3 point play, this time by going to the rim, scoring the basket down low and drawing the and-one. Down by 3 with their backs against the wall, the Farmers rattled off 4 straight points to take back the lead with just 16 seconds to play. On the final offensive possession for the Titans, they would set up a 3 point shot for C.J. Johnson, but the shot would not go in, and Farmington escaped with the 42-41 home win.
In the stat book for the Titans, Leo Mahoney and Nico Avendano led the scoring with 10 points each while Silas Braun added 6, C.J. Johnson added 5, and Tyler Finnicum got 5 points as well. The boys squad drops to 4-2 with the loss and gets back on the court on Tuesday in Port Byron for a Three Rivers Conference match with the Riverdale Rams. For the full replay of the WMOI broadcast, click HERE:
