Eagles Stay Ahead Of Knights To Reach Finals

Players come and go, teams shuffle in and out and yet the one thing that remains constant about the FCNB Bank-It Tournament is that Sullivan will wind up in the finals.

The Eagles were consistently one step ahead of Farmington and pulled out a 46-41 victory over the Knights on Thursday in the semifinals.

Sullivan (2-0) reached the championship game for the sixth time in six FCNB tournaments.

Led by Owen Farrell and Dillon Farrell, the Eagles never trailed against Farmington. Thursday’s clash was between the finalists of last season’s tournament, which was won handily by the Knights, 70-52. 

Both teams went on to prove themselves as two of the best in Class 4 and won their respective districts.

Both teams graduated their key players. Farmington took two additional blows with the losses of 6-6 sophomore forward Isiah Robinson and their only returning starter, Brandt Gray, to injury. Robinson was out, but Gray was limited.

Still, the Eagles passed muster against one of southeast Missouri’s tougher programs. They never led by more than seven and persevered as the Knights cut the lead to one with 3:35 to play.

Owen Farrell’s 15 points paced Sullivan, while Dillon Farrell dropped in 13. Jordan Woodcock added nine. 

Kolten Keen finished with four. Josh Wiese added three and Jacob Hatcher two.

Woodcock splashed a 3 to start the game and was answered by Bracey Blanton. Owen Farrell responded with a 3 on the other end. 

His drive to the hoop and a corner trey opened up an 11-6 lead with 2:31 left in the period. 

Keen’s put-back and two free throws by Dillon Farrell gave Sullivan a 15-9 lead. Farmington scored before the buzzer and made it 15-11.

Sullivan gave up some size to the Knights, but they still managed to crash the offensive boards. Owen Farrell grabbed a third chance put-back that kicked off the second period. 

Later, he found Keen on the fast-break to open a 20-16 lead with two minutes left in the half. Both offenses slowed down in the period and they went into halftime tied 20-20.

A 3-pointer by Wiese snapped a 22-22 tie with 3:37 to play. Owen Farrell’s inside bucket and Dillon Farrell’s baseline drive would complete a 7-0 run. 

The Eagles held a 31-25 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Farmington crept within two, but Woodcock’s second 3-pointer pushed the advantage to five, 34-29. He would come up with another big 3 at the 4:42 mark, extending Sullivan’s lead to 40-34. 

The Knights got it down to one on a 3-pointer by Jacob Jarvis with 3:35 left. With under a minute to play, Blane Worley recovered a loose ball off a block and streaked down court, but lost the handle. Farmington turned the ball over down 42-41. Sullivan would hit their next four free throws to clinch the victory.