Boys basketball: Tigers win another close one vs. Trojans

• Photo: Boys basketball

Farmington’s Nick Varner makes a no-look pass during Friday’s win over New Prague at Tiger Gym.

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The Farmington basketball team is making a habit out of winning in dramatic fashion.

The Tigers held on for a last-second win for the fourth time in five games Friday night, outlasting New Prague 45-44 at Tiger Gym.

The home team led by a single point, 43-42, with 38 seconds left when Johnny Dittman found Mac Bassett for a lay-up on a long inbound pass to account for the game-winning points. New Prague missed a potential game-tying three-pointer before putting in a Martell Webster-like put-back at the buzzer.

“The guys are progressing as we go and are really playing hard right now,” said Farmington coach Shane Wyandt, whose squad has won its last four games by a combined 14 points while improving to 10-14. “We are doing a lot of blue-collar things out there and the team is growing in confidence at the right time.”

Darren Beenken paced the Tigers with 14 points. Bassett and Zach Speikers each scored seven and Nick Varner tacked on six.

Last Tuesday’s game at Chaska played out in a similar fashion as a couple of late baskets and a long inbound pass from Dittman helped seal a 62-58 victory.

The Tigers led 33-31 at the break and the lead was traded throughout much of the second half. Varner finally broke a 55-55 tie with a basket and Bassett followed with a score of his own to put the visitors up by four.

It was a two-point game with 3.5 seconds remaining when Dittman completed a long inbound pass to Beenken, who was fouled and knocked down two free throws to preserve the win.

Beenken finished with 18 points for the Tigers. Varner added 16 points and Bassett scored nine.

The Tigers close out the regular season tomorrow night with a home game against Red Wing. The Section 1AAAA tournament gets under way next week.

Tags: boys basketball, sports, farmington, tigers, prep