The Carson High boys basketball team attempted 11 less free throws than Vista of San Diego made and that led to an 86-77 loss for the Senators on Friday in the San Diego Classic.
Vista went 37-of-49 from the foul line while the Senators were just 16-of-26. One player for Vista was 13-of-13 from the line.
"The free throw line was the difference of the game," Carson coach Bruce Barnes said. "I don't think we were fouling as much as they called.
"But on the road, you've got to play more solid defense. We were reaching and a step slow."
Vista took a 22-15 lead after one quarter and made the lead stand up.
"We played all right," Barnes said. "We played hard. It was an up and down game."
Vista also had a 6-5 post player that hurt the Senators. Ed Jaquette led Carson, hitting five three-pointers on his way to scoring 19 points. Ricky Correlli added 17 points for the Senators.
Barnes said he believes the tournament is making his team better.
"It showed us a lot of different things that we're going to see," said Barnes about the tournament. It is helping us in the long run."
But Barnes said his team still should win when it scores 77 points. "Usually that's going to be enough for us to win a ball game," Barnes said.
