Carson girls hoops take third in tourney

The Carson High girls basketball team ended the KSA Basketball Classic in Orlando, Fla. on a high note by taking third place in the tournament.

Carson defeated North Port of New York 54-48 on Saturday in the third place game in a balanced eight-team bracket.

"We had three good games," Carson coach Paul Croghan said. "There weren't any blowouts. The competition was pretty balanced.

"It's nice to win two-out-of-three. I felt we definitely had a shot at playing in the championship and winning the championship."

Carson trailed 29-20 at halftime against North Port, but outscored North Port 19-10 in the third quarter to tie the game 39-39.

Ciarra Christian helped Carson pull away when she hit 5-of-6 foul shots in the fourth quarter. Christian scored 19 points and was 9-of-10 from the line. The Senators were 19-of-30 from the line while North Port was 12-of-16.

"We played much better in the second half," Croghan said. "We played a little smarter."

Talia Joyce scored eight points as she hit a three-pointer and was 5-of-6 from the line for Carson. Katie Kotter scored eight points and Bethany Henry added seven points for the Senators.

Carson will next play on Friday against Service of Alaska in the McQueen Tournament.