Reed girls defeat Carson
Dave Price
It would have been easy to write this defeat off as a case of the Christmas blahs. However, Carson High girls basketball coach Alana Williams refused to make any excuses after the Senators dropped a 55-39 nonleague verdict to Reed on Saturday night at Morse Burley Gymnasium.
"I just think they're a real good team," Williams said. "They just beat us tonight."
The Raiders (8-1), regarded as one of the top teams in the High Desert League and the Northern 4A region, took charge in the first quarter thanks to a 13-0 run.
Carson (7-5), playing its first game since finishing at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Chandler, Ariz., last Saturday, experienced a 6Ý minute scoring drought in the first quarter as Reed surged to a 16-5 lead at the end of the first period. The Senators committed six turnovers during that stretch.
"We need to put more points on the board," Williams said. "We're not executing right now and that's something we need to work on."
There were some flashes of promise, most notably an 11-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters. After the Raiders extended their lead to 42-21 with less than a minute remaining in the third, Nicole Scott sank two free throws and Liz Rankl hit a short jumper to make it 42-25 at the end of the period. Emily Johnson fed an inside pass to Nicole Scott for a layup at the outset of the fourth, then Johnson sank a pair of free throws and Katie Kotter knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut Reed's lead to 42-32 with 6:25 showing on the clock.
After taking a time-out, Reed answered as Kelsey Wallace buried a 3-pointer from the left corner, then the Senators turned the ball over on their next possession and Brittany Moore hit another 3-pointers to give the Raiders a 48-32 advantage.
"We were very sporadic tonight. We need to learn to play 32 minutes," Williams said.
Scott scored 11 points and Kotter added eight to lead Carson offensively.
Moore led all scorers with 17 points for Reed. Junior point guard Maria Moore came off the bench to score 13 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists. Ashly Keefer contributed 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers to ignite Reed's first quarter run.
JUNIOR VARSITY
Reed took a six-point lead in the first quarter and went on to a 51-31 victory against the Senators.
Sophomore guard Karissa Block scored nine points for Carson.
FRESHMEN
Hannah Works scored seven of her game-high 13 points in the fourth quarter to help Carson defeat Reed, 38-36. Works scored 11 points in the second half, including both of her 3-pointers, in a game that was close all the way.
Carson (6-2) led 20-19 at halftime and 31-27 at the end of three quarters.
Whitney Hoote also scored six points and Tiffani Barber five for the Senators, who resume action on Jan. 3 at McQueen.
