It was South Tahoe girls basketball team's worst loss of the season and coach Chris Proctor couldn't have been happier.
"I'm so proud of the girls, winning isn't important and it never is with us," Proctor said.
On Thursday, Proctor suspended nine varsity players, seven for disciplinary reasons and two others for team rules violations. Scrambling just to put together a starting lineup, Proctor moved up two girls from the JV team and two more from the freshman team to go along with his four remaining varsity players.
The end result wasn't pretty. Proctor didn't expect it to be. Carson which advanced to the state semifinals last season, had 11 players score in its 62-12 win in the Sierra League opener for both teams on Friday night at Morse Burley Gymnasium.
Freshman Nicole Scott led all scorers with 13 points and Talia Joyce had nine more in the win, which was the Senators' largest margin of victory this season.
"We didn't downplay it (playing Carson)," Proctor said. "But they didn't have time to be afraid. We had a game plan all set up for Carson and then last night (Thursday) it happened. We pretty much told them last night they'd be playing and like eight hours later, here they are."
Relying solely on effort, the Vikings (1-7 overall, 0-1 Sierra League) kept it close early on, trailing only 7-6 after Aricella Ramos' basket with 3:58 left in the first quarter. Carson's one-point lead didn't last for long.
The Senators (14-5, 1-0) outscored South Tahoe 31-2 before halftime as they led 38-8. Carson led 54-12 after the third quarter, then kept the Vikings scoreless in the fourth.
Carson coach Paul Croghan substituted his players in waves, replacing one quality lineup with another. Every player but one scored for the Senators. Rosalia Nu-ez and Andrea Hoff both finished with eight points and Terri Niederer and Katie Kotter both scored six. Ramos led South Tahoe with six points. And although the suspensions wouldn't have changed the final outcome for the Vikings, Proctor plans on having the suspended players back soon.
"If everything works out the way it should, they'll all be back," Proctor said. "This particular team, all I wanted was a good effort and they gave me one. They never quit."
