CHS girls hoops open with victory

The Carson High girls basketball team are advertised as being a team with quickness, depth and size that can play any style.

All of that was on display as the Senators opened with a 39-25 win over Fallon on Saturday at home. Carson showed it could succeed in a physical game that wasn't always pretty until it could force a more up tempo style on its way to beating the Greenwave.

"I think we have a long ways to go, but I was pleased with their play," Carson coach Alana Williams said. "It was very physical.

"They were hustling. They were going after the ball. I thought they played pretty aggressively, without fouling."

The Senators struggled with their half court offense in the first half, but rode their defense to a 19-11 halftime lead.

"We need to run our offense and play more together, but I was pretty pleased," said point guard Ciarra Christian, who scored 16 points in playing all 32 minutes.

"I thought she played great," said Williams about Christian.

Carson trailed 5-3, but finished with an 8-2 run to take an 11-7 lead after one quarter. Kelli Weyrick scored on a putback to begin the run, tying the score 5-5. Katie Kotter ended the run by hitting a three-pointer to beat the buzzer, giving the Senators an 11-7 lead at the end of the quarter.

The Senators showed their depth with three-and-a-half minutes left in the first half when Kotter had to go out of the game with two fouls. Without Kotter, Carson went on a 6-0 run to take a 19-11 lead.

Andrea Hoff scored on a putback after Rachel Winters tipped the rebound to her and Hoff followed by scoring on a jumper in the lane. Tabitha Adams hit a foul line jumper to give Carson a 19-11 lead.

"It's going to be the key for everybody," said Williams about how her team should be able to overcome foul trouble. "That's one of the good things about having such a good lineup with a lot of depth. That answers our depth. Anyone can step it up for us at any time.

Carson extended its lead to 30-15 to begin the fourth quarter when Christian drove down the lane and found Emily Johnson for a basket. The Senators led by as much as 39-21 when Christian hit a three to make it 37-21.

Kotter followed by making a steal off the press and finding Christian for a basket to make it 39-21. Kotter also scored 10 points.

Fallon eliminated Carson in the first round of last season's Northern 4A playoffs. "It's a new year, but we came out ready to play hard," Christian said. "It made us play harder that they beat us last year. But we're always going to play hard."