Hawks soar past Senators
Dave Price
RENO - There's a first time for everything, which came as quite a delight to Hug High boys basketball coach Brian Voyles on Tuesday night.
Voyles had not beaten Carson as head coach at Hug, but that changed as the Hawks started fast and literally ran their way to a 75-47 victory at home in the Sierra League opener for both sides.
"I respect coach Barnes so much, his kids are always tough," Voyles said. "In my five years here, this is the first time we've beaten them, so tonight was huge."
Carson outlasted Hug in three close battles last season, capped by a 70-68 thriller in the Northern 4A Regional Tournament semifinals on Feb. 21.
This time, Hug (9-4) started a new season on the right foot at the expense of the Senators (8-8).
"I just thought they beat us in every aspect of the game tonight," Carson coach Bruce Barnes said. "They are a very athletic team and at times we made them look real athletic with our turnovers."
Barnes expected the start of the game would be critical, and as it turned out, he was correct. Unfortunately for the Senators, they trailed 10-0 three minutes into the game.
"I told the kids the first three minutes of the first half and second half would be key," he said. "Especially here, I think you need to be solid in your halfcourt offense and set the tone early, but they obviously took us out of that very early."
Mitchell Moore fed Isaac Porter for a layup to start the game, then on Carson's next possession, Porter and Reggie Greer combined to strip the ball away for a steal, leading to a Porter layup on the other end of the floor. Porter stole the ball again moments later and then took a return pass from Jose Garcia for another layup to make it 6-0. Garcia intercepted an inbounds pass and swooped in for another layup, giving the Hawks six quick points off turnovers and an 8-0 lead.
"We were playing the passing lanes, trying to put pressure on the ball," Voyles said. "We were trying to get the uptempo situations and run, run, run."
Down 17-4 after one quarter, the Senators did battle back. Rory Wunsch knocked down a 3-pointer, assisted by Drew Anderson, and connected on another trey, assisted by Brian Welch, to cut Hug's lead to 20-12 with 5:00 remaining before halftime, but that's as close as it got. Mitchell Moore went inside for a basket and Marcello Townsell buried a 3-pointer from the right corner to ignite a 10-2 run that put the Hawks firmly in control.
Moore finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, Townsell scored 14 and Porter 10 to lead Hug offensively. Francis Hunt also grabbed 10 rebounds to help the Hawks gain a 44-18 advantage on the boards against the smaller Senators, who have no starters who stand taller than 6-foot-1.
Wunsch did finish the night with 20 points, including four 3-pointers, and Jeffrey Hurzel contributed 12 for the Senators, who were coming off a championship performance at their own Capital Classic last week.
