The hardest part of Carson High's girls' basketball season is over.
Reno and Reed are arguably two of the best 4A squads in Northern Nevada, and Carson had the honor of opening its season against the two powerhouses.
Reed visited Morse Burley Gym on Tuesday night, and pounded the Senators 77-40 behind a 27-point effort from Tyler Sumpter, who killed Carson all night with her 3-point shooting.
The loss dropped Carson to 0-2 on the year. The Senators return to action tonight at 8 in the first round of the Morro Bay Invitational. Carson will play four games in four days before returning to league play next Tuesday against Damonte Ranch.
"I don't think we played as well (overall) as we did against Reno," Carson coach Todd Ackerman said. "We did some things better, but there other things we're still not doing right."
Carson never backed down, but this one was essentially over after the first 3-plus minutes when the Raiders scored 12 of the game's first 14 points. The Senators went 1-for-5 in the span and turned the ball over five times.
"We didn't show any patience offensively," Ackerman said. "The pressure shouldn't have forced us to make that many mistakes, but it did. When we got through it, we got some pretty good looks, but didn't finish as well as we needed."
Carson trailed by 11 after one quarter, but the deficit was 23 at the half, 43-20. Reed outscored the Senators 11-2 in the last four minutes, Sierra Hooft had the first and last baskets of the surge, while Sumpter dropped in a 3-pointer.
The teams essentially traded baskets in the third quarter, but the Raiders went on a 14-2 run to open the fourth quarter to up their lead to 69-33. Sumpter had eight points in that sretch, while Gabby Williams added two baskets.
Williams finished with 15 points, while Eliza Matley led Carson with 14, her second straight double-digit scoring effort.
"I thought we did pretty well," Reed coach Sara Schopper said. "Obviously there is some stuff we need to work on. We missed some easy shots, but I think that was more first-game jitters than anything else."
