It was a game Carson High expected to win and one it needed to win.
Mission accomplished.
Senior Trey Jensen scored a season-high 16 points and fellow senior Brian Barnes added 13 to lead the Senators to a 68-39 win over last-place Wooster Friday night at Morse Burley Gym.
Carson improved to 5-9, but still finds itself tied with Damonte Ranch and a game behind Galena (6-8), who knocked off Damonte Ranch 56-50 Friday night. Carson has road games at Manogue on Tuesday and Galena on Friday. The game at Galena will be pivotal because Carson needs a win to avoid a season sweep which is the first tie-breaker should the teams end up deadlocked. Galena has Douglas and Carson left on its schedule.
"The seniors came out and got it done," Carson coach Bruce Barnes. "We played with a lot of energy. We did a great job rebounding the ball. Matt Cooper was strong on the boards in the second half, and we made our shots inside.
"We played well. To beat somebody by 30 and hold them to 13 points in a half is big. We've been working on running and jumping (on defense) a lot."
The defense was stellar in the first half, holding Wooster to just two field goals. The Colts went 2-for-11 in the first half and turned the ball over nine times, some forced and some unforced. Wooster was its own worst enemy at the line, going just 9-for-16. The Colts failed to score a field goal in the second quarter.
Jensen nearly outscored the entire Wooster team in the first half, as he scored 10 points in the first 16 minutes, six of those coming in the first quarter. Slowed by an ankle injury in the second half, he managed just six more points, but Barnes and Chris Steele picked up the slack in the second half with nine and eight, respectively.
"With Trey, it's all about confidence," Barnes said. "Once you hit one or two, things get a lot easier out there. He didn't force anything. The team did a great job of getting him the ball."
"I just wanted to come out and have fun," Jensen said. "It's the last home game, and I won't be playing basketball anymore after this year."
Three pointers by Randyldeo Gutual and Bobb Roberson cut Carson's lead to 35-21 with 5:41 left, but Carson restored order with a 9-0 run for a 44-21 lead with 3:10 remaining. Barnes started the barrage with a runner in the lane, Jensen drained one from the corner despite being knocked to the floor, Barnes added a trey and Chance Quilling scored on a layup.
Three straight Wooster baskets cut the deficit to 54-36, but a bucket by Barnes and a basket and 3-pointer by Steele built the lead to 25. Steele's eight points all came in the second half.
