Carson and Damonte Ranch are about as evenly matched as two basketball teams can be.
Only five points separated the two Sierra league rivals in head-to-head battles this season. Carson grabbed a two-point win at home, while Damonte defended its home court with a two-point win.
It's only fitting that the two square off Monday at 6 p.m. at Wooster High School to determine the fourth and final playoff spot out of the Sierra League. The winner of Monday's game gets to come back on Tuesday and play at Hug.
Carson coach Bruce Barnes said his team must do two things to beat Damonte - contain lefty point guard Matt Nuthall and do a good job on the glass at both ends. Nuthall averaged 31 a game against the Senators this year.
"He is going to get his," Barnes said. "The second game he shot it extremely well (from the outside). We're going to do something different this time, something we haven't tried. We need to force other guys to beat us.
"Matt is very good at using his body to initiate the contact and draw the foul. I'll bet he gets 10 points a game at the line. The ball is in his hands 75 percent of the time."
No doubt Barnes will run a a lot of different people at Nuthall. The tough thing about Nuthall is that if you give him any room at all and he can kill you from beyond the arc. Play up tight, and he can drive it past you.
Galena did a great job on the boards against Carson, but failed to capitalize on its second-chance opportunities. Barnes doesn't want to see his team get beat on the boards again. Damonte's Gary Turk and Lane Armstrong were very active on the glass in the first meeting between the teams and played well offensively, but Carson did a much better job the second time around.
"Matt was taking most of the shots (the second game)," Barnes said.
