RENO - Carson High coach Carlos Mendeguia summed it up best.
"We're struggling to score right now," he said. "We only have one or two guys that look for shots. We had some good looks early, but when those didn't fall, we started forcing shots."
Carson shot 16 percent in the first half and went scoreless for more than eight minutes bridging the opening two quarters en route to a 54-33 loss to Wooster in a battle of the lowest-ranked teams in the Sierra League Friday night at Craig Congdon Gym.
The loss was the second to the Colts this year. Both of Wooster's league wins have come against Carson, which hasn't won a game since upsetting Reno on Dec. 29 at Morse Burley Gym.
One Carson fan said "this was the worst loss of the year" as he left the building. That fan could be right. Wooster, at least in past years, was one team Carson usually swept every year. The shoe is on the other foot this year.
Though Carson shot the ball better in the second half (8-for-17), the Senators committed 15 of their 22 turnovers in the final 16 minutes. If you can't take care of the ball, it's very hard to come back from a double-digit deficit.
Wooster coach Dean Whellams was pleased with his team's effort.
"Defense and rebounding were keys," Whellams said. "We played good defense and didn't give them many second chances. We stressed trying to get a hand in (Rafe) King's and in (Dylan) Sawyers' face."
"They play with a lot of energy," Mendeguia said.
Carson, despite not shooting well, had an 8-7 lead after one thanks to 3-pointers by Sawyers and King plus a bucket by Ty Keefer. The lead came despite the fact Carson didn't score in the final 3 minutes 42 seconds of the quarter.
The drought continued in the second quarter, as Wooster went on a 13-0 run to take a 20-8 lead with 3:59 left in the half. Carson went 0-for-2 at the line, went 0-for-4 from the floor and turned the ball over three times.
A basket by King ended the drought with 3:18 left in the half, but Carson trailed 22-12 after two periods.
King, who finished with 14 points, struggled mightily from the field, going 4-for-16 unofficially. And, when King's not going, one can't expect the Senators' offense to produce.
A 12-5 run by Wooster to open the second half stretched the lead to 34-17 with 2:53 remaining. J.J. Harloff and Deshawn Pughsley scored five points apiece in that stretch. Two baskets by Keefer (11 points) trimmed the deficit to 13 at 34-21. Carson never cut the deficit lower than 13 the rest of the way.
Carson, 1-13 in league play, hosts Manogue at 7:30 on Tuesday and Galena at 7:30 on Thursday.
