It's been an extremely tough season for the Carson High boys basketball team, but it has ended on a high note.
The Senators, once again led by Rafe King's scoring and a stingy defense, upset Galena 49-40 Thursday night in the regular-season finale for both teams at Morse Burley Gym.
Carson moved out of the cellar, finishing with a 3-13 league record after two big victories this week.
"I'm really proud of the guys," first-year head coach Carlos Mendeguia said. "They (Galena) were already in the playoffs, and we've been out there playing for pride and nothing else. We played really hard tonight.
"I thought the key was our defense. We stuck with our game plan. We used a box-and-one, a zone, a match-up zone and we played man. We tried to give them a lot of different looks to keep them off balance."
Caleb Wood, who torched Douglas for 31 earlier this week, was held to just two baskets. Mendeguia said containing Wood was high on his checklist.
This one was a tough, physical battle. Neither team led by more than three points until Carson went on an 8-0 third-quarter run to wipe out a 22-20 deficit and take a 28-22 lead with 3:01 left in the third quarter. The surge started with lay-ups by Dylan Sawyers (9 points) and Bruce McIntosh and ended with two straight buckets by King, who finished with 22.
"Rafe shot the ball really well, especially in the second half," Mendeguia said.
Galena hung tough, however, closing to 32-28 after three as Blaine Shivley had a basket and free throw in the final two minutes.
The teams traded baskets for the first 3 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter. In the final 3 minutes 53 seconds the game belonged to Carson much to the chagrin of a vocal Galena rooting section.
King buried a 3-pointer from the right corner to make it 41-36 with 3:17 left thanks to a Sage Smith offensive rebound which kept the drive alive. After Wood scored his second and final basket of the game, King knocked in another 3-pointer o stretch the lead to 44-38 with 3:02 left.
Galena missed two inside shots on its next possession, and then Kyle Denning drove to the basket and scored with 1:12 left. King stretched the lead to double digits, 48-38, with two free throws. After two Galena free throws, King finished the scoring with a single free throw.
