The first half of Friday's game is one Carson High boy's basketball coach Carlos Mendeguia would like to forget forever.
The Senators went 0-for-12 and turned the ball over four times while finding themselves down 15-0 after the first eight minutes.
Things got a little better over the final 24 minutes, but the Senators still suffered a 52-32 loss to McQueen at Morse Burley Gym.
The loss dropped the Senators to 1-7 in Northern 4A play, and time is running out on the Senators to secure a top-four spot among Sierra League teams.
"When you can't put the ball in the hole, you're not going to win games, " said Mendeguia, whose team shot 11 percent in the first half and got it up to 28 percent for the game by going 11-for-27 in the second half. "They played decent defense, but I don't think they did anything special.
"We had decent looks, but we did force things at time. When it's not falling, it's not falling."
McQueen coach John Franklin was pleased with his team's defense, especially the way the Lancers clamped down on Rafe King, who was held without a field goal.
"That was probably our best defensive game of the year," Franklin said. "I know they were missing a couple of guys. But to hold a team to no points in a quarter is pretty good.
"All the film I've seen on Carson is that King is their best player. He shoots the 3 well, and we did a good job on him. We kept him out of rhythm."
While McQueen shut down Carson's best player, the Senators were unable to contain Dakota Allinson (20) and Kyle Eckert (19), who combined for 39 of McQueen's 52 points.
"I don't think we did a good job defensively on either of them," Mendeguia said. "We allowed McQueen too much penetration. Both of them got some open looks."
Allinson and Eckert had eight apiece in the first half, as the Lancers walked off the floor with a 26-4 lead. Ty Keefer, who led Carson with 10 points, scored both Carson hoops. Carson's first basket came 9:45 into the game.
The teams played even in the third quarter. McQueen stretched the lead to 52-26 midway through the final period after Allinson knocked in a two-pointer and 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions. Carson scored six straight points in the final three minutes to get the game down to a 20-point margin.
The secret for Carson, which played without Dylan Sawyers (ankle) and Austin Pacheco (all-star football game in Florida) is finding somebody who can complement King on the outside. So far nobody has been able to do that offensively.
"Brock (Pradere) hit a couple of shots," Mendeguia said. "He needs to get more confidence. Chris Lopez can shoot it, but he needs more game experience."
Mendeguia brought up Austin Shaffer and Kyle Denning from the JV team. Both scored a basket, and Mendeguia said he plans to keep both on the varsity for the time being. He liked the way both played, and neither had that deer-in-the-headlights look that often comes with young players in their first varsity game.
