Hug rallies in fourth quarter to beat Carson

RENO - Carson High led perennial powerhouse Hug for more than 23 minutes Tuesday night. Unfortunately for the Senators, high school games last 32 minutes.

Carson, employing a zone defense most of the game, fell victim to a 10-0 run midway through the fourth quarter and fell to the Hawks, 54-46, in a Northern 4A boys basketball game.

The loss dropped Carson to 1-9 in 4A play heading into tonight's Sierra League game at 7:30 at Galena.

Carlos Mendeguia, who has to be wondering when Carson's nine-game skid will end, praised the efforts of his squad which got a whopping 31 points from Rafe King.

"I think we did an outstanding job executing our game plan," Mendeguia said. "They stuck to it and didn't ever sway from it.

"When the guys come to play, I think we can play with anybody."

Carson's strategy was simple. The Senators lacked the quickness and team speed to stay with Hug, thus didn't want to get into a transition game with the Hawks, led by former Carson star Andrew Johnson, who finished with 11 points, and Sam Williams, who had 24, 13 of those coming in the fourth quarter when the Hawks overcame the Senators.

Foul trouble played a major role in Carson's demise. The Senators lost Ty Keefer with 6:58 left in the game, and Sage Smith fouled out a couple of minutes later.

With the duo sidelined, Hug continually fed the ball to Williams who was unstoppable. Williams had seven in the aforementioned 10-0 fourth-quarter run.

After King's layup gave Carson a 40-36 lead with 5:55 left in the game, Williams dropped in two free throws to make it 40-38 with 5:32 left. Carson turned the ball over on its next possession, and the teams traded misses.

With 4:29 left Robin Dhatt gave the Hawks their first lead since midway through the first period when he knocked down a 3-pointer for a 41-40 lead. After an errant pass by Carson, Williams followed in a Johnson miss to make it 43-40. The Hawks converted another Carson mistake into a Williams three-point play and a 46-40 lead.

King close the gap to 47-44 with a 3-pointer, but Dhatt answered with a 3-pointer of his own for another seven-point lead, 49-42, with 2:05 left. Carson got no closer than five the rest of the way.

"I thought the key to the game was when Ty (Keefer) fouled out," Mendeguia said. "They knew our big guys were in foul trouble, and they started to play a high-low game and give Williams the ball. We were trying to take their driving lanes away, and I think we were successful doing that."

While Carson did a nice job stopping Johnson of going to the rack, it fell to the outside shooting of Dhatt (15 points, 9 in second half) and Williams' inside efforts.

King, who went 12-for-23 from the floor unofficially, kept Carson in the lead for the first three quarters with 23 of his 31 points. He had at least two 3's that went in and out. Bruce McIntosh finished with nine points.

"Rafe was on his game," Mendeguia said. "He hit some real tough shots."