Carson girls basketball | Defense stifles mistake-prone Cougars

This was a win for the defense.

Carson’s pressure held Spanish Springs scoreless for 15 minutes, and the Senators were just good enough at the offensive end to walk away with their first win in league play, 41-25, Thursday night at Morse Burley Gymnasium.

Carson improved to 1-2 in league and 4-3 overall. The Senators look to make it two straight tonight when they host Hug at 5:15.

“The press worked pretty well,” Carson coach Nate Tolbert said. “We didn’t even run it at full strength. We had soft pressure.”

It was enough to bother the 1-8 Cougars, who turned the ball over a whopping 32 times. Carson converted those mistakes into 31 points.

Spanish Springs scored the first basket of the game, and Carson ran off eight straight points, all coming after turnovers by Spanish Springs.

Kalli Prendergast made a free throw with 4:29 left in the opening period to make it 8-3. That would be Spanish Springs’ last point for 15 minutes.

Carson ended the first quarter with a 6-0 run, blanked SS 9-0 in the second quarter for a 23-3 halftime lead and then scored five straight to start the second half to make it 28-3 before Katrina Prendergast scored with 5:29 left in the third to make it 28-5 and end the 20-0 run by Carson.

Michelle Perry and Ivy Pembrook had two buckets apiece in that span, while Bri Alvarado drained a 3-pointer. In that same span, Spanish Springs went 0-for-12 from the floor, 0-for-6 from the line and turned the ball over 19 times. It was offense at its worst.

After Carson upped the lead to 32-5 on baskets by Maddie Preston and Michelle Glanzmann, Spanish Springs scored eight straight to make it 32-13 before Preston ended the third quarter with two free throws and a 34-13 lead.

Carson got the lead to 36-13, but Carson’s reserves gave up six straight, and Tolbert sent some of his starters back on the floor to quell the uprising.

Despite the 16-point win, Tolbert wasn’t wild about his offense. Preston had 16, but nobody really stepped up, and other than one drive by Glanzmann, nobody was effective taking the ball to the basket. Tolbert had been hoping others would step up, but that has yet to happen on a regular basis.

“Buckets have been hard to come by,” Tolbert said. “We go to the basket once, and if we get hit and it isn’t called, or if we miss the shot, we don’t go back a second or third time. It’s something we talk about over and over.

“I’m happy with the win. It did expose some weak points that we need to work on.”

Preston was pleased with the win and her personal efforts.

“I thought I played pretty good defense,” she said. “Offensively, I thought I could have done better.

“We were all ready to play today.”

Junior Varsity

Carson 48, Spanish Springs 25

SPARKS — Josie Share scored nine points to lead the Senators to a lopsided win Thursday night.

Carson improved to 6-1 heading into tonight’s road game at Hug.

Mallory Otto added eight points and Molly Otto scored seven.