Lehman sparks Senators to narrow league victory

The game is starting to slow down for Carson sophomore Lindy Lehman, and that’s a good thing.

No longer is she thinking what her next move is on offense, she knows what her next move will be, and that was never more evident Friday night against Galena.

Lehman, who finished with 10 points, scored two key baskets late in the fourth quarter to spark Carson to a 40-35 Sierra League win over the Grizzlies at Morse Burley Gym.

“It’s just having more confidence, knowing I can do it,” Lehman said. “The game is slowing down in my mind.”

“Lindy played tough,” Carson coach Nate Tolbert said. “She doesn’t look like a sophomore anymore.”

Carson, fueled by its defense, used a 16-5 second-quarter run to grab a 15-point halftime lead at 26-11.

However, the Senators’ game went south, and the Grizzlies used a 12-1 run in a five-minute stretch bridging the third and fourth quarters to take a 34-31 lead with 4:09 left in the game.

Madison Preston (10 points) evened the game at 34 with a 3-pointer, and following a turnover, Lehman scored on a drive to the basket for a 36-34 lead with 2:57 remaining.

Paige Brown cut Carson’s lead to 36-35 with a free throw, but Lehman scored on another layup to make it 38-35. The score remained that way until Carly Bachmann banged one home at the buzzer.

Despite the win, Tolbert was not a happy camper, and with good reason.

Carson decimated Galena in the first meeting, and despite not having Savannah Smith and Gina Peacock, this game should have been much easier.

“I’m not happy,” Tolbert admitted. “We had some good moments, but we were lucky to come out of this with a win.”

Tolbert still can’t really explain what happened in the second half that enabled Galena to come back from a 15-point deficit.

“I don’t have an answer,” he said. “It just comes down to executing. Sometimes it doesn’t click. Lindy had a good game and Madison was solid.”

“We let them back in the game,” Lehman said. “I think we got a little tired. Fortunately, we were able to step it back up in the fourth quarter.”

The only time Carson executed well was during the second quarter.

Carson outscored Galena, 14-7, in the final 6:51 of the half for the aforementioned 26-11 lead.

Preston started the surge with two free throws, and then the error-prone Grizzlies unraveled in the face of Carson’s full-court pressure.

Preston followed up a Galena error with a layup, and following another error, Natali Salas scored on a layup for a 16-6 lead. Bachmann converted a mistake into a hoop as did Lehman and then Bachmann again to make it 22-6 with 4:33 left in the half.

Galena scored three straight points to make it 22-9, and Carson ended the half with baskets by Lehman and Salas.

Galena outscored Carson 15-4 in the third quarter to close the gap to 30-26 after three. The Senators went 1-for-11 and turned the ball over three times in that span.

Galena opened the fourth quarter with n 8-1 run to take a 34-31 lead before Lehman helped Carson take control with her two baskets.